Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify before your subcommittee today to discuss S. 346, a bill which amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to establish a government-wide policy requiring competition in certain procurements from Federal Prison Industries (FPI).

My name is Kurt Weiss and I serve as Senior Vice President and General Manager for U.S. Business Interiors (USBI), a small office furniture dealership.  I am here today testifying on behalf of the Office Furniture Dealers Alliance (OFDA) and the roughly 5,000 independent resellers of office furniture all around the country.  OFDA is the national trade association for independent dealers of office furniture.

As an independent office furniture dealer this hearing is important because I hope it will shed light on the unfair monopolistic practices Federal Prison Industries has over small business.
 
As a small businessman I don't have a problem with open and fair competition.  What I have a problem with is the fact that FPI is not competing with anyone, but instead guaranteed by statute all the government business it wants. For instance, if a government agency needs to buy office furniture, it must first look to purchase these items through FPI, regardless of price, quality of product, or service. If FPI can provide it, the government must buy the product from them, even if the agency can get a better product for less money from a small business like mine.

Its ironic that we have laws in this country that prohibit the United States from importing products that are made by prisoners in other countries, but here at home, our own government in many cases is solely dependent on prison labor for its goods.  I agree with those who believe prisoners should learn skills and trades while incarcerated that they can then use outside prison walls to earn a living, but it should not come at the expense of honest hard-working small business men and women.  And FPI should not be allowed to grow and expand at a time when this country's economy is struggling.

The mission of FPI when it was created in 1934 was to provide inmates with real skills that they could use once released back into society. This is nice in principle, but in reality, FPI is not living up to that mission. What you have today is a 1930's philosophy that doesn't fit today's FPI and its mission.  If you look closely at FPI, its mission appears to be more about making a profit than it is inmate rehabilitation.  A perfect example is in the area of office furniture.  What you see is what we like to call "drive by manufacturing" or pass-throughs.  "Drive-by" manufacturing is the practice where FPI outsources its work to a private sector manufacturer who manufacturers the product and ships it to the buying agency under the FPI label. This process defeats the purpose for which FPI was created. Learning to put a screw or bolt into a chair that is already assembled does nothing to train an inmate for stable work once released.   In many other cases the office furniture being delivered to the buying agency has zero inmate labor content. 

“Drive-by” manufacturing, long condemned by this industry, takes job opportunities away from inmates and small businesses. The only beneficiaries of this practice are those running the FPI program. FPI will tell you that this is not a common practice. The fact that it happens at all should be appalling to both sides of this issue.

Reforming FPI should be a top priority of this Congress as this country has lost some 2.5 million manufacturing jobs and our industry alone has had to lay-off roughly 30,000 employees.  In other cases our industry has had to go to four-day work weeks.  We have had to cut pay and benefits.  All this while FPI has continued to grow.  The numbers are staggering.  During FY'02 FPI generated $679 million in sales, of which, 33% or $218 million came at the expense of the office furniture industry.  Why is FPI being allowed to grow at a time when we are struggling to provide jobs for hard working Americans?

I’m sure you will here today from opponents of S. 346, who will share with you the hardships they say are being placed on FPI because of actually having to compete for contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD).  Its hard to feel sorry for FPI considering when DoD released its top 100 government contractors recently FPI moved up from 72nd in 2002 to 69th in 2003.  Its clear that what is commonly referred to Section 819 has not had the damaging effect some had thought. 

You will also not hear from our opponents about the advantages FPI has over the commercial sector.  For instance, FPI can pay subminimum wages and I believe the number I've heard is inmates are paid from $.25 - $1.50 an hour.  FPI does not have to abide by the same of rules and regulation that small businesses like mine do.  FPI for instance does not pay employee benefits.  FPI does not have to abide by OSHA rules and regulations.  FPI does not have to pay medical benefits to its workers.  And, FPI can use the Treasury as its own private bank.  I wish my company could have these same opportunities -- Congress might allow us to be classified as a candidate for mandatory source.

