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Friday, September 24, 1999

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Problems with FPI are growing, subcommittee told
 
Prison work program seeking to expand into new areas, harming private-sector workers

WASHINGTON – A Congressional subcommittee investigating the impact of the Federal Prison Industries program heard Friday that FPI officials are seeking to expand into more areas that would affect private-sector jobs and require federal procurement officers to purchase more prisoner-made products.

Witnesses told the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Education and the Workforce Committee that FPI is seeking to enter the service industry thanks to a ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice that a federal law prohibition on interstate commerce of prison products does not apply to services.

"That is no longer (just) a threat," said John Palatiello, executive director of the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors, which represents more than 130 private companies engaged in professional mapping and related technical services. "(FPI) has issued a Commerce Business Daily notice that it is entering the commercial market for ‘complete vectorization of maps and engineering drawings’."

Palatiello and other witnesses stated their strong support for a bill authored by Congressman Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, to reform Federal Prison Industries, including a repeal of its mandatory source requirement. The Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act (H.R. 2551) has more than 70 bipartisan co-sponsors and support from such diverse organizations as the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"We applaud the … bill (which) calls for a straightforward repeal of the mandatory source requirement and (institutes) a prohibition against the FPI selling services in the commercial marketplace," said Gary Engebretson, president of the Contract Services Association of America.

The subcommittee, which is chaired by Hoekstra, also heard from Richard Coyle of the Federal Managers Association, a 200,000-member organization representing federal managers who must follow federal procurement guidelines. Coyle described why the FMA recently voted to support the elimination of the mandatory source requirement. Coyle said that as a safety supervisor at the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., he is required to purchase prescription safety glasses for people at the base.

"Because of the mandatory source requirement, we are required to buy the glasses from UNICOR, which can take up to eight weeks for delivery and at a higher cost," Coyle said. "If I were allowed to buy them from a local optometrist, I could get them in two or three days at a lower cost."

"Clearly, the problems associated with FPI are growing," Hoekstra said. "We will continue to highlight these concerns until we are able to get them changed by reforming the FPI program."