House members create caucus to fight contracting abuse
Group might aim to counteract many members' belief that the administration's failure to stop contracting abuses and waste necessitates quick passage of new restrictions.
House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., last week announced the formation of a "Smart Contracting Caucus" to push what he called thoughtful federal procurement reform.
Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., Joe Courtney, D-Conn., and Chris Carney, D-Pa., joined Davis in an April 24 letter to all House offices soliciting caucus members. Davis was a contracting lawyer and is the House's top backer of government contractors concentrated in his suburban Virginia district.
He has long pushed to make contracting with federal agencies simpler for businesses.
Since the 2006 election, Davis has negotiated with House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and other Democrats to remove provisions from several House-passed contracting reform bills after they drew particularly vocal industry opposition.
With Davis leaving Congress this year, the caucus appears in part an effort to institutionalize his role. Shays hopes to replace Davis as top Republican on the Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over government contracting bills, while Courtney serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Carney is chairman of the House Homeland Security Management Subcommittee. Both committees factor prominently in procurement oversight.
The new group might aim to counteract many members' belief that the Bush administration's failure to stop contracting abuses and waste necessitates quick passage of new restrictions. Davis, some federal acquisition officials, and industry groups have argued that many recently proposed procurement reforms were drafted in reaction to highly publicized problems with too little consideration of the complex federal contracting system.
"It is useful to create a caucus to discuss experiences and approaches from different agencies and departments, vet reasonable oversight solutions and share positive contracting experiences," the letter to House members says. "Short-term fixes and sound-bite solutions that rely more on anecdote than fact do not readily translate into effective reform of the contracting system."
The caucus is a congressional member organization registered with the House Administration Committee. The letter says it will organize briefings from industry groups, academics, nonprofit groups and others.