President Clinton may veto the 1998 Defense Department authorization bill over a provision that would change the amount of military depot maintenance work that must be done by federal employees from 60 percent to 50 percent, Office of Management and Budget Director Franklin Raines said this week.
In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Raines said the administration wants to let private firms compete for all depot work.
"Both the Quadrennial Defense Review and the National Defense Panel recommended repeal of current laws that constrain DoD's efforts to competitively outsource depot maintenance workload," Raines said. "DoD could be forced to add to its expensive public infrastructure in ways that duplicate what already exists in the private sector. Future weapons systems will rely increasingly on commercial technology, in order to exploit industry's rapid rate of innovation and market-driven efficiencies. But by limiting industry's role in maintaining future weapon systems, and in other ways, the bill could frustrate this revolutionary change."
The administration also opposes language in the bill that would create special rules for competition for depot work now performed at closing bases in San Antonio, Texas and Sacramento, Calif. The rules would tilt competition in favor of public depots in other areas of the country.
"By dictating how DoD should treat certain competitive factors, the bill seeks to skew any competition in favor of the public depots," Raines said.
Supporters of the special rules say certain core workloads should remain in public control.
Representatives from the Texas and California districts support the administration's stance, because public-private competition could allow depot jobs to be privatized and kept in their districts. Under the current bill, work would likely be transferred to depots in other areas of the country. So representatives of districts with depots in them support the bill's 50/50 rule and the special rules regarding the Texas and California depots.
The House approved the authorization bill Tuesday on a 286-to-123 vote. The Senate is expected to take up the measure on Friday.
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