WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter today, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) joined several of her Senate colleagues, including Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.), to urge Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Ranking Member Robert C. Byrd (D-W.V.) to preserve language in the House Defense Appropriations bill that prohibits the U.S. Army from outsourcing 350 federal jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A similar provision, introduced by Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes, was defeated by a close 50-48 vote, during the bill’s consideration in the Senate last week.

“Our federal employees are on the front lines every day, working hard for America. These hardworking men and women deserve to be treated fairly and, at the very least, deserve to have the same rights that contractors do,” said Senator Mikulski. “I will keep fighting to fix the competition process that is shamefully slanted in favor of private contractors.”

The Walter Reed employees are scheduled to lose their jobs as a result of an outsourcing contract at the Medical Center. The House Defense Appropriations bill includes language that blocks the privatization on the grounds that the bidding process – known as an A-76 privatization review – was unfairly slanted against federal contractors. The contracting out review process not only took more than six years and $7 million to complete, but would cost taxpayers another $5 million to implement. In August, Senator Mikulski organized her colleagues to urge Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey to refrain from moving forward with the outsourcing, scheduled for the end of August, until Congress finished its consideration of the DOD spending bill. The Senate effort was successful, and the Secretary has postponed the move until after Congress completes its work. For a copy of the letter, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=262475.

“I am not opposed to privatization, but if it occurs with federal jobs then it must be legal and fair. If this privatization effort really saved money, I would support it. But because it is so flawed and so unfair, I am duty-bound to oppose it,” said Senator Mikulski. “This competition has wasted taxpayer money and is unfair to federal employees. It doesn’t do justice to our heroes at Walter Reed.”

Initially, federal employees at Walter Reed won the $120 million contract in 2004. However, the Army’s privatization process and review were so lengthy in violation of the time allowed by law, and so costly, that the Army itself tried to cancel the privatization effort, but DOD officials refused its request. Earlier this year, over the objections of Walter Reed’s Deputy Garrison Commander, the Army reversed its earlier decision for the employees and awarded the work to a contractor.

Senator Mikulski has been a consistent fighter for federal employees. In 2005, despite a veto threat by the White House, Senator Mikulski secured a major victory for federal employees by including provisions in the Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development (TTHUD) 2006 spending bill to help government workers compete with contractors and provide improved guidelines for a more fair competition process before jobs are contracted out. The provisions are also included in the 2007 TTHUD spending bill, which has passed the full Senate Appropriations Committee and is pending consideration by the Senate.

The text of the letter follows:

The Honorable Thad Cochran, Chairman,
Committee on Appropriations

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations

Dear Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd:

We are writing to urge the Conference Committee to preserve language included in the House Defense Appropriations bill that prohibits funding to implement the privatization of base operations support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). You may remember that a similar amendment offered to the Senate Defense Appropriations bill was only narrowly defeated, garnering the support of 48 Senators.

We remain very concerned about the manner in which this A-76 study was conducted. The study has lasted for over six years, resulted in extraordinary costs to implement (over $12 million), and has been conducted contrary to rules governing A-76 competitions. It is unfair to federal employees, who were declared the winner of this competition in September 2004, only to have that decision reversed in early January 2006.

If federal employees are to have any confidence in the A-76 process, it must be conducted with integrity and consistent with applicable laws. This privatization at Walter Reed fails to qualify on either count. We urge you to support inclusion of the House language in the final Conference Report to restore credibility to the A-76 process.

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.)
Senator Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.)
Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.)
Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).
Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.)
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.)
Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Senator Robert Menedez (D-N.J.)
Senator Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)