Suhas Subramanyam: FIT Procurement Act Will Improve Govt Tools Without 'Needless Bureaucracy'

In House floor remarks on Wednesday, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) spoke about the FIT Procurement Act.

Transcript

00:00You know, one of the things I get asked is why can't the federal government be as fast and cost efficient as the private sector?

00:07And, you know, take a pen like this.

00:10If you're trying to buy a lot of them and you're in the private sector,

00:13you can just go to Staples and Amazon and just purchase it right there really quickly for a pretty good cost.

00:18But in the public sector, there's a lot of rules and regulations in place to buy things like pens or Staples.

00:24And it's even harder to do this with technology tools, tools that can help people get their social security payments faster

00:30or renew passports or help people access Medicare and Medicaid.

00:34And so that's why I'm introducing the bipartisan Fit Procurement Act today with my colleague, Congressman Burleson.

00:40The Fit Procurement Act would raise cost caps and allow the federal government to buy more innovative tools

00:45without going through the needless bureaucracy.

00:47And so what we're trying to do basically is help agencies not have to jump through so many hoops

00:52to get innovative tools to help people and help them serve people.

00:57And it'll make it easier as well for small businesses to sell to the federal government.

01:00And our bill makes common sense fixes that we can all support on both sides of the aisle.

01:05So I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill that will save American taxpayers money,

01:09support small businesses, and spur economic innovation.