You might also hear today that the FPI program is critical to reducing recidivism rates.  Again, we support that idea, but what our opponents fail to highlight is that only 16% of the prison population actually are employed through the FPI program.  This is a mere fraction of the number of inmates incarcerated.  FPI also fails to highlight the fact that they are only employing the "best" inmate employees.  It’s a false statement to say that you are truly reducing recidivism when you're cherry-picking the best inmates, regardless of whether they are serving short sentences or serving life.  How is the FPI program helping someone who is serving life to learn a skill they will be able to use?  These individuals will never be released. 
Another fact our opponents leave out is that the remaining 84% of inmates incarcerated in prison do work.  These inmates are responsible for the general maintenance and upkeep of the prison.  Some of these jobs include cooking, janitorial duties, and laundry services.  Opponents will say these jobs don't provide real skill training inmates will be able to use once they are released back into their community.  Well, Mr. Chairman neither is screwing a nut and bolt into a chair.

Mr. Chairman, another argument I'm sure you will here today for keeping the status quo is that the FPI program is critical to keeping inmates busy so that riots won't break out.  We completely agree with the need to keep inmates busy to protect the safety of all prison guards.  No one from the business-labor wants to see harm come to those asked to guard some of this country's most violent offenders.  That is why if our opponents really read the legislation, they would see there is a provision that allows the Attorney General to reclaim FPI's mandatory source if the warden of the prison "determines that an award of a contract to FPI is necessary to maintain work opportunities not otherwise available at the penal or correctional facility that prevent circumstances that could reasonably be expected to significantly endanger the safe and effective administration of such facility."  We support this provision and support keeping prison guards safe.

This subcommittee should not fear reform to this program, but rather should embrace it.  S. 346 changes the way Federal Prison Industries (FPI) is able to operate and forces them to compete openly and fairly for contracts they are currently guaranteed by statute. The foundation this country was built on.  This reform legislation is good for small business, inmates and the taxpayer.  Aren't these the three constituencies Congress should be concerned with?  Not how much revenue FPI can generate.  S. 346 will finally force FPI to provide the "real" skill training inmate's need, while allowing small businesses to compete for government contracts on a level playing field.  S. 346 will also allow contracting officers to spend taxpayer dollars more wisely. 

I can tell you all about the hardships FPI has presented our industry, but I thought it was more important if you heard real life stories from constituents in your states whom have been directly affected by FPI in some way.  The stories are real and the financial losses suffered should not be overlooked.  This is lost revenue from small businesses in this country that follow the rules and therefore should not be penalized for doing so. (See attached stories).

Thank you for allowing me to come and share my story with you today.  I would be happy to stay and answer any questions you may have for me at this time.

Dealer Stories

Mr. Chairman:

In October of 2002 I began working with Kevin Travell with Merriman and Assoc. on the furnishings for the new FAA facility at DFW Centerport. They where to move in the end of December and needed to decided on product quickly that could be delivered before the end of the year. We got a lead-time commitment from Knoll that they would be able to deliver the Equity product to meet their deadline. At this time the FAA had applied for their waiver and felt sure they would receive it due to the fact that Unicor could not meet the lead-time. After several committee meetings and plan review sessions Tusa was awarded the entire project. A few days later we were informed that Washington had denied their final request for a waiver and that Unicor had committed to meeting their move in date. The employees of the FAA and the designer were very disappointed that they where not able to order what they had selected. The outcome of this project was that Unicor was not able to deliver as promised and the FAA was not able to move into their new building until Feb. 2003. At that time they ordered a few ancillary items from Tusa Office Solutions, Inc. that they where not able to get from Unicor.

Christy Foster
Tusa Office
Fort Worth, TX
_______________________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Patricia Holland-Branch.  I am the owner, President and CEO of HB/PZH Commercial Environments, Inc. in El Paso, Texas.  My business is listed as a Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) and also registered with Minority Development Council in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  I employee 27 people and have been in business for over 15 years. 

Over the past 10 years, my business has lost significant business to Federal Prison Industries.  We are a preferred Haworth office furniture full-service dealer in this region.  We have lost systems furniture, case goods, filing and seating projects in addition to design and installation services to FPI at Ft. Bliss, the new FBI facility, and the newly constructed Texas State Building.  Federal Prison Industries has encouraged even local governments and universities to choose prison products over those manufactured and sold by private industry.  Our direct losses over the past ten years can easily be measured in millions of dollars in sales revenue.

