In preparation for the June 28 hearing on the the Truthfulness, Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting (TRAC) Act, H.R. 721, by the House Government Reform Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee, the AIA national component issued a call to action asking members to contact their congressional representatives and strongly urge them to oppose the TRAC Act. Many AIA members answered the call.

Still, amid this strong show of concern by AIA members across the country in letters and phone calls to congressional representatives, the TRAC Act still hangs in the balance. However, the Senate's version of the bill to limit outsourcing of federal work to the private sector, released June 29, exempts design services.

The letter-writing campaign opposing H.R. 721 points out to legislators facts and points of view they otherwise may not have known. It is the AIA leadership's position that H.R. 721 is detrimental to both the federal government and the private sector because it effectively excludes the private sector from being awarded federal contracts regardless of skill, quality, efficiency, or cost savings.

"The AIA's ongoing effort to educate Congress on the implications of their actions, both in the House and Senate, is an excellent example of our dues dollars at work," said AIA First Vice President Gordon H. Chong, FAIA. "It is a cooperative effort. The AIA staff keeps us informed and lobbies on our behalf, and we connect with our congressional representatives.

"This is something I saw very clearly when I was president of the AIA California Council a few years back, and we were fighting an initiative similar to TRAC. As important as information and strategy are, they are futile without the power of individual members-all of us-calling, writing, faxing, and emailing our elected representatives."

House and Senate differ on design services
The House bill, which currently has 182 cosponsors, awaits committee action following the June 28 public hearing. Testimony covered all sides of the issue of whether federal agencies serve the public best by outsourcing services-including design services-or keeping the work in-house. Among representatives testifying were Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), sponsor of the bill, and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.). The AIA submitted a statement for the record.

The day after the House hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, introduced the TRAC Act on the Senate side as S. 1152. Although very similar to its companion bill in the House, the Senate TRAC Act provides an exemption for federal contracts dealing with the design, engineering, planning, and construction of new structures and the remodeling of or additions made to existing structures, facilities, and capital projects.

The language included in the Senate TRAC Act is encouraging and indicates that AIA efforts must continue. The AIA position is not limited to having design services exempted from such laws (although that is certainly important). The AIA position goes further to argue that it is bad public policy to make a sweeping condemnation of outsourcing, which is what the TRAC Act and legislation like it do. Such policy would only serve to restrict federal-agency decision makers when, for instance, their workload is impracticably large or requires expertise too specialized to be maintained in-house.

Stay tuned for further developments and opportunities to pull together to shape this legislative issue.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.