NATION : Military to Weigh Bargain-Shopping
WASHINGTON — Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Atwood promised a Senate subcommittee today to take a closer look at buying the Pentagon more “off-the-shelf” products to save money.
Atwood, who was General Motors’ No. 3 official before accepting the No. 2 Defense Department post, told the Government Affairs Committee’s oversight subcommittee that he “strongly favors increased use of commercial products throughout the Department of Defense.”
Challenged by subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to meet with private business leaders to review why some of them are declining to bid on government contracts, Atwood said, “I accept that . . . (although) a year ago I’d have been on the other side of the table” protesting that contract bidding requirements were too stringent and made it impossible to do business with the government.
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