[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12021]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      DEFECTIVE MILITARY EQUIPMENT

  (Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with grave 
concerns over a recent Justice Department Inspector General report 
detailing how Federal Prison Industries manufactured defective military 
equipment that endangered the lives of our troops.
  The DOJ investigation into FPI, which is owned and operated by the 
U.S. Bureau of Prisons found that ``FPI had endemic manufacturing 
problems.''
  This photo of a test mannequin in an NBC News story about defective 
prisoner-made equipment shows brain damage likely would have occurred 
from a small 9 millimeter bullet through a helmet.
  Making matters worse, the investigation also uncovered that FPI 
employees instructed inmates to lie and falsely indicate that the 
helmets being manufactured had passed inspection and met the required 
safety specifications. This is completely unacceptable, and potentially 
criminal.
  The FPI response? Reassign the employees.
  Can you imagine if these were private sector employees rather than 
government bureaucrats?
  In order to hold FPI accountable, I have introduced H.R. 4671, the 
Small Business Protection Act. It is our responsibility to supply our 
troops with the highest quality, American-made gear available. FPI does 
not deliver on that promise, and I request the support of my colleagues 
in this endeavor.

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