Congress Unwilling to Abide by Competitive Contracting

November 5, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

Washington, DC - Congress has justifiably been highly critical of billions of dollars in government contracts that the Administration has issued without competition for reconstruction efforts in Iraq and the Gulf Coast. In fact, Congress has repeatedly voted to end or limit these "no bid" contracts. Section 828 the Senate Defense Authorization bill simply applies that same reasoning to earmarks.

But, now they are adopting a "do as we say, not as we do" stance as this week the House Armed Services Committee leaders are working to strip requirements for contracts and grants resulting from earmarks to face competition. During consideration of the FY2008 Defense Authorization bill, the Senate adopted a common sense provision that would make earmarks subject to federal competitive bidding laws and regulations.

Supporters of requiring competition include Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayers Union, Project on Government Oversight, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and the Sunlight Foundation. Today, in a joint letter to members of Congress [PDF], the ten good government groups said, "Section 828 would not prevent members of Congress from making earmarks, it would simply introduce common sense transparency and competition in the awarding of grants and contracts."

Those common sense provisions ensure that the American taxpayers get the best deal and prevent favor exchanges which have cast a pall over the reputation of the Congress.

The most egregious corruption scandals in the past few years have all involved Members of Congress who steer earmarks to companies in exchange for money and favors. Eliminating Section 828 will be hard for members of Congress to justify given all the recent critical attention to congressional earmarks.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government.

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