Congress should consider further acquisition reform.

• Author: Steffes, Peter M.
• Position: GOVERNMENT POLICY NOTES

During the past decade, Congress has enacted significant acquisition reform legislation. Yet, in order to achieve the full degree of cost savings and comprehensive reform envisioned, NDIA believes that additional legislation is needed. Toward that end, the association, in cooperation with the Acquisition Reform Working Group, has developed a package of legislative proposals for 2006.

Commercial acquisition practices. The proliferation of government-unique requirements imposed on companies wanting to sell commercial products directly to the government undermines the congressional objectives aimed at enabling the use of commercial items. NDIA recommends that Congress limit, for commercial acquisitions, the imposition of unique government clauses except those required to implement law or executive orders, unless the contracting officer justifies in writing the need for the additional clauses.

Section 211 of the 2002 E-Government Act authorizes the Government Services Administration to provide state and local governments with access to the GSA schedule 70 for purchasing information technology. NDIA recommends allowing state and local governments to use all the GSA schedules (not just schedule 70). That authority, however, would be limited to the purchase of goods and services that are designed to facilitate defense against terrorism or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack or in cases where the president has declared a disaster.

The federal government relies upon research and development performed by the private sector. NDIA recommends amending technical data rights laws to address the government's right to commercial intellectual property. We also recommend that Congress direct the federal acquisition regulations council to address issues related to third party access to a contractor's proprietary data.

The 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act established a test program for the use of simplified acquisition procedures when acquiring commercial items up to $5 million. This authority has been extended five times. NDIA recommends making this authority permanent.

By imposing trade restrictions on government contractors providing commercially available off-the-shelf items, the government denies itself access to state-of-the-art items. NDIA recommends that a class waiver be granted for the Trade Agreements Act, as well as for the Buy American Act, for all COTS products.

NDIA believes that the definition of commercial services should not be...