HASC Continues to Focus on Improving Defense Acquisition Outcomes

On Thursday July 10, 2014, the full House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony on Defense Reform: Empowering Acquisition Success. The Honorable Frank Kendall, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management Stephanie Barna are scheduled to testify.

Their testimony comes after a panel of distinguished experts on defense acquisition reform testified before the Committee last month and shared their views on case studies in acquisition reform. 

Below are some key quotes from the previous panel's testimony that will help inform this week's hearing. 

"The acquisition process is dynamic and complex.  And an effective and workable solution must consider a wide number of factors in a diverse group of stakeholders.  Building a comprehensive acquisition model relies on valuable input from the Pentagon, the individual services industries and certainly the members of Congress." - The Honorable Elizabeth McGrath, former Deputy Chief Management Officer, Department of Defense

"And so, as we go ahead with defense acquisition reform or improvement we should pay attention to whether we are trying to attack the symptoms or whether we are, in fact, trying to focus on the underlying causes because a lot of the time it seems to me we are going after the symptoms and not the underlying causes." - Ron O'Rourke, National Defense Specialist, Congressional Research Service

"There is not, as I have said before, a silver bullet for the real and perceived shortcomings of the Defense Acquisition System.  In my opinion, the single greatest asset over time comes back to the people.?" - The Honorable Brett Lambert, Senior Fellow, National Defense Industrial Association  

"How can we hold anyone responsible when many organizations can put their foot on the brake, stop or delay action, but no one, not even the secretary [of Defense], consistently can generate desired outcomes?  Secretary Gates went on to suggest we are all responsible for the system we have and its performance.  It took a committee effort to build a system that can frustrate the clear choices about relative risk and it will take a team effort to change it." - Dr. Christopher Lamb, Deputy Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies 

Last year, HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) tapped HASC Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) to lead the Committee's ongoing effort to achieve meaningful reform to the Defense Department's acquisition processes.