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

For Immediate Release  
November 1, 2001
Contact:  George P. Sigalos                                                           202-347-0600

CSA’s WAGNER TELLS CONGRESS TO MAKE SARA A PRIORITY 

(Washington, D.C.) – Mark Wagner, Johnson Controls VP for Government Affairs and Chairman of CSA’s Public Policy Committee, this week told Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and the House Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy that services acquisition reform must move forward in a manner consistent with weapons procurement reform achieved in recent years. 

“Reforming the way services are acquired lags behind that achieved in the past few years for weapons systems acquisition,” Wagner said.  “Similar acquisition reform initiatives aimed specifically at services contracting is now needed to help the government continue to reduce its infrastructure and costs.” 

The Contract Services Association has been working in tandem with the staff of the Government Reform Subcommittee for the services reform bill, or SARA, the Services Acquisition Reform Act.  The Act may be viewed, Wagner said, as an equivalent to the FASA and Clinger-Cohen laws. 

“The role of government contracting has entered an era of rapidly changing, commercially-driven technological advances,” Wagner said.  “A healthy, competitive, and innovative industry meeting the government’s needs, specifically those of our defense industrial base, should be closely integrated with the commercial marketplace.  SARA would allow us to take advantage of the innovations offered in the services area and put a welcome emphasis on the needs of the federal acquisition workforce.” 

Wagner focused on the areas of Workforce Initiatives, Business Management Reform, and Commercial Services Acquisition in making his remarks before Congress.  A complete review of Mr. Wagner’s comments may be made HERE.