Congress Gives Go-Ahead For Base Closings Both houses of Congress voted to allow the Pentagon to go ahead with the 2005 round of military base closings and realignments and opened the Defense Department’s mentor-protégé program to HUBZone companies and those owned by service-disabled veterans. The provisions are part of the 2005 Defense Authorization Act that is awaiting President Bush’s signature. The House-Senate conference committee dropped many restrictions on defense procurement that had been included in earlier versions of the bill. They killed a provision that would have prohibited DOD from paying a service fee of more than 1% when it made purchases through contract vehicles operated by other agencies. The provision would have blocked DOD purchases through some multiple-award contracts and through GSA’s Federal Technology Service, which charges fees of 2% to 3%. DOD is FTS’s largest customer. The final bill directs the DOD and GSA inspectors general to review the policies and internal controls of GSA’s Client Support Centers and certify in writing by March 15, 2005, that each center is in compliance with defense procurement laws and regulations. The provisions were a response to investigations that found procurement abuses in some FTS regional offices. The abuses included use of IT funds to buy services such as construction and interrogators for the Army in Iraq. Among other provisions of the authorization bill that were backed by many contractors: DOD will be permitted to extend contracts for more than five years, including options. Last year’s authorization act limited all defense contracts and task orders to five years. The Federal Acquisition Regulation councils will be allowed to increase the simplified acquisition threshold to keep up with inflation. The threshold is currently $100,000; purchases below that amount are reserved for small businesses. Military installations will be allowed to hire private security guards under certain conditions for two more years. (For provisions on public-private job competitions, see separate story.)