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Putting the private sector to work…
for the public good.
 

For Immediate Release                                                                                           March 14, 2001
Contact:  George P. Sigalos                                                                                  202-347-0600
                                    

CSA’S MARK WAGNER OF JOHNSON CONTROLS CALLS FOR SARA

(Washington, D.C.) – In recent testimony given before the House Government Reform Technology and Procurement Subcommittee, CSA’s Mark Wagner, Director of Federal Relations at Johnson Controls, Inc., told Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA.) that further services acquisition reform may be paved with the establishment of a Services Acquisition Reform Act, or SARA.  

“The way to achieve the same results as were realized from FASA and Clinger-Cohen is to promulgate similar reform initiatives that are being effectively deployed for hardware acquisitions—in essence, establishing a Services Acquisition Reform Act,” Wagner stated.  “We must increasingly find ways to entice the best commercial firms to sell services to the government.  And, when properly structured, performance-based contracting holds greater promise to reduce costs and increasing service quality.” 

In recommendations made by CSA’s Comments to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) last year, the Association outlined ideas gathered from industry to move this reform into fruition. They include: 

The Acquisition Reform Working Group (ARWG) that CSA co-chairs included some other proposals: 

In addition, Wagner noted that, “Performance based contracting capitalizes on private sector expertise and leverages technological innovations.  Small businesses should benefit since they are known to be the most innovative sector of our economy.  If enacted, these proposals will advance services acquisition reform and bring it into the 21st Century.  

Mark Wagner serves as chair of CSA’s Public Policy Council.  Full text of his remarks can be found HERE.