Contracting: Does Performance Matter?

On Wednesday, July 18, 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing titled, “Federal Contracting: Do Poor Performers Keep Winning?”

This hearing reviewed flaws in federal contracting that allow contractors with poor performance records to either renew existing contracts or receive subsequent contracts with the same or different federal agencies.

Chairman Towns said:

"This committee’s investigations have gathered evidence of serious, well-documented performance problems with large federal contracts.  But these problems never seem to prevent the companies involved from getting new work." 

"I remember the old saying, 'Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.'  Well, in my view the taxpayers are being fooled time and time again."

"I hear from my constituents, and from small and minority-owned businesses nationwide, that they can’t get contracts with the government, only subcontracts from these enormous firms that get all the prime contracts.  I am very concerned that when the government does not expect existing contractors to meet high standards, the innovative new companies are effectively frozen out."

"We could really shake up federal contracting if we could cut out the middleman and give some new people a shot.  And it would be an incentive for everyone to step up their performance, if they knew that doing a lousy job would mean the next contract went to someone new."