Concern about Homeland Security contracts

Last week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report investigating contracting problems at the Department of Homeland Security. Our Committee had requested the report because of our concern that DHS is awarding too many contracts without competition and may be contracting out functions that are "inherently governmental" in violation of federal regulations. The Department's chief procurement official pledged to reduce the number of non-competitive contracts and endorsed several provisions of a bipartisan contracting reform bill I have introduced that was unanimously approved by the Committee in early August. It would increase competition, transparency, and accountability in government contracting.

This is an issue that I have long been concerned about. When I was working for former Maine Senator Bill Cohen in the 1980s, I did the staff work on the landmark Competition in Contracting Act, which required federal agencies to award contracts competitively unless an exception was met, such as when there was truly only one source for the product or service. The Act led to an increase in competitive contracting. But over the years, departments have been less diligent about "shopping around" for goods and services. I have worked successfully to strengthen current law through various amendments, but the Accountability in Government Contracting Act, my bipartisan bill, would go a long ways toward remedying problems identified by the GAO. It is supported by the GAO and by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, among others.