Summary: Testimony was given on proposed legislation which would encourage federal agencies to base their contract awards on competition to the maximum extent practical. GAO generally supports this legislation; however, there are a few areas of the bill in which GAO believes that refinements would be useful. The bill would preclude an agency from either awarding a contract or continuing contract performance when a protest is pending before GAO unless vital interests of the United States are at stake. GAO believes that this standard may be too rigid to apply realistically. In addition, GAO believes that the reporting requirements imposed on agencies may be unreasonable. However, a proposal to enable GAO to declare the entitlement of a successful protester to the costs of pursuing its protest, as well as to bid preparation costs, would enhance GAO ability to provide protesters with meaningful relief. GAO believes that the bill's tightened competition requirements, together with stricter protest requirements, could cause delay in Government procurement programs and increased costs. Furthermore, GAO sees no reason why procurements of automatic data processing equipment could be protested to the General Services Administration as well as to GAO. GAO believes that: (1) a better definition is needed of the circumstances authorizing the use of noncompetitive practices; (2) a report should be required in each case where the lack of advance planning caused a noncompetitive procurement; (3) the bill should provide that failure to obligate funds by reason of a pending protest should not cause the funds to lapse if the protest is resolved in favor of the agency; and (4) GAO should be given some discretion to determine how best to handle its caseload.
