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Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act of 2008

Date: April 23, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Business and Consumers


CONTRACTORS AND FEDERAL SPENDING ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - April 23, 2008)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3033, the ``Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act of 2008.'' H.R. 3033 mandates the establishment of a database that includes detailed information on civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings concluded against contractors and grant recipients by State and Federal governments; a listing, by contractor or grant recipient, of all contracts or grants that were terminated; any suspensions or debarments, or any agreement to resolve a suspension or debarment; any findings that the contractor or recipient is not a ``responsible'' source for Federal contracts.

As the great justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote, ``sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.'' H.R. 3033 will shed some sunlight on the contracting world.

This database will have myriad uses. Governments at all levels can turn to it when considering whether to award a contract or grant. Citizens can look to see how their tax dollars are being spent--and what steps are being taken to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Job seekers can look up prospective employers to find out what kind of company they might work for. Companies can do a little due diligence about prospective customers or vendors. In this information age, there is simply no reason information such as this should not be available to all of us.

My committee oversees the Department of Homeland Security. It is still young, as are many of its contracting professionals. But even the ``old pros'' of the Department are new to homeland security contracting--because homeland security contracting itself is new. A database like this--that allows these officials to quickly examine the history of prospective, contractors--might have helped the Department avoid some of the contracting fiascos that have plagued it to date. I am hopeful it will help the Department pick the best contractors in the future.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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