and then second, on the trafficking bill, and with regard to provisions in the mccaskill bill if you could get back to us in writing, if you could give us any comments we have. i apologize, i'm going to run to the floor to vote. i appreciate you being here today, and i thank the chair for holding the hearing. >> what i will do is ask you all to hold, vote quickly, and come right back. i have a little bit more for this panel and we have the remaining panel of igs. i'll be right back. >> look at subcontracting as an area that i'd like your input on. there has been -- i'd especially like you to speak before you all leave, whether or not you think any of the limitations we've put in here on suspension and debarment or limitations on subcontracting, if you think they're workable in a contingency, do they cause you pause, especially if you consider the waivers that -- provisions that we have in there, the six-month lead time before any of these requirements would go into effect, the noncompetitive/competitive requirements we have in here? let me start with that. do any of those cause you a

talk a little bit about database of pricing information which is something that's in senator mccaskill's bill and also been talked about by the war time contracting commission. and a number of the ig reports

talk a little bit about database of pricing information which is something that's in senator mccaskill's bill and also been talked about by the war time contracting commission. and a number of the ig reports have talked about it as well. basically, how do you get a fair price? competition i think is the best way. but another way, of course, is ensure that we have a database of pricing information that is transparent, that's accessible, and that is one that the agency's and departments can rely on. one dramatic example is a report that came out of the special inspector general's office in july last year which found that one department of defense contractor was charging 900 bucks for a control spich that was worth $7, in this cases contractors matchups ranging from 2,300% to 12,000%. so we've had plenty of examples of this brought forward by ig reports and by the commission itself. again, enhanced competition is a powerful tool. i'd like to hear from our witnesses about the feasibility of a more systemic way to approach this issue, tracking pricing information to ensure that contracting agencie

to talk a little about database of pricing information which is something that's in senator mccaskill's bill and has also been talked about by the wartime contracting commission. it's basically, you know, how do you get a fair price. and competition, i think, is the best way. but another way, of course, is to insure that we have a database of pricing information that is transparent, that's accessible and that is one that the agencies and departments can rely on. one dramatic example is a report that came out of the special inspector general's office in july last year which found that one department of defense contractor was charging $900 for a control switch that was worth $7, this some cases the ig found markups ranging from 2300% to 12,000%. so we've, again, had plenty of examples of this brought forward by ig reports and by the commission itself. and, again, enhanced competition is a powerful tool. but i'd like to hear from our witnesses about the feasibility of a more systemic way to approach this issue, tracking pricing information to insure that contracting agencies are getting a good

spending in the last cycle was a bill that was sponsored by claire mccaskill and jeff sessions against the wishes of her own party. when she agrees with the president says separate when she disagrees, she says so. when you contrast her vision with where the republicans are, republicans on a radio show could not tell you what the minimum wage was and were in favor of an amendment that failed in mississippi. these are far right wing extra republicans, one who yesterday said we should focus on whether we should impeach the president. that is not the type of leadership that missouri wants and i am confident that claire will win. >> everyone we have running guy will say they are a lunatic. this is what they say about all these people. claire mccaskill has been running for 60 months and we have not shown one poll beating anybody. you would think senator mccaskill would come through. she cannot. >> there are close aides to the senate leadership [inaudible] >> you mentioned the notion that these candidates across the country will have enough money to establish their own brand and talk about th

department's position on each of the provisions in the proposed bill in my written testimony so i'll not repeat that now. senator mccaskill, you and senator webb also co-sponsored the legislation that contracted the commission on wartime contracting and i'd like to thank both you've for your leadership on this important topic. it spanned three years and their august 2011 final report recommendations are the basis for many provisions of this bill. the department maintains a scorecard to manage our progress against all of the commission's recommendations. the government accountability office is currently evaluating the department's implementation of the commission's recommendations and we have been actively providing information on our progress to them. the department has been and continues to be focused on proving operational contract support. it has been a journey and we believe we are making good progress. the bill we are here to discuss today is another positive step in that journey. the department of defense concurs with many of the provisions of the bills -- of the bill, but we do have some concerns and we would like

