More Procurement Reform
The Project On Government Oversight just released this very interesting document, which proposes a set of tough regulatory and legislative reforms to make government contracting cleaner and more efficient.
It comes from the National Procurement Fraud Task Force, a group of federal law enforcement authorities, inspectors general and other officials that was formed three years ago by the Justice Department. The group's legislative committee -- led by GSA Inspector General Brian Miller and DHS IG Richard Skinner -- took the lead on it last year.
"The Committee has identified four proposals for improvements, which, if implemented,
would ensure more systematic decision-making in the handling of procurement and grant
fraud cases. These include:
1) Amending federal sentencing guidelines to better define economic loss in
procurement and grant fraud cases;
2) Expanding OIG subpoena authority to include compelled interviews and
clarifying that current subpoena authority includes electronic and physical
evidence;
3) Encouraging OIG counsel staff to be detailed to DOJ to assist in prosecuting
procurement fraud cases, and providing funding for the details; and
4) Extending the applicability of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act
(PFCRA) Amendments to all IG offices and reforming PFCRA."
To Government Inc., the phrase "compelled interviews" sounds tough indeed, particularly compared to the hurdles that overseers have faced (or allowed themselves to be stymied by, in some cases) in recent years.
We find the background information about as interesting as the proposals. It's undoubtedly familiar stuff for you all. But still, it's amazing. For example:
"During Fiscal Years 2000-2007, Federal outlays increased about 56 percent, from $1.8 trillion to $2.8 trillion.1 Over the same period, the value of procurement actions grew over 102 percent, from $219.3 billion to $444 billion."
Or this:
"A recent study by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy indicates that there has been enormous change in the types of purchases by the government with a major shift toward services. In Fiscal Year 2007, 60 percent of federal procurement dollars, or $257.5 billion, were used for the acquisition of services."
Like we said, none of this is a secret. It again spurs a question: Is anyone going to have the political will to address the troubling issues, including fraud and corruption, that have accompanied these changes?
By Robert O'Harrow |
January 13, 2009; 11:55 AM ET
Procurement Debate
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Posted by: hcald | January 19, 2009 8:16 PM
It's high time someone took this out-of-control contracting mess seriously, but it comes too late to help me. As the victim of unscrupulous managers who perceived me as a potential threat, because I made it clear to them that the contractors of their choosing were incapable of performing the tasks they were being paid for, I was treated abusively to the point of becoming ill, denied accommodation for said illness, and ultimately fired for the AWOL they charged me for being too ill to work for the same managers who directly caused my illness. These are among the unknown consequences of the corrupt culture that's been allowed to develop in the unsavory world of contracting fraud. It's about more than government waste, and the unscrupulous lining their own pockets, as bad as those things are; it's also about the intentional and unconscionable harm done to those who still have some shreds of ethics and integrity left, in the face of overwhelming odds. So far, the bad guys are winning; I welcome the possibility that at least some of them will be held to account for their actions.
Posted by: NanaX3 | January 20, 2009 8:56 PM
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Its about time that someone, reviews the
spend, spend, policies, no bid fiasco! We
have had for 8 years. What about all the
purchasing of meals from Haliburton for troops. Can't anyone cook any more?
We are back to the $2000.00 toilet seats, and $600.00 hammers, we had in the Reagan
administration.