S. 3001 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009

The House of Representatives voted to include in the Defense Authorization bill the Waxman Clean Contracting amendment, which is a response to pervasive waste, fraud, and abuse uncovered by congressional, GAO and Inspector General investigations. The Clean Contracting amendment would (1) require agencies to enhance competition in contracting, (2) limit the use of abuse-prone contracts, (3) rebuild the federal acquisition workforce, (4) strengthen anti-fraud measures, and (5) increase transparency in federal contracting.

This legislation also requires that the Department of Defense develop a new, more cost-effective strategy for obtaining Defense Base Act insurance for agency contractors. Information obtained by the Committee and released by Chairman Waxman revealed that, from 2002, through 2007, the top four insurers had made almost $600 million in excess profits from coverage provided under the DBA program.