Panel Urges Self-Policing Defense Sector

A presidential commission, completing its review of Pentagon procurement practices, called Wednesday on the defense industry to police itself in its spending of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Industrialist David Packard, chairman of the Commission on Defense Management--created last year in response to horror stories of $535 hammers and $640 toilet seats--said voluntary codes of conduct should take the place of government audits and investigations that have mired Pentagon functions in red tape and delay.

As the Pentagon, under pressure to root out fraud and abuse, has “turned loose this horde of inspectors and auditors,” Packard said, the result has been that many Defense Department officials are now reluctant to make decisions that risk violating “any of the thousands of rules that are in the system.”

Fears Effects of Delays

Noting that the average time period for a contract award by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which funds work on advanced technologies, has grown from 90 days several years ago to 225 days now, Packard suggested the delays could undermine national security.

“The result of all this inspection pressure has been just counter to what we should be doing,” he said.

The shift from audits, investigations and prosecutions to self-policing by industry was among the recommendations in the final report of the Packard Commission, presented to Vice President George Bush at the White House.