Oppose the Kennedy Equal Competition in Contracting Amendment

June 17, 2002

To all Members of the United States Senate:

On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region, we urge you to oppose the Kennedy "Equal Competition in Contracting" amendment to S. 2514, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003. This amendment does little for equality and severely limits the ability of the Department of Defense (DoD) to competitively source services in a timely manner by imposing restraints and excessive reporting requirements on the contracting process within the agency.

For decades, businesses have worked in cooperation with the federal government to provide efficient and cost effective services for America's taxpayers. The proposed amendment would threaten this mutually beneficial relationship and add steps in the already massive bureaucracy that will further lengthen the contracting process, all at the expense of businesses and taxpayers. And if enacted, DoD would lose the flexibility it needs to purchase innovative solutions to improve our military's performance and national security.

The time is now to create more efficient and effective partnerships between the public and private sector, especially as we face the complex challenges of homeland security, national defense and keeping our borders, economy and society both safe and free. Accordingly, we urge you to oppose this or any similar amendment that would restrict the Defense Department's competitive sourcing policies. We will consider using votes in relation to this issue in our annual How They Voted ratings.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten
Executive Vice President, Government Affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce