Industry Groups Fight Defense Procurement Amendments The Acquisition Reform Working Group, a coalition of contractor organizations, has raised objections to several provisions of the pending 2006 Defense Authorization bill. In comments sent to Congress, the group opposed a provision in the Senate bill that would require defense contractors to name all former DOD employees working for the company and to specify which defense systems they had worked on, in both government and the private sector. The group said the reporting requirement would be “burdensome” to contractors and raises privacy concerns, and added, “Given the volume of data that would be submitted, it is highly unlikely that the government could make any use of it.” The provision is one outgrowth of the scandal involving former Air Force procurement official Darleen Druyun, who admitted doing special favors for the Boeing Co. before she took a job with the company. The Senate bill, S. 1042, is scheduled for debate when Congress returns from its August recess. The contractors groups also oppose a section of the House-passed Defense Authorization bill that would strengthen Buy American restrictions. Section 818 of the House bill would require at least 50% of the components of defense purchases to be made in the U.S. and the end product to be assembled in the U.S. “The way technology is currently sourced, there may be little or no hardware that can meet the Buy American test in House Section 818,” the working group said. It said the assembly of technology hardware is the least important part of the process: “The value of technology is in its intellectual content, not the location of its final assembly facility.” After the Senate acts on the bill, the final language will be crafted in a joint House-Senate conference committee this fall. The Acquisition Reform Working Group is made up of 10 business organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Defense Industrial Association and the Aerospace Industries Association.