Our lost opportunities have forced us to reduce staff.  We went from 35 to 27 employees.  We are considering completely eliminating the products part of our business, as we see more infiltration of prison products into all levels of federal, state and community organizations.  This will be a travesty, as it will lead to further layoffs from dealerships such as ours in a city already experiencing double-digit unemployment. It is a real crime that our nation's tax-payers are suffering because prison products are the preferred source and government entities are not required to bid their projects between private industries and FPI.  I am confident that our products and services are far superior, more competitively priced and with shorter lead times then products manufactured by prisoners.

Sincerely,

Patricia Holland-Branch
HB/PZH Commercial Environments, Inc.
El Paso, Texas
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Reed Lampley the owner of Coastal Offices Systems & Supply Co. in Chesapeake, Virginia.  Over the past 10 years since the inception of my business, I have probably lost a total of 1 million + in sales due to the restrictions placed upon government agencies in the tidewater area to buy strictly from FPI. The thing that bothers me about this is: Repeatedly I proved I could deliver quicker (usually 2 to 3 days compared to 2 to 3 months) the same quality furniture at less cost to the government than FPI.

How many prisoners do you think go into the furniture business after release from prison compared to the small business owner struggling to make ends meet?  That is the question that should be answered.
 
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity address your committee today on this very critical issue and tell you how FPI's current practices hurt my business.

Sincerely,

Reed Lampley
Coastal Office Systems
Chesapeake, VA
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

I can recall most vividly one order we lost to UNICOR.  The Social Security Administration in Baltimore put out for bid 2000 foot rests.  I took them a sample of a new product, which exceeded their specifications and was cheaper than they had anticipated.  However, when time came to actually go through with the deal, I was informed that while I had a better product, a better delivery date, and a lower price, they were required by statute to buy the product from UNICOR even if it was not the best product. I for one have stopped soliciting bids from the Federal agencies because it's become a waste of time. Time and again we are told that by agencies that they are required to purchase their office products from FPI.

At one time, we did a nice business with the federal government, but now we do less than $20,000.00 a year. We also have reduced our staffing from 9 employees to 2 full time and 1 part time. Your help is critical to the survival of small dealerships like mine.

Sincerely,

William H Shaprow
Regester Office Supply
Baltimore, MD
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Leigh Hoetfelker and I am President of Fremont Office Equipment Co. in Fremont, Nebraska.  I am a small dealer employing 60 people.

Plain and simple, Federal Prison Industries has taken all of our furniture business that we bid to the State of Nebraska offices. Until a couple years ago, dealers in the state had the opportunity to bid on the States furniture requirements.  That is no longer the case.  Because of the requirements to buy from FPI, we are constantly told that agencies must buy from FPI regardless of price, quality or timely delivery.  I don't run my business that way and often wonder why the government chooses to run its business that way.  We saw our yearly sales to the State of approximately $100,000.00 in furniture alone disappear completely.  All this because the state is required to buy from FPI.  I say this in jest, but it seems like if I wanted to do business with the state or Federal government, I should become a convicted felon -- I might have a competitive advantage that way.

Sincerely,

Leigh Hoetfelker
Fremont Office Equipment Co.
Fremont, NE
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

In the fall of 2000, The University of Northern Iowa was completing the Lang Hall building renovation.  Matt Parrott and Sons holds the contract for HON/Allsteel with the University of Northern Iowa.  We received an order for some storage, lateral files, task seating, and soft seating, but were denied an order for all the drawer pedestals.  The drawer pedestals amounted to approximately $35,000.00 in sales, but because of the obligation to fulfill commitments to FPI, the University elected to purchase the drawer pedestals from FPI.  I was told, although I haven’t confirmed, the University spent a third more money to purchase and fulfill this commitment to FPI. 

I was involved in a meeting with George Pavelonis, Facilities Planner and Carol Christopher, Assistant Facilities Planner, prior to this decision.  They talked about how they haven’t done very much business with FPI, so they probably would need to send the drawer pedestal order to them. I asked about the drawer pedestal quality and pricing.  At that point, they both conceded to the fact the Allsteel pedestals were better quality and less money.   They also said the lead-times were a lot longer. 

