Implementing Management For Performance And Related Reforms To Obtain Value In Every Acquisition Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, first, let me express my thanks to Mr. Andrews, to the committee, and to the ranking members for all of their work by bringing this bipartisan bill to the floor today.

My amendment is similar, but I think it adds a very important clarification to the bill. There is a really important program in title IV of this legislation which seeks to have the Department of Defense do outreach to nontraditional suppliers, to nontraditional manufacturers, throughout the country.

With a little bit of outreach and with a little bit of contracting help, those small manufacturers, by and large, which may have very small numbers of contracts with the Department of Defense or which may have no contracts at all, can be future suppliers and future members of our industrial military base in this country.

This amendment simply seeks to make sure that that program is operational for firms here in the United States of America, specifically targeting the help to the national technology and industrial base, which is defined as those companies in the United States and Canada.

We know why it is so important to spend our military acquisition dollars here at home. First, we need to be using taxpayer dollars to grow jobs right here in our backyard. By better targeting U.S. taxpayer dollars, 70 percent of which are used to purchase goods through the military budget here in the United States, we are growing the American workforce.

We also have national security reasons we should be purchasing here at home. By making sure that we have American manufacturers building for our military and that we are securing a long-term industrial manufacturing base for our military equipment, we further protect the security of this Nation.

This is a great program, and I am so thankful to both parties here for bringing it before us for a vote today. I think that you will find a myriad of companies throughout the country which, with a little bit of help and with a little bit of outreach, can be part of this industrial base.

I can think of one company in Meriden, Connecticut, DI-EL Tool, which is a small manufacturing firm with only about six or seven employees. They've got a small number of military contracts as a subcontractor today. They came to me, and they said, Listen, Representative Murphy. We could do more, but we just don't have the capacity to compete with some of these traditional, large manufacturers.

This is the type of program that can help DI-EL Tool, and it could probably help thousands of others across this country. This amendment simply seeks to clarify that this program will be operational here at home.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 5 minutes.

There was no objection.

Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend from Connecticut for offering this very important amendment which clarifies the legislation and which, I think, drives home a very important point.

He has been very focused, as many of us have, on protecting and on expanding the industrial base of our country to create jobs and national security. He tells the story of his visit to the firm in Connecticut that has six or seven employees. That is precisely the firm that title IV of this bill wants the Department of Defense to reach out to, not simply because we understand the job creation benefits of it but because we understand the ingenuity and the creativity of small firms like the ones that Mr. Murphy just mentioned. Some of the very best solutions--engineering solutions, software solutions, logistical solutions--have come from very small organizations that are agile enough and creative enough to solve very big problems.

In his careful reading of this bill, Mr. Murphy realized that there was some question as to whether or not that outreach would occur to firms based in the United States or in Canada under the terms of the statute to which he referred, and I think he has made a very important contribution in making sure that that outreach is targeted to those firms as this is not only a mechanism for creating jobs in our country and for assisting the national security of our country but for inviting ingenuity and competition into the defense procurement process, therefore, saving the taxpayers money.

So I very much appreciate his efforts in bringing forth this amendment, and I would urge its adoption.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Again, thank you, Mr. Andrews, for working with us on this.

Mr. Chair, all of us who represent small manufacturers have heard the stories as they seek to compete with companies that are underpricing them from China, Asia, and across the globe. The defense dollars that we spend here on acquisition better targeted to help those small firms is part of their future salvation. Overall, I think this bill represents a tremendous opportunity for the U.S. taxpayers and for U.S. manufacturers alike.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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