Senate vote blocks funding for Defense Travel System
Pentagon's long-awaited departmentwide electronic booking system is once again on the chopping block.
The effort to shut down the $474 million Defense Travel System achieved a major victory Thursday when an amendment blocking future funding was included in the Senate version of the fiscal 2007 Defense authorization bill.
The amendment, proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., prohibits the Defense Department from spending funds on the Web-based travel booking system and requires the Pentagon to set up a travel system using a service fee pricing method similar to that used in the General Services Administration's eTravel Service.
The authorization bill (S. 2767) passed the Senate Thursday shortly after the amendment was approved by voice vote. It must be resolved with the House version -- which does not include the amendment -- in conference committee.
The Defense Department is in the final months of a contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop the long-awaited end-to-end electronic travel booking system. When the contract is up at the end of September, the Pentagon will own the system, which will be used by 90 to 95 percent of Defense travelers.
An attempt earlier this week to attach a similar amendment to the House version of the fiscal 2007 Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) was rejected on a 285-141 vote.
The DTS contract, awarded in May 1998, has survived several attacks, including an attempt led by Coburn to end the program last October.
A statement from Coburn's office said his amendment "reforms the costly and delinquent Defense Travel System." Coburn said a "fee for use" system will improve efficiency and create savings.
Darryl Fraser, vice president of Northrop's Washington operations, said once the DTS contract runs out in September, it will be up to Congress and the Defense Department to decide how to move forward.
The Pentagon needs the system to eliminate the administrative hassles of booking airline flights and receiving financial reimbursement, Fraser said. Without it, the department would have to revert to expensive and administratively complex manual processes, he said.
Northrop and Defense officials have maintained in the past that GSA's eTravel systems, which include Northrop's GovTrip system, do not fulfill the Pentagon's requirements for an end-to-end departmentwide travel system.
In January, the Government Accountability Office reported on critical flaws and incomplete testing of DTS that resulted in lengthy delays. Northrop officials say the problems identified in the report have been corrected.