Federal Manager's Daily Report

In a policy statement on the Interior appropriations bill

(HR-4568) the Bush administration objected to several

provisions affecting its contracting-out and e-government

initiatives. The statement said the administration “strongly

opposes provisions that would restrict entities funded

under this bill from improving program management through

competitive sourcing. The bill unnecessarily limits the

funds that may be spent on competitive sourcing studies

and faces agencies to make decisions based solely on cost

considerations, rather than both cost and quality.


“The administration has adopted a reasoned and responsible

approach for ensuring the fair and effective application of

competition, including measures to share successful

practices and take prompt corrective action where results

fall short of expectations,” the statement said, citing a

recent administration report estimating savings from

competitive sourcing of more than $1 billion over the next

three to five years.


The administration also objected to provisions that it said

would prevent the agencies from implementing key elements

of the e-government initiative, a part of the President’s

Management Agenda. “The provision prohibits funds to

implement Safecom, disaster management, e-training and

e-rulemaking, and will hamper achieving the goal of

e-government, which is to create a more citizen-centered

government rather than an agency-centered one. Without

full agency participation, the federal government’s ability

to deliver information and services to the citizen will

be greatly undermined.”