“The Army has devised a methodology that can reliably and accurately collect vital information about the contractor work force and its costs, without placing an unreasonable reporting burden on contractors. We are pleased to see that the vast majority of AFGE’s sensible recommendations, offered during the publish-and-comment period to make the Army’s interim rule even more comprehensive, were included in the final rule.
“The Army reports that the data collected will ‘…provide unprecedented departmental level visibility of the missions supported and functions performed by contractors’ and will allow the Army to ‘…assess whether, and to what extent, contractors may be performing [inherently governmental] functions … which, when contracted out beyond a certain level of reliance, increase operational risks to overall Army mission capabilities and readiness.’
“It would be unfortunate if all other agencies fail to follow the Army’s example. Out of the entire Defense Department, only the Army has made any progress toward complying with the 2000 defense authorization bill which calls for contractor inventories to be put in place no later than March 2001.
“There is only one bill pending before Congress that would require all agencies to finally establish contractor inventories—AFGE’s Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting (TRAC) Act (H.R. 3766 and S. 2841). AFGE urges Congress to pass this critically-needed legislation in 2001.”
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