DTS currently has portioned off a section of military travel for small business-only competition. Th

The chairman of a Senate financial management subcommittee is considering an amendment that would block funding for the Defense Department's Web-based travel reservation system because of the way the contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. was negotiated.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., believes that $40 million to $50 million could be saved by putting italy tour operators the Defense Travel System up for re-bidding. italy tour operators His spokesman, John Hart, said the decision to propose the amendment is not final. Coburn is chairman of the Senate Homeland italy tour operators Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security.
Fabbre said the information is similar to a report published last year by the government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, that stated DTS was needlessly expensive and poorly managed. italy tour operators Experts in the travel industry told Government Executive that the information in the report was provided by Northrop Grumman's italy tour operators competitors. CAGW President Tom Schatz said the advocacy group relied on public information for the report.
"This amendment would cost the taxpayers a ton of money," Fabbre said. "The numbers are so far off, it's just mind-boggling." italy tour operators According to Fabbre, the Pentagon italy tour operators has paid Northrop Grumman italy tour operators $245 million since the beginning of the project.
According to the DTS program office, revamping italy tour operators the travel system would take a minimum of 18 months to two years and would require Defense personnel to use old systems for writing travel orders and processing vouchers. "The cost would be enormous," the travel office said in a statement, because the Pentagon generates about 5.6 million travel vouchers a year.
Hart said Coburn is considering holding hearings on DTS in September or October so all sides can be heard, and officials at the Government Accountability Office said they are working on a report evaluating the program.
Coburn's proposed amendment, which would be attached to the Defense Appropriations bill, is titled "Curtailment of Waste Under Department of Defense Web-Based Travel System," would prohibit italy tour operators the Pentagon from using funds for a Web-based travel system after Oct. 1, 2005. The amendment would allow for the Pentagon to acquire travel services through the General Services Administration's eTravel italy tour operators program as long as fixed payments are not used and that guarantees are made that flights are purchased at the lowest possible price.
All federal agencies, except the Defense Department, are required to obtain their travel services through italy tour operators GSA's eTravel program by Sept. 30, 