Washington, D.C.—U.S. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) today delivered the following remarks during floor consideration of H.R. 5013, the IMPROVE Acquisition Act:

“Today I rise in support of H.R. 5013 the ‘IMPROVE Acquisition Act for 2010’.  The very first thing I would like to do is thank my partner, Chairman Ike Skelton.  Chairman Skelton has shown considerable leadership on this front and I want to commend him and his staff for working so closely with us on this bipartisan bill.

“Congressman Rob Andrews and Congressman Mike Conaway deserve special recognition, as well.  I salute the HASC Defense Acquisition Reform Panel for all of their hard work.  Under the leadership of Rob and Mike, this Panel and its seven members delved into the complex world of defense acquisition.  Over the last year, the Panel held more than 20 events and supported the drafting and passage of the Weapon System Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.  Late last month, based on their detailed study, the Panel released its final report containing recommendations for improvements to defense acquisition.  On April 14^th, I was proud to honor their efforts by co-sponsoring H.R. 5013, a bill that implements the Panel’s recommendations.  Moreover, last week’s unanimous committee vote on the bill speaks loudly to the hard work that this team put into their task. 

“Last year’s Weapon System Acquisition Reform Act reformed the organization and processes used by the Department of Defense to manage major weapons programs, which account for approximately 20 percent of the Pentagon’s procurement spending.  This year, Rob and Mike tackled the other 80 percent. When you consider that over 50 percent of the Pentagon’s procurement dollars are for services contracts alone, the legislation we intend to introduce today has the potential to affect major changes at the Department of Defense and save taxpayer dollars.

“I believe these reforms are just as important as those implemented by last year’s acquisition reform legislation.  First, because they address the remaining 80 percent of defense acquisition.  But more notably, because true reform can only be accomplished by the men and women of the acquisition workforce.  The bill provides tools to enhance the experience and structure of this workforce.

“Our legislation will also help the Department of Defense: design better ways to measure value within the defense acquisition system, create a link between financial management and acquisition, address the acquisition of services, information technology, commodities, and commercial parts, and foster a robust domestic industrial base.

“While we may not be able to guarantee a precise level of savings associated with this bill, I’ll tell you why I think it’s important to pursue every avenue we can for savings.  I personally believe we should be spending more on national security.  But ultimately we have a responsibility to ensure that we spend the money we do have as wisely as possible.  Nobody argues that the Department of Defense faces rising costs associated with military personnel and health care.  When you couple this reality with the fact that DoD’s operating costs are migrating from supplemental spending measures into the base budget, the future for DoD’s investment accounts looks bleak.  I am concerned that the Department’s ability to invest in technology options for the future and to procure the equipment needed by our warfighters will be curtailed.  Therefore, anything we can do to save money and invest that savings back into our top national security priorities should be viewed as an imperative—not just a nice thing. 

“In closing, I want to give special acknowledgement to the dedicated men and women of the defense acquisition workforce.  They hold the key to improving acquisition outcomes and implementing H.R. 5013 without falling victim to bureaucracy.  A significant challenge, but one that for which the Department has our full support.”

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