Sincerely,

Lori Knaack
Matt Parrott & Sons
Waterloo, IA.
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Billy Carroll; I am an outside sales representative with C & C Office Supply Co. in Biloxi Mississippi. Our company has been in business over 20 years and we employ 20 people. 

During the course of our 20-year history we have done considerable business with numerous governmental agencies and military installations.  Some of them being Naval Construction Batallion in Gulfport, Mississippi Air National Guard in Gulfport, Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Naval Station in Pascagoula, and NASA in Stennis Space Center.

As a result of FPI's unfair monopolistic practices, we have seen sales from these governmental agencies go from $100,000.00 a month too less than $5,000.00 a month.

There are numerous horror stories we hear from our customers who deal with UNICOR.  The most recent one being that a customer had to wait 5 months to get their furniture.  When the furniture finally arrived, it wasn't even what they had ordered.  This is something that would have been averted had they been able to use our company or another dealer.

I could go on about how we could have sold the product much cheaper, which would have saved taxpayers money, faster delivery, which would have increased employee productivity, and finally better service, but I won't.  You get the picture.

Sincerely,

Billy Carroll
C&C Office Supply Company
Biloxi, MS
_____________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I personally worked with the staff who had just moved into a new ward at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  We had two meetings during which I took measurements and went over in great detail the furniture items they needed for the report room, reception area, patient education room, two offices and some miscellaneous shelving.  The total I quoted to Walter Reed was approximately $13,000 and met their needs exactly.  This was in April of 2000. Our delivery would have been completed within a month.

Because Walter Reed couldn't get a UNICOR waiver (just to determine this fact takes at least 6 weeks) the order was placed with UNICOR and took eight months to be delivered (it just showed up last week) and much of it was not what officials at Walter Reed even ordered.   FPI tells their customers what the customer can have rather than meeting the needs of the customer.  As an example, we had designed a workstation for the report room to accommodate four computers.  UNICOR sent an expensive, massive cherry workstation for an executive office that had to be put in someone's office (who didn't need new furniture) because it was unusable where it was supposed to go. UNICOR charged an additional $1,500.00 to assemble this (and didn't have proper tools to finish the assembly).  Our price for the proper item including all set up was less than they charged for set-up alone.

You know, it's not just the impact FPI has on our businesses, it's the waste of everybody's tax dollars when furniture costs more and doesn't even do the job.

Sincerely,

Diane Lake
Economy Office Products, Inc.
Fairfax, VA
(A small, woman-owned business employing approx.19, in business since 1968)
______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Gregory Wickizer and I own Tippecanoe Press Inc. in Shelbyville, IN and employ 20 employees.  I recently lost a  $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 bid because of a must buy in the State of Indiana.

To a business like mine, this is real money lost.   I guess my question is why should my company lose out on business just because the government has to buy it from prisoners.  I thought the philosophy in this country was that competition is healthy and the best offer should win out.  That does not appear to be the case and it hurts companies like mine who are trying to survive.

Sincerely,

Gregory Wickizer
Tippecanoe Press Inc
Shelbyville,IN
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Joe Kiefer, I work for Shaheen Office Supply in Warner Robins, GA.  Our company has lost many opportunities in the name of UNICOR, the most recent being last year.  We are a Haworth Dealer, and serve the Middle Georgia community, Robins AFB being our largest customer. 

The most visible loss to UNICOR was with the 116TH Bomb Wing at Robins AFB.  We were able to secure some business at their new facility, about $200,000, but I know UNICOR received over $800,000 of furniture business there.  For the projects we did receive, I saved this customer 20-30% over the UNICOR proposals, and provided them with better quality furniture.

Sincerely,

Joe Kiefer
Shaheen Office Supply
Warner Robin, GA
______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I'm no longer at the company I was at (Marvel Group) when this story
happened to me, but I thought it should be shared with you.

Last summer I began working with Air Force Recruiting to provide them with furnishing for their new recruiting offices nation-wide.  I was working with the individual offices throughout the country and received orders for $80,000 from the Air Force Recruiting Squadron (344th) at Scott AFB.  They liked my services so much that they recommended me to the other offices with the same needs nationwide.  My furniture was less costly than FPI and had significantly better lead times (about 2 weeks) and was of overall better quality.

