A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Tuesday would provide Army arsenals with tools to compete for Department of Defense (DoD) contracts.
The Army Arsenal Revitalization Act, S. 2516, would give arsenals the ability to adjust labor rates. New requirements would also be established for the defense contract selection process to boost competition.
“Our nation’s arsenals are an important manufacturing component for our national defense that our military relies on,” Ernst said. “Under the Army Arsenal Revitalization Act, our arsenals would be better able to seize new manufacturing opportunities, obtain and develop a skilled workforce, as well as more readily adapt to the changing demands of our workforce and Defense Department.”
Under the bill, the DoD would be required to consider arsenals for production of legacy equipment and products that are no longer mass produced in the private sector. The goal of that provision is to prevent non-competitive contracts from being awarded to the sole producers of such items.
“Our delegation got the Government Accountability Office to identify ways the Army could better utilize the arsenals,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said. “Unfortunately, the Army has not done enough to get the Rock Island (Iowa) Arsenal to the level of workload it needs to maintain its critical capabilities. Our bill would help make that happen.”
The bill would require the DoD to identify each arsenal’s critical capabilities and determine the minimum workload required to sustain them.
The Illinois delegation of Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) joined Iowans Ernst and Grassley in introducing the measure.