Sunday, March 22, 2009

House Bill Signals Rising Support for DOD Acquisition Overhaul

To the defense industry's dismay: In a sign of growing congressional support for defense acquisition reform legislation spearheaded by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) and cheered by President Obama, House lawmakers are poised to issue a companion bill, according to Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY).

"I suspect that there will be legislation generated by the House Armed Services Committee," Massa told Inside the Pentagon yesterday in an interview. Massa could not comment on the specifics of the pending legislation or whether it would be introduced as a stand-alone bill or part of the upcoming fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill.

Late last month, Levin, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and McCain, the panel's ranking Republican, introduced legislation calling for the creation of new posts within DOD to oversee cost assessments and developmental testing on current and future military weapons systems.


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