THORNBERRY RELEASES ACQUISITION REFORM BILL

Mar 15, 2016
Press Release
"WE SIMPLY CAN NO LONGER AFFORD THE CURRENT ACQUISITION SYSTEM..."

WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced the Acquisition Agility Act, a bill to enact reforms in the defense acquisition system to ensure that the military can respond to rapidly changing threats.  The Chairman will discuss the bill and his proposed reforms at the Brookings Institution today at 1:00 PM EDT.  For the full bill text, bill memo, and fact sheet visit the Committee Defense Reform page here.  The Chairman had the following remarks on the bill:

"America faces a wider array of serious threats to our security than at any other time in our history.  Maintaining our technological edge is central to our ability to meet those threats and to defend the country.  Unfortunately, technological change is outpacing our ability to field cutting edge equipment for our troops.  We simply can no longer afford the current acquisition system. It costs too much, it takes too long, and our troops simply don’t get enough out of it.   The system needs critical reforms and that is why this year’s proposal will change its very foundations. It will give the military the freedom to experiment more and the flexibility to get prototypes into the field quickly.  The bill introduced today is designed to foster discussion among Members, the Department of Defense, and industry. I look forward to their comments as we ready the National Defense Authorization Act, which will carry these reforms forward.”