The Homeland Security Department lacks the
experienced procurement employees needed to properly handle
performance-based contracts, the chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee has said.
Gaps in the workforce caused significant problems with those contracts, he also said.
In
a hearing held May 8, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said
DHS needed active involvement between procurement staff members and
program managers along with effective oversight of contractors.
Thompson
said some of those problems stem from DHS' lack of contracting
employees. He said that, as of February, DHS employs 60 percent of the
procurement staff members the agency needs to manage its contracts.
"When
we are spending the taxpayer's money, complacency about the weaknesses
in DHS' procurement shop is not acceptable," Thompson said.
Several
DHS performance-based contracts created cost overruns and low-quality
products, he said, citing the Coast Guard's Deepwater program. The
Guard, a component of DHS, spent $1 billion on the fleet modernization
program, but was left with substandard vessels, Thompson said.
DHS Chief Procurement Officer Thomas Essiq testified he is pushing to fill the gaps in his procurement workforce.
"We
are intensifying our human capital planning efforts to minimize skill
and competency gaps as well as minimize our critical vacancies and
reliance on contractors," Essiq said.
Essiq said his office also
is updating its acquisition training program and getting acquisition
professionals to mentor less-experienced contracting employees on the
workings of performance-based acquisitions.
Source: http://www.fcw.com
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