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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle B—Acquisition Policy and Management

JWNDAA Section

House Conference Report 109-702

(a) Establishment-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Defense shall establish a panel to be known as the `Panel on Contracting Integrity'.

(2) COMPOSITION- The panel shall be composed of the following:

(A) A representative of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, who shall be the chairman of the panel.

(B) A representative of the service acquisition executive of each military department.

(C) A representative of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense.

(D) A representative of the Inspector General of each military department.

(E) A representative of each Defense Agency involved with contracting, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of Defense.

(F) Such other representatives as may be determined appropriate by the Secretary of Defense.

(b) Duties- In addition to other matters assigned to it by the Secretary of Defense, the panel shall--

(1) conduct reviews of progress made by the Department of Defense to eliminate areas of vulnerability of the defense contracting system that allow fraud, waste, and abuse to occur;

(2) review the report by the Comptroller General required by section 841 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (Public Law 109-163; 119 Stat. 3389), relating to areas of vulnerability of Department of Defense contracts to fraud, waste, and abuse; and

(3) recommend changes in law, regulations, and policy that it determines necessary to eliminate such areas of vulnerability.

(c) Meetings- The panel shall meet as determined necessary by the Secretary of Defense but not less often than once every six months.

(d) Report-

(1) REQUIREMENT- The panel shall prepare and submit to the Secretary of Defense and the congressional defense committees an annual report on its activities. The report shall be submitted not later than December 31 of each year and contain a summary of the panel's findings and recommendations for the year covered by the report.

(2) FIRST REPORT- The first report under this subsection shall be submitted not later than December 31, 2007, and shall contain an examination of the current structure in the Department of Defense for contracting integrity and recommendations for any changes needed to the system of administrative safeguards and disciplinary actions to ensure accountability at the appropriate level for any violations of appropriate standards of behavior in contracting.

(3) INTERIM REPORTS- The panel may submit such interim reports to the congressional defense committees as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate.

(e) Termination- The panel shall terminate on December 31, 2009.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 814) that would establish a Panel on Contracting Integrity to review progress made by the Department of Defense to eliminate areas of vulnerability of the defense contracting system to waste, fraud, and abuse. The panel would be chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. The panel would review the Government Accountability Office report relating to contracting vulnerabilities to waste, fraud, and abuse; and make recommendations on any changes to law, regulations, and policy determined necessary to eliminate such areas of vulnerability.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would: (1) assign a representative of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics as the chair of the panel; (2) provide the Department with increased flexibility in determining the membership of the panel; (3) require submission of the first annual report to the congressional defense committees by December 31, 2007; and (4) terminate the panel on December 31, 2009. The conferees agree that the panel’s initial review should include an examination of the Department’s administrative and disciplinary procedures for cases involving lapses in contracting integrity and include recommendations on any changes to such procedures the panel determines appropriate in the first annual report.

House Armed Services Committee Report 109-452

SECTION 814--ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL ON CONTRACTING INTEGRITY

This section would establish a panel on contracting integrity to eliminate areas of vulnerability of the defense contracting system to fraud, waste and abuse. The panel would be chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Defense and include the service acquisition executive of each military department, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency and the Director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency. This section would require the panel to submit an annual report on its activities to the congressional defense committees.