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

Floor Speech

* Mr. Chair, I want to thank the members of the House Armed Services Committee as well as Chairman SKELTON and Ranking Member MCKEON for their support in bringing this bill to the floor today. I also appreciate their leadership in incorporating language from the Turner Amendment into the en bloc amendment in Committee, which was approved when the bill was reported out last week.

* Our effectiveness on the battlefields of tomorrow relies in part on our ability to foster the innovation and technology that have made American armed forces the strongest in the world. As is the case with so many military issues, as we consider this bill we must ensure we consider our most important and precious resource: The service members who serve our country in the military. My amendment seeks to assist service members in their training and education.

* The Turner Amendment also seeks to ensure that DoD leverages the acquisition educational centers of excellence already in place. These organizations of excellence--such as those at Defense Acquisition University and the Air Force Institute of Technology, known as ``AFIT,'' located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base--do an excellent job of educating acquisition professionals.

* By enhancing and improving the programs at these existing institutions, my amendment will validate appropriate and effective acquisition curricula, and leverage institutional knowledge, educational professionals, and best practices. Finally, the amendment directs organizations to identify sufficient funding amounts required for training and education.

* Training requirements for personnel are important, and we must ensure that our educational institutions provide the updated and improved curricula to meet these requirements. We must also ensure the Department of Defense is planning ahead and providing the necessary resources to train the next generation of acquisition professionals.

* I thank my colleagues for their unanimous bipartisan support for the Turner Amendment language incorporated in this reform legislation.

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