I spent several weeks traveling to different sights and doing quotes only to be stopped by a Colonel at AF Recruiting HQ in Texas.  The Colonel believed that since FPI was a required source that there was no reason to use me even though their budget would have allowed them to furnish far more offices with my product than with FPI.  My estimates are that this decision cost my company $500,000 - $700,000 in sales and probably cost the Air Force several hundred thousand dollars.  I have since left government sales do to a lack of sales - mostly contributed to denied waivers by FPI.

Sincerely,

Gary Stephens
Workspace L.L.C
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Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am concerned in the way tax payer's money is being wasted. A few years ago I had proposed over $100,000.00 in chairs to the VA Medical Center.  They were excited about the chair I was proposing on contract.  The chair was less expensive than the chair proposed by FPI.  The customer also recognized that the chair I was proposing was better in quality and had more ergonomic features, which would assist in some of their health issues.  Another comment made by the VA was the problem with the FPI chairs breaking easily.  Parts were near impossible to get, so they would throw the FPI chair in the garbage.

In this situation FPI denied the VA waiver.  Regretfully they had to buy FPI chairs.  I can not believe this happens in America.

Sincerely,

Rick Buchholz
Christianson's Business Furniture
______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am delighted to have the opportunity to tell you about challenges that I have encountered with the Ohio Penal Institute (OPI) and State of Ohio Agencies. I focus on selling to State of Ohio Agencies and most are required to buy from OPI.

Last year I worked on a state library project.  They currently had all Haworth furniture that they had purchased over the past 13 years, so they had a few different vintages.  My proposal planned on re-using about 25% of that existing product, but I also got special pricing from Haworth that was much deeper than normal state contract pricing.  State Purchasing required the Library to get a waiver from OPI for which OPI rejected my proposal. Not only does my product come with a Lifetime Warranty and is a Grade A product with a 4-week lead-time, but my pricing came in at over $100,000 LESS than the Ohio Penal Institutes proposal.  It is very frustrating as we put a significant amount of time into this proposal and felt that we were providing this client with the best product at the best price.

Example 2:  Rehabilitation Services in Columbus.  They have all OPI chairs that are very uncomfortable and not ergonomically designed.  I brought some Haworth chairs to their office to pass around for a 3-week trial period.  My chairs were unquestionably selected as the chair they wanted to purchase going forward.  Not only are my chairs some of the most ergonomic in the industry, but I was saving Rehab Services almost $100 per chair.  OPI rejected their request to purchase Haworth chairs.

Ohio's Governor has put a hold on any extraneous spending at this time...and it is indefinite as to when he will raise this request.  Every year thousands of dollars are spent on OPI's products, which do not come with any warranties and cost generally 30% higher than the best products on the market.  Our taxpayers are paying for this.

Thanks for the chance to share just a few examples with you. 

Sincerely,

Chris Kelser
King Business Interiors

______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Jeff McKenzie and I work for Landis Office Center, which has 26 employees.  We have a federal prison in our area and a division called UNICOR. When the prison was first established we sold over $60,000.00 to them in the first year. After this, UNICOR stepped in and started supplying most items to this facility. Even if we were called and did measurements and suggested furniture, of course spending multiple hours doing this, we were informed that furniture would be secured from FPI. Why should we as citizens pay at least $40,000.00 per year to house convicted prisoners and then we allow them to produce goods that are sold against companies that must pay taxes, pay at least minimum wage, plus all the other red tape that comes with operating a business. It is very unfair that the government allows this to happen, much less, entertain the argument that Federal Prisons should be able to expand their markets. It is time to put a stop to this before you put more small businesses out of business.

Sincerely,

Jeff McKenzie
Landis Office Center

______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Joseph A. Nordman III and I am with PS Group/Cincinnati, Inc.  Federal Prison Industries has taken multiple projects from my company, PS Group/Cincinnati, Inc. and has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

PS Group has worked with the Cincinnati office of ATF since 1995, supplying product and labor to enhance the existing Haworth product.  PS Group even went to Dallas, Texas to allow the ATF to work that existing product into the existing Cincinnati product in order to save money.  After spending all of this money, time and energy, Federal Prison Industries claimed the project – at a premium price well above the Haworth price.  As a result, all of the existing Haworth product has had to go into storage (An additional cost not anticipated by the local ATF office).

