Deluzio, Moylan Introduce “The Best Price for Our Military Act of 2024” to Protect Public Funds and Fight Price Gouging in the Defense Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Armed Services Committee members Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) and Congressman James Moylan (R-Guam) introduced the Best Price for Our Military Act of 2024 to fight back against contractor price gouging in the defense industry. Their bill closes a timing loophole in the Truth in Negotiations Act by requiring that defense contractors provide certified cost and pricing data on the products they are selling to the Department of Defense (DOD) before not only a contract award, but also a contract agreement.
“It is my job as a member of the House Armed Services Committee to oversee the Department of Defense and ensure our military is equipped in the face of tremendous challenges around the globe,” said Rep. Deluzio. “Sadly, the American people and our service members are too often getting ripped off by defense contractors. I'm in Congress to serve the people, not to beef the profits of giant corporations. We need better accountability, transparency, and competition in government contracting to strengthen our defense industrial base and to protect public money. The bill that Rep. Moylan and I are introducing today will help move toward this goal.”
“My constituents, the people of Guam, need the Armed Forces to be adequately equipped to defend our island,” said Rep. Moylan. “If the Department of Defense has its hands tied when negotiating with contractors, this puts my island at risk. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am further committed to ending the lack of accountability and transparency in government contracting. Rep. Deluzio and I will be working together to combat price gouging and unfair practices through the Best Price for Our Military Act of 2024. I thank my colleague for his work on TINA reform, and am proud to co-lead this bill.”
The Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) is current law that requires defense contractors with DOD contracts worth over two million dollars to provide certified cost and pricing data, or accurate, complete, and current pricing information to DOD. The intention of TINA is to provide DOD contracting officers with the information they need to ensure that the government is getting a good deal. The current problem is that there is nothing in TINA that specifically states when this data must be given to the contracting officer—other than before the final contract award. Consequently, this creates a loophole where defense contractors and the buyers at the Defense Department end up agreeing on a deal prior to the contractor furnishing the requisite certified cost and pricing data. Under current law, as long as the contractor submits the data before the contract award there is no technical violation of TINA—but it does violate the intention of the law. The Best Price for Our Military Act of 2024 will help close this loophole, bring more specificity into the law, and help avoid defense contractor price gouging of the Defense Department’s public money.
The full text of the bipartisan Best Price for Our Military Act of 2024 is available here.
Congressman Deluzio’s amendment to bring more transparency into defense contracts by clarifying when cost or pricing data is required and closing loopholes in existing requirements was passed into law as a part of the FY2024 NDAA. He also previously introduced the Stop Price Gouging the Military Act with Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA-08) and Senators Warren (D-MA) and Mike Braun (R-IN) to also close loopholes in current acquisition laws, tie financial incentives for contractors to performance, and provide the DOD with the information necessary to prevent future rip offs. Rep. Deluzio gave a detailed interview on the subject to Responsible Statecraft in July 2023.
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