senator mccaskill has announced a bill, accountability in government act and it's fatally flawed becausehe is trying to legislate good behavior, rather than enforcing laws thattor the books. i think a lot of reforms are hoping to head up gsa fthey would enforce the law, they would achieve a lot of us. >> shannon: where did that fall apart? >> ultimately tcome from the top, the administration has a responsibility for the personnel, the financial management and the -- you know, the overall policy management of the agency. when, as markety johnson did, when you delegate away, all of your authorities to others, when you refuse to accept the accountability and responsibility, chaos is going to ensue. that's what we have seen. >> shannon: what do you thinkingly the end result here of the investigations and the public light shipping on this? >> the inspector general has said he has 30 more investigations that have yet to be disclosedclosed in full or cd out. so i believe there is much more to come. but for the american people, it's very concerning because gsa has a responsibility to reign in sp

bill's sponsors, senator jim webb, along with pentagon and state department officials. this senate subcommittee hearing on contracting is chaired by missouri senator claire mccaskill who is also a co-sponsor of the legislation. >> i want to welcome everyone to this hearing this morning. i know that senator portman will be arriving shortly. i did want to not keep our first witness waiting. my colleague, senator jim webb, is here to give testimony about our subject today as a brief introductory remark, i'm not going to go into who he is and why he's here because i think most people know who he is. but i do want to say just about why he's here when i came to the senate in 2007, senator webb and i quickly found that we had a place we wanted to work on. and that was contracting and contingencies. his background in the military was a great asset to us as we put together the war contracting commission legislation. and he and i worked on it together and succeeded back in the day that -- before senator warner had retired. senator warner as the ranking member of the armed services committee was a tough sell. i mean, people need to remember the context that this legislation was bro

mccaskill, ranking member portman, thank you for inviting me to discuss the comprehensive contingency contract and reform act of 2012. we share your desire to strengthen contingency contracting. our review of the bill continues and we very much welcome madam chairman, your request that we work with you. we've met with your staff once and we very much appreciate your invitation. we look forward to continuing to do so.

forward to continuing to work with our sponsors of this amendment led by senator mccaskill to work with the floor leaders on this billbecause we must not pass through here, we must not pass through this chamber a bill that would carve the heart of both the economy and the communications out of rural america. thank you, mr. president. mr. merkley: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

>> german mccaskill, thank you for inviting me to discuss the comprehensive conceit contract and reform act of 2012. we share your desire to strengthen the to subcontracting. i review of bill continues and we very much welcome, madam chairman, your request that we work with you. we have met with your staff once and we very much appreciate your invitation and we look forward continuing to do so. this legislation builds on the import work of the commission on wartime contract in. the department worked continuously with the commission from its formation in 2008 until its sunset, gaining valuable insight. we have been taken many steps to improve contacting based on the oversighthe cwcm, entities, and our own lessons learned. we have learned much from the iraq transition, working closely with the dot, usaid, and interstates the partners. on april 3, secretary clinton described the iraq transition as the largest military civilian transition since the marshall plan. we are now taking the lessons learned in iraq and applying them to contracting, planning, and execution and afghanistan. state centralization of acquisitions for goods and services and our acquisitions management offi

mccaskill: madam president, senate bill 1789 makes significant changes to the federal employees compensation act, feca, which i support. the changes seek to reduce overspending in the program. but this is an amendment that will allow a couple of considerations that i think are important to include. the amendment, along with other things, would improve upon the current program by providing those injured while deployed in armed conflict additional time to file a claim for feca benefits and to ensure that deployed employees injured in a terrorist attack overseas while off duty would receive the feca benefits. it also creates an exemption for hardship if someone would be eligible for food stafns, if their benefits are decreased even further. these provisions are similar to the feca reform legislation, house resolution 2465, that has already passed the house of representatives, and i would ask for the consideration of the body of this amendment. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine is recognized. ms. collins: madam president, first let me commend the senator

about the postal reform bill, but i wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for his very compelling statement. and i yield the floor to my friend from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri is recognized. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, i spent a lot of my childhood in a very small town in missouri. from the time i was about three years old until the fourth grade, i lived in a town called lebanon, missouri. and my dad was a life insurance salesman and sold life insurance at fort leonard wood. my mother's family had the corner drugstore about a block off main street in lebanon, missouri. and i have fond and vivid memories of my childhood in lebanon, and one of them was the trip that i would take whenever i was hanging out down at my family's drugstore. this was my great-uncle and great aunt who had raised my mother, so they were like my grandparents. he was the pharmacist, and she ran the lunch counter at the drugstore. and i would go with my great-uncle on his run to the post office. we'd walk up two blocks, and we would go in the post office. and i remember even how it smelled. i remember how it looked. i r