House Armed Services chief expects ‘lots’ of feedback on acquisition reform bill

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) says he anticipates “lots” of input on a bill meant to overhaul the Defense Department’s buying processes.

“I’m sure there’ll be lots of comments, and that’s good,” he told The Hill on Thursday. “That’s one reason I want to leave it out there for a month, is to give people a chances to make comments.”

Thornberry said he’s already received some feedback. 

“I’ve gotten some, which has been positive of course — that’s what they’re going to tell me, is positive stuff  — so you don’t take it too seriously,” he quipped.

The legislation, formally unveiled on Wednesday and co-sponsored by Thornberry and Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the panel’s top Democrat, will not receive a floor vote.

Instead, some or parts of the measure will be fed into the House draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense policy bill, depending on reaction from government and industry.

Earlier on Thursday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he and Thornberry “see eye to eye on most major issues,” including acquisition reform, and the pair would move to enact meaningful changes over the next two years.

“Our failing defense acquisition system is not just a budgetary scandal; it is a national security crisis,” McCain said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “Our Defense Department has grown larger but less capable, more complex but less innovative, more proficient at defeating low-tech adversaries but more vulnerable to high-tech ones.”