Homeward Bound
"Accenture . . . and then Accenture . . . and then Accenture." That's how Bob Welch, a partner in the consulting firm Acquisition Solutions, sums up recent news in procurement by civilian federal agencies. Welch is referring to the contract that Bermuda-based Accenture won in June to develop U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT), a system for the Homeland Security Department that will use biometric data such as fingerprints and retinal scans to track the entry and exit of visitors to the United States.
The contract grabbed headlines because of its size. Accenture beat out Lockheed Martin Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp. for the $10 billion job, which some observers say marks the arrival of the still-young DHS as a major player in the procurement arena. The deal also made news when the House Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to block the award because Accenture is headquartered outside the United States. The move failed in the full House.
Though not yet the windfall that many contractors have been hoping for, DHS spent a notable $6.8 billion in fiscal 2003 (including legacy obligations from its agencies before the department officially opened for business in March 2003). Only the Energy Department, NASA and the General Services Administration spent more. The bulk of DHS funds went to large companies. Homeland Security's top 10 contractors, including Boeing Co. and Accenture, accounted for 42 percent of its spending. The Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau led spending among DHS agencies.
Overall civilian agency spending for prime contracts worth $25,000 or more rose by 14 percent from fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2003, from $80.5 billion to $92 billion. Four agencies account for 60 percent of total civilian spending-Energy with $21 billion, the General Services Administration with $15.4 billion, NASA with $11.7 billion and DHS, whose share should grow as US-VISIT goes into effect and other highly anticipated contracts are awarded. The department has added a chief procurement officer in an effort to develop a more efficient contracting operation.
There are signs of growing concern within government for greater oversight of contractors and procurement rules. In April 2003, the Energy Department announced that its long-standing contract with the University of California to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory would be put up for competition in 2005 because of revelations of mismanagement at the facility. And in May, House Democrats released a study that found an increase in noncompetitive contracts governmentwide, prompting calls from House Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., for greater safeguards.
In June, GSA announced that it would create a top-level position to oversee contracting. The addition of a chief acquisition officer at the agency follows findings that the agency's Federal Technology Service, which coordinates technology contracts for other agencies on a fee-for-service basis, had violated procurement laws and regulations. In one high-profile example, the Defense Department used a GSA technology schedule to procure interrogation services for Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
In July, GSA and the Pentagon announced an initiative called Get It Right to crack down on procurement abuses, and GSA is conducting an extensive review of contracts it awarded on behalf of other agencies.