How the House wants to make federal procurement less complex, more competitive
As the House and Senate go to conference to solve differences in the Defense authorization bill in the next few weeks, the acquisition community will be watching Section 801 of the lower chamber’s bill closely.
That provision is commonly known as the “Amazon” amendment, developed by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and would require the General Services Administration to set up more than one online marketplace featuring commercial companies. Agencies could then buy from these online marketplaces the same way average people buy from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Walmart.com or any other similar commercial provider.
As the Senate finished its work on its version of the NDAA, that provision was not included amid concerns among industry associations and some Senate staff members.
