The publication is reproduced in full below:
RECOGNIZING STOP PENTAGON PRICE GOUGING ACT
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HON. JOHN GARAMENDI
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Stop Pentagon Price Gouging Act'' with Representative DeLuzio (D-PA-17) as the original cosponsor. I thank U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Mike Braun (R-IN) for sponsoring the companion bill. These important reforms will protect taxpayers from being overcharged for goods procured by the Department of Defense.
Our bicameral, bipartisan bill would close loopholes in current acquisition laws, tie financial incentives for contractors to performance, and provide the Department of Defense (DoD) with the information necessary to prevent future rip-offs. Our bill would make several key reforms to achieve those goals.
First, our bill would ensure competitive and transparent pricing by closing a loophole and ensuring that defense contractors provide the federal government cost or pricing information in all cases where there isn't adequate price competition that results in at least 2 competitive bids. Second, the bill would restore market dynamics and ensure that commercial goods are those actually sold to customers other than just the federal government, revising the definition of commercial item for federal procurement by the Department of Defense. Third, the bill would ensure payment is tied to performance by creating a new pilot program for progress payments, which will help to tie payments to performance by providing contractors the opportunity to receive advance payments only when they meet certain conditions such as providing timely responses, disclosing important data, and meeting small business subcontractor goals. Lastly, the bill would ensure that our defense dollars are being spent to provide our armed forces with the resources they need and not to line the pockets of defense contractor executives, requiring disclosures from defense contractors mirroring those already required by publicly traded companies.
Taken together, this bill will be an important step in tackling price gouging, overbilling, or outright fraud by defense contractors. As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I know how much we pay for parts to keep military equipment ready. We know that taxpayers are routinely overcharged due to loopholes in current law and federal procurement regulations. We cannot allow taxpayer money to be wasted to inflate the bottom lines of multinational defense contractors. Our service members need the tools to properly negotiate prices. This is just common sense, and that's why we are reintroducing this bill today.
Mr. Speaker, Representative DeLuzio and I look forward to working across the aisle to advance these key reforms in the ``Stop Pentagon Price Gouging Act.'' I encourage all members to join us in cosponsoring this commonsense bill.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 116
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