House Proceeding 05-13-09 on May 13th, 2009 :: 0:26:55 to 0:31:30
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0:26:51 to 0:27:13( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: to him as much time as he may consume the ranking member on the airline subcommittee, the gentleman from maryland, mr. barton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. barton: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i strongly encourage my colleagues to pass h.r. 2101, a much-needed acquisition reform bill. this bill will help facilitate a strong national defense rile reing in out-of-control --

0:26:55 to 0:31:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Roscoe G. Bartlett

0:27:14 to 0:27:35( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: while reining in out-of-control costs in major weapons systems. this bill is part of a bipartisan and bicameral effort to improve and modernize the procurement and acquisition process for our armed forces. i want to recognize in particular the efforts of chairman ike skelton, ranking

0:27:36 to 0:27:56( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: member john mchuge, and the members of the defense -- mchugh, and the members of the defense acquisition program. additionally, i'd like to thank the unusually talented staff for their tireless work and contributions to this legislation. h.r. 2101 is a much-needed response to help minimize cost

0:27:57 to 0:28:18( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: overruns and increased oversight and transparency in the way the defense department bice big ticket weapons programs. i'm confident this legislation will prode aositive step forward for our military that will save taxpayers billions of dollars. legislation strategically addresses the issues that i

0:28:19 to 0:28:41( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: raised requiring requirement creeps, overly optimistic cost independent broker to advise the military and congress. two weeks ago during our house full committee hearing on reform of major weapons systems acquisition, i posed a question before our distinguished panel of experienced acquisition experts regarding how they would

0:28:42 to 0:29:02( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: weigh the causes of program cost overruns. i asked them to record percentages i called requirements creep, intentional underbidding and three optimistic or incompetent cost estimating. in short, what i took away from our answers was that fixing a broken defense acquisition system heavily lies with the requirements process.

0:29:03 to 0:29:23( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: i believe h.r. 2101 will help define requirements better upfront and establish a managed process for our military and defense ntractors. this bl will also address cost and scheduled delays on programs early on. this bill will force the d.o.d. to assess alternatives as soon as any major program starts

0:29:24 to 0:29:44( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: going off-track. this assessment of alternatives is not required unless the program incurs a nonsecurity breach which usually doesn't happen until a program is close to production. it had been a useful tool. it requires notification for congress for programs that exceeds cost estimates by 15% and termination of programs that

0:29:45 to 0:30:05( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: exceed cost estimates by 25% unless certified by the secretary of defense that is in our national security interest. h.r. 2101 provides tools and teeth to better manage and control costs of major programs from the very beginning. additionally, this bill elates the importance and role of the independent cost estimator. this person gets to select a

0:30:06 to 0:30:26( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: confence level that all cost estimates will be developed to and also gets to develop his o her own cost estimate. further, the individual has to concur with e choice of the cost estimate made by undersecretary defense for acquisition technology and assistance, atnl, in creating a baseline budget for the program.

0:30:27 to 0:30:48( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: lastly, i've been a longtime advocate for brokers for advising our talented military and officials. the idea would be that this individual does not report to the services or to atnl. they would report to the secretary and to congress about whether the taxpayers e really getting value for their money on

0:30:49 to 0:31:09( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: a program or if there are other alternative we should look at. this bill is very similar but not identical to legislation already passed by the senate, s. 545, under the leadership of senators carl levin and john mccain. there is se differences between the house and senate bills. there is unified bipartisan support for this house bill,

0:31:10 to 0:31:33( Edit History Discussion )

Roscoe G. Bartlett: h.r. 2101. it was approved unanimously. and i encourage my colleagues to ratify the recommendations of the house armed services committee with the strongest support of this bill as we go forward in conference with the other body. in conclusion, i believe h.r. 2101 is a long overdue piece of legislation that will greatly benefit the honorable men and