Key Vote Letter to the Senate to Vote Against Prohibiting the DOI From Conducting Competitive Sourcing

TO 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, I urge you to vote against an amendment offered by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to the Fiscal Year 2004 Interior Appropriations bill. This amendment would prohibit the Department of Interior (DOI) from conducting competitive sourcing studies, thereby sacrificing government efficiency, innovation and significant cost savings.

Prohibiting competition within DOI strikes at the heart of the President's Management Agenda, particularly the Competitive Sourcing Initiative, which aims to increase government efficiency, improve government performance and save taxpayer dollars through competition. On average, a 30% cost savings is realized when a competition between the public and private sector is held on commercial government functions, regardless of who wins. In this era of sharply constrained resources it seems particularly irresponsible to arbitrarily limit an agency's ability to identify and access the best and most efficient sources for the performance of its commercial activities. Senior Administration officials have recommended that the President veto the FY04 Interior Appropriations bill if such language is included.

Contrary to common rhetoric, competitive sourcing does not achieve cost savings by simply reducing the ranks of federal employees. In fact, of the 2,500 positions that have been reviewed under competitive sourcing since 2001 in DOI, not one full-time federal employee has been involuntarily separated. Federal workers win competitive sourcing bids against private firms over half the time, and when they do lose, the majority go to work for the contractor or shift to other jobs in the federal government.

We respectfully urge you to place the interests of the taxpayers first, and support effectiveness and efficiency in government by voting against any anti-outsourcing provisions in the Fiscal Year 2004 Interior Appropriations bill. The Chamber may consider votes on or in relation to this matter in our annual "How They Voted" scorecard.

Sincerely,

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