[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 THE TRUTHFULNESS, RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN CONTRACTING ACT

  Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by several of my 
colleagues in support of the Truthfulness, Responsibility and 
Accountability in Contracting Act, or the TRAC Act. We look forward to 
dropping our bill when the Senate returns from the July 4th recess.
  The TRAC Act simply stated, seeks the best value for the federal 
dollar. Its main objectives are instituting public-private competition 
and tracking costs. My colleagues and I agree that improvements to 
service contracting should be made, and this bill is one way to achieve 
that.
  Our bill directs federal agency certification before entering into 
new contracts. These standards include establishing agency-wide 
reporting systems to report contracting efforts; requiring public-
private competition; and reviewing contractor work and recompeting that 
work if appropriate.
  Why the new standards? So we can better ascertain what the federal 
government is spending for government services. David Walker, 
Comptroller General for the General Accounting Office, stated recently 
in a June 1st Washington Post piece by David Broder that ``. . . it is 
not clear that the remaining federal employees are capable of 
monitoring the cost and quality of the outsourced activities.'' The 
ability to monitor costs is essential if the Congress is to exercise 
proper oversight of federal funds spent to carry out services by either 
contractors or federal employees.
  We also want to ensure an even playing field between contractors and 
federal employees when competing for work. The public-private 
competitions required by the TRAC Act will determine how best the 
federal government can save money on its many critical services. Our 
bill doesn't guarantee any pre-determined outcome in a public-private 
competition, but rather ensures that these competitions occur.
  Contractors have historically played a role in delivering government 
services and will continue to do so. Therefore, our bill will allow the 
federal agencies to see who completes work most effectively, regardless 
of who delivers the service.

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