Defense authorization bill mandates Army contracting reforms

Among the numerous contracting provisions the House Armed Services Committee included in its version of the fiscal 2009 Defense authorization bill are several that would implement recommendations made by a commission on Army procurement reform.

The commission, led by Jacques Gansler, former undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, released a comprehensive report in November 2007 on contracting issues facing the Army. The Armed Services Committee added three provisions to the authorization bill to implement Gansler Commission recommendations.

One provision would set new career paths for military personnel in the acquisition field, including creating general officer positions for Army acquisition employees. Another would provide expedited hiring authority for critical acquisition positions.

The bill also would establish a fund to allow the Defense Department as a whole to invest in and bolster its acquisition workforce.

"The committee expects DoD to fully utilize these resources to focus more attention on the people in the acquisition field," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. and chairman of the committee.

The committee also included provisions to boost compensation and benefits for civilians deployed to combat zones. The bill would allow Defense to waive limitations on premium pay available to civilian employees who work in such areas. It also would mandate a review of the medical treatment available for deployed civilians in military facilities.

Gansler said while the Defense Department already has recognized the need for the new policies, a congressional mandate will speed the process of implementing them.

"Many of these changes are countercultural to military tendencies, so it generally helps for Congress to say, 'you have to do it,' " he said. "The Army has been moving in the right direction, but this will accelerate the process."

The Gansler Commission argued that the military services should assume future engagements will be similar to ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in terms of their expeditionary nature and need for contractor support. The commission's report urged that combat exercises plan for contractor involvement to establish avenues of management and coordination. In this vein, the authorization bill would require Defense officials to report on their progress in ensuring that future operational plans include information on the need for contracted services and how contractors will be managed.

The authorization bill, expected to be debated in the House this week, contains a number of other contracting-related provisions, including one that would suspend public-private competitions at the department for three years.

Skelton said the committee was concerned with Defense's reliance on contractors to perform functions that could be considered inherently governmental. The bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to develop a single definition of "inherently governmental" to be used by all federal agencies in determining what kinds of jobs should be performed exclusively by government personnel.

With contractors and federal employees increasingly working side by side, ethics regulations also are drawing legislative attention. Skelton said he is concerned that contractors are not subject to the same conflict of interest regulations as federal employees. The bill would require Defense to develop a policy aimed at preventing personal conflicts of interest in defense contracts.

The measure would mandate that the Defense Panel on Contracting Integrity make recommendations on how to apply federal procurement integrity regulations to all contractor personnel working for the Pentagon.

Other procurement provisions are likely to make their way in and out of the authorization bill in the coming weeks and months, both on the House floor and at various stages in the Senate.