FOR PLANNING PURPOSES               FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

May 17, 2010                                     Kathryn Prael/ Betsy Arnold (Tierney):  (202) 225-8020

***Media Advisory***

NATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

“Defense Acquisitions: One Year after Reform”

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at 10 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs will continue its oversight of the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) acquisition process.  The hearing will examine the conclusions and recommendations made in the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) March 2010 Assessment of Selected Weapon Programs, with a focus on how well DOD is planning and executing its weapons acquisition programs.  The GAO report is available here.

The witnesses will discuss what progress has been made towards implementing reforms and best practices in the acquisition process since GAO’s 2008 assessment reported that the Pentagon had exceeded original budget estimates by $295 billion and that delays in the delivery of initial weapons’ capabilities were averaging nearly two years.  The 2008 report also found that all 72 programs surveyed by GAO had failed to meet industry accepted best practices.  The causes of these growing problems were examined at a Subcommittee hearing on April 29, 2008 entitled “Oversight of Defense Acquisitions.”  All materials from the 2008 hearing are available here.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Defense Department witnesses will respond to GAO’s repeated findings that the Department is not implementing best practices in its acquisitions programs and will address the question of whether taxpayer funds are being spent responsibly and to respond to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ recent call for cuts in defense spending.  Witnesses will also be asked to discuss the implementation and impact of the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, and the potential impact of the IMPROVE Acquisition Act.

WITNESS LIST:

The hearing will feature a single three-witness panel, including:

·        Mike Sullivan, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, United States Government Accountability Office;

·        Nancy Spruill, Ph.D., Director, Acquisition Resources and Analysis, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; and

·        John Roth, Deputy Comptroller for Program/Budget, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller).

WHERE:                2154 Rayburn House Office Building

WHEN:                  10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19, 2010