Federal Procurement Chief Outlines Priorities.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 November 2001
• Author: Book, Elizabeth G.

Bush administration supports continuation of public-private competitions I

Government procurement policies will not change drastically in light of the planned "war on terrorism," a senior procurement official told defense industry executives.

"The Defense Department hasn't said yet that they need more acquisition authority, so we are not going to do anything right now to change our policies. We have a wait-and-see attitude," said Angela B. Styles, the president's appointee as administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

The OFPP is part of the Office of Management and Budget.

The OFPP, which has been without an administrator since June 2000, is undergoing change and reforms, she said. Styles spoke recently at a luncheon with defense industry representatives. She is responsible for advising the administration on government-wide procurement initiatives.

The Bush administration's priorities in procurement policy involve competitive sourcing, which is based on public-private competitions. The White House also seeks to improve the level of government performance and to return the government to the principles of competition, she said. Styles mentioned that one of her planned initiatives is to phase our the mandatory source status for the Federal Prison Industries (FPI), a policy that has been criticized by the business community for being anti-competitive and detrimental to small, niche-type suppliers.

Under a law in place since the 1930s, if the federal...