Post by shoreman on Oct 9, 2005 15:37:31 GMT -5
CCAGW Slams Senate for
Defense Travel System Vote
councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=9336
(Washington, D.C.) - The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) criticized the Senate for yesterday’s 65-32 vote to table an amendment to curtail waste under the Defense Travel System (DTS).
Proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the amendment would have prevented the Department of Defense (DOD) from using funds for the multi-billion dollar e-travel system. Last week, CCAGW President Tom Schatz testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security about the over-budget and underperforming DTS.
“Disaster relief and the war on terror are pushing the deficit toward $400 billion,” Schatz said. “If the Senate will not cut funds for obvious boondoggles, the prospects for broader offsets to emergency spending are abysmal.”
Now six years behind schedule, DTS has failed to meet the Pentagon’s expectations for a cost-efficient and streamlined in-house travel system. DOD continues to pay $40 to $50 million annually up front for the development, deployment, operation and maintenance of DTS. The system supposed to cost a fixed price of $64 million after it had been operationally deployed to every DOD facility and a fee paid to the contractor each time it was used. The total cost for five years with full usage was supposed to be $263.7 million. In March 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the “DTS total life cycle cost estimate, including the military service and Defense agencies, is $4.39 billion.” Taxpayers are paying $4.13 billion, or 1,565 percent, more than the original 1998 figure.
After prime contractor Northrop Grumman realized that DTS was more cumbersome than anticipated, the original fee-for-service contract was re-worked, foisting all costs associated with the system onto taxpayers. The system is also defective and cannot guarantee the lowest fare. Both the DOD inspector general (IG) and the agency’s program and evaluation office have documented problems with DTS; the IG recommended canceling the program in July 2002. Citizens Against Government Waste documented many of these problems in its September 2004 report Defense Travel System: The Twilight Zone of Travel.
Chairman Coburn’s amendment to the fiscal 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act would have restricted the Pentagon’s use of e-travel systems to paying only for actual use by travelers, as is the case with the General Services Administration's (GSA) eTravel Service Contract used by the rest of the federal government.
“By defeating the Coburn amendment, the Senate has given a green light to the waste and mismanagement of defense dollars at a time of war and fiscal crisis,” Schatz concluded.
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
More CAGW news releases here.
Defense Travel System Vote
councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=9336
(Washington, D.C.) - The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) criticized the Senate for yesterday’s 65-32 vote to table an amendment to curtail waste under the Defense Travel System (DTS).
Proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the amendment would have prevented the Department of Defense (DOD) from using funds for the multi-billion dollar e-travel system. Last week, CCAGW President Tom Schatz testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security about the over-budget and underperforming DTS.
“Disaster relief and the war on terror are pushing the deficit toward $400 billion,” Schatz said. “If the Senate will not cut funds for obvious boondoggles, the prospects for broader offsets to emergency spending are abysmal.”
Now six years behind schedule, DTS has failed to meet the Pentagon’s expectations for a cost-efficient and streamlined in-house travel system. DOD continues to pay $40 to $50 million annually up front for the development, deployment, operation and maintenance of DTS. The system supposed to cost a fixed price of $64 million after it had been operationally deployed to every DOD facility and a fee paid to the contractor each time it was used. The total cost for five years with full usage was supposed to be $263.7 million. In March 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the “DTS total life cycle cost estimate, including the military service and Defense agencies, is $4.39 billion.” Taxpayers are paying $4.13 billion, or 1,565 percent, more than the original 1998 figure.
After prime contractor Northrop Grumman realized that DTS was more cumbersome than anticipated, the original fee-for-service contract was re-worked, foisting all costs associated with the system onto taxpayers. The system is also defective and cannot guarantee the lowest fare. Both the DOD inspector general (IG) and the agency’s program and evaluation office have documented problems with DTS; the IG recommended canceling the program in July 2002. Citizens Against Government Waste documented many of these problems in its September 2004 report Defense Travel System: The Twilight Zone of Travel.
Chairman Coburn’s amendment to the fiscal 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act would have restricted the Pentagon’s use of e-travel systems to paying only for actual use by travelers, as is the case with the General Services Administration's (GSA) eTravel Service Contract used by the rest of the federal government.
“By defeating the Coburn amendment, the Senate has given a green light to the waste and mismanagement of defense dollars at a time of war and fiscal crisis,” Schatz concluded.
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
More CAGW news releases here.