The total Waste:
· Existing Cincinnati station, 40 plus
· Additional 21 stations from Dallas
· Dallas inventory to be used against new product
· Possible buy back of all existing, should ATF want to purchase all new
· FPI product not compatible, so all-258 stations were new, with no credit for buy back, at a cost significantly higher than the Haworth.
· The Government paid to inventory and ship 21 plus stations to Cincinnati, put those stations into storage and then scrap all 61 plus stations.
· The ATF constantly tells PS Group that they can’t get service for the Prison Industries Product
· More product to be ordered

Sincerely,

   Joseph A. Nordman III
   PS Group/Cincinnati, Inc.
______________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

My name is Janet Ockerhausen with Business Interiors of Texas, Inc. in Corpus Christi, Texas. 

In 1999 Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas contacted me for furniture in an Air Training wing for VT-21 and VT-22. They needed a drawing and prices for approximately 12 rooms as soon as possible. My company worked over the weekend to get these to them, the total was $150,000.00 worth of furniture. When UNICOR saw the amount, they refused the waiver. The end user gave my drawings and specs to UNICOR, which they copied down for every room layout, and even the color. So, at my own time and expense, I received nothing for this work and UNICOR received $150,000.00 with no time involved because they had copied my designs.

I make my sole living and income by selling to federal government agencies and UNICOR takes this business away from me.

Sincerely,

Janet Ockerhausen
Business Interiors
Kingsville, TX
__________________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

We are located in the Dayton, OH area, home to Wright Patterson AFB. We are up against UNICOR on a daily basis. Some of the more recent projects include:

Sensor's Directorate. This project is 200 workstations plus seating, files, and private office furniture. They are required to use crescendo, even though they have over 400 workstations of existing Haworth product in the facility. The mockup for this project took 16 weeks to arrive, yet they are promising to meet a June 1 shipping deadline. $1,000,000 worth of UNICOR product is proposed.

Building 20052, Area B.  All seating, freestanding casegoods and workstations are UNICOR Classic XXI, approximately 75 workstations, 15 private offices and seating for offices/workstations/conference rooms. Approximate value $450,000.

Sincerely,

Kim Duncan
Elements IV Interiors
_______________________________

Dear Mr. Chairman:

During the past 5 years I have had representatives from UNICOR tell my customers that they had to turn over my proprietary designs to UNICOR, without payment to the dealership. They have told my customers that if they do not buy UNICOR, they will be "reported to congress" and that there is no place else to go for government furniture.  They frighten young department of defense officials with words like "illegal"  when they ask about waivers.

The UNICOR reps routinely refuse waivers on the first approach.  The
answer is a standard "UNICOR has products which will meet your needs."
No explanation. They refuse to answer waiver requests in a timely fashion. I have had $110,000 order for the Arizona Air National Guard in Tucson literally taken away by UNICOR.  The representative demanded the designs and said that UNICOR would fill the request.  There would be no waiver and no discussion.  And she was right.  Despite the fact that all of the programming phase had been completed by my designers, at no cost to the federal government, this rep insisted that she knew what was best for this customer.  Of course, the products arrived late, in poor condition, was much more expensive than the budgeted GSA furniture--and the reps have not been heard from.  The answer is "a 10% discount" or a "free chair."

In Texas, my representative worked for 4 months with a customer, completing designs and meeting all relevant criteria.  She proposed only products on GSA contract.  UNICOR unilaterally refused to waive the chairs, approximately $50,000 worth, because their factories were not at capacity.  The fact that the UNICOR chairs do not meet the price point, that UNICOR spent no time with the customers determining function, color or other requirements has no meaning. The seating portion of the order is lost.  The remaining portion would have been lost, as well, if the customer had not spent approximately 30 days going from one appeal process to the other attempting to get waivers.  Very few customers will take the time to do this. Of course, when the project finally arrives, it will be late and missions will be compromised.

Interestingly, my husband's father was murdered several years ago.  The same prisoner that killed this fine man is now in an Alabama prison--taking away my livelihood.  Please, please get this legislation in front of someone who cares about small business.

Sincerely,

Ruthanne S Pitts
Simmons Contract Furnishings
Tucson, Arizona