GovernmentExecutive.com

Return to Article: House contracting caucus tackles acquisition workforce issues

• 78410
  

  All Contracting Officers are not bad. We have experienced top notch CO's that work diligently for the govt and try to help small business too. We have to stop those CR's that only want to award large contracts to big business because they believe it makes their work easier. On the contrary Small Business is easily accessible and can provide better service for a much lower cost.

  michelle Posted May 26, 2009 11:02 AM
• 78314
  

  Wow Observer,

  I am glad I don't work for your agency. As a contract specialist, mine is tough enough. Requirements vague or ever changing, while at the same time asking for a set delivery date. CR's that produce the majority of the funding the last 3 months of the FY, then Washington asking why we haven't spent the money yet, and pulling teeth to get the technical people on your team to answer questions. We are the babysitters of the government, the placators, the overworked and under appreciated. We are also highly skilled, have education and continuing education requirements and certifications. We enjoy our work and get satisfaction from doing the job well and within regulation. Most of us are not the problem, but we seem to be the only ones where the buck stops if the schedule is slipping. Step into my shoes.

  a taxpayer and a federal worker Posted May 22, 2009 1:34 PM
• 78139
  

  Just to add some balance to these well meaning illustrations and proposals: do we ever notice acquisition professionals looking in the mirror? Are they competent? Do they strive to understand their customers and their sources? Are they using all the purported "pressures" to excuse themselves from having a spine and doing their job, or are they just supposed to be a nonthinking stapler and email forwarder? Might as well grade them GS4 if so. Having dwelled in the belly of the best for a few decades--and seen all the ills recounted in the caucus and by people on the front lines, I can only remember one person who suffered career stall or reversal because of holding the line, doing her job, and having a spine. I think the contracting officers and specialists protest too much, by far. As for the other kind of acquisition professionals in the program offices, they are programmed to produce the kind of defective and changing requirements they always produce and to lowball their cost estimates. Adding more staff won't help them--they will only produce more artful defective requirements and cleverly disguised lowball cost estimates. Lack of staff is not the problem. Raiding the public purse is the problem. This is where waste and taxpayer abuse come in, and it is too bad this is not the crime that fraud is; pardon me, most frauds, like FCA cases, are "civil"!!! Note that civil servants are instrumental in making this happen; we can't blame it all on contractors. So, sure, get more staff, but don't expect it to make improvements without honest leadership--not just in the political ranks, but in the career bureaucracy. We are our own worst enemy, forever seeking someone else to blame things on. And why on earth is it so important to academics to preserve the fiction that the procurement system is not broken? The evidence is all around us and is decades old. Regardless, the WH says it is broken and is acting accordingly.

  Observer Posted May 21, 2009 8:09 AM
• 78036
  

  First thing is to prosecute the current contractors who have stolen billions from the medicare trust fund. Unless there is law enforcement allowed to investigate and prosecute, it doesn't matter how may good rules to give contracts exists. OIG for Medicare had to ask congress recently for the right to ask a judge for a search warrant. my documents alone would be enough for any law enforcement agency but the oig. A medicare patient can find out if they are their innocent doctor are victims by calling 1-800 Medicare and following phone prompts to automated"claims. On my ssn, 4 suffixes used to create claim numbers and steal claims info and bill for reimbursement :TA,A,T,M. On my husband;s ssn 13 spouse suffixes used:B2,B,B6< D,D4,D6,E,E1,TB,TD,TE,W,W6. entire overpayments are transferred back to legit number and this remains on patients record until terimination then esate gets the bill for stolen monies. @ 13 billion sincel last fall and no one can investigate but the patient. 8/08 illegal offline systme with no cyber protection on 45 million numbers that was used for over a deacde to pay bill tht belong to ppther primary payers as an illegal bail out of the insurance industry by creatiin one phony number at aa time was used to pay every claim in at least three regions 15 times on my record back to 1/1/06 and since then every claim paid 12 times. Total stolen stealing my info alone is @ 2 million. This theft would never have been discovered except I was in an on-going 9 year attempt to get the criminal activity stopped on my own records, and appeals that have been pending for 9 years ignored by contractors. Finally I got to a hearing and I was trying to find out what phony number was being hidden from the judge that had been used to pay my claim. 1-800 medciare supervisor couldn't find the claims on the phonies I knew about and kept checking suffixes and discovered the multiple payments. Linda Joy Adams

  Linda Joy Adams Posted May 19, 2009 10:59 PM
• 78016
  

  I agree with most of the problems identified here. The system is plague with conflict of interest, pressure on contract specialists not to do the right things, and lack of resources contributing to wasteful government spending. Like the OIG, the Contract Staff should be an independent part of each Agency (free from pressure). There should be SES in the 1102 series and full career latters for non-SES employees. Resources, training, and FTEs must be properly allocated to each Agency's contract staff so we can do our jobs and protect taxpayer's dollars.

  Former Chief of Contracts Posted May 19, 2009 5:15 PM
• 77990
  

  I wish they would just read these comments.

  Randall Burleson Posted May 19, 2009 11:51 AM
• 77960
  

  As a DAWIA "certified" professional, it seems to me they aren't addressing the root cause of the problem. As someone mentioned on CNBC recently, what we REALLY have is a leadership deficit, both in the Public and Private sectors. More acquisition professionals beating their heads against a wall won't fix the problem. We need real leaders willing to push back, say "no", and question the validity of assumptions made for political expediency. We need leaders that will BACK UP their DAWIA professionals when they brief that TRLs are routinely grossly over-inflated, requirements are unrealistic and unaffordable, and schedules built into the POM are fantasy? Where is the accountability when you review P and R-Forms for the past 10 years on the same programs and read virtually the same prose with new dates and greater costs?

  Today, we are told "down is up, and don't question it." How can hiring more people fix this? I was told once by a PM that we don't need to worry about formal requirements documents because they are rarely worth the paper they are written on. As an old boss of mine once said, sending folks to DAU should be "fraud, waste, and abuse", because the day they get back they are told to take actions that circumvent the spirit and intent of the rules! We currently advise our 'new hires' to rent the old HBO Movie "The Pentagon Wars" so they understand our operating environmnet. Kelsey Grammar's character is alive and thriving to this day.

  Major Hochstetter Posted May 19, 2009 9:52 AM
• 77936
  

  Why are OFPP, DAU or FAI not represented at this event?

  AT Posted May 19, 2009 8:51 AM
• 77919
  

  Uniformity in acquisition practices across the federal government should be a major criterion. The application of the rules varies from one agency to another. This also applies to software like PRISM that can't communicate with other PRISM applications from one agency to the next without a great deal of trouble. These acquisition systems need to be tied into the enterprise accounting system used by the agency (my argument for a uniform accounting system for all federal agencies) to optimize performance.

  Phil Posted May 19, 2009 7:42 AM
• 77903
  

  It is a much better solution to improved the process than put band-aids on it after a problem occurs. Also the cacus might consider making the 1102 series a profesional career field and giving them their own pay scale.

  Milton Dove Posted May 19, 2009 6:51 AM
• 77902
  

  As Rep. Issa commented, it is important to begin focusing on routine process problems rather than the high-profile failures. One human capital option worth considering is a SES-styled professional development program and bonus scheme for all warranted contracting officers. This small step would help improve the image, retention, performance and accountability of the federal contracting workforce. Need a good reason? Simply search how many times the phrase "the contracting officer shall..." appears in the FAR.

  James Posted May 19, 2009 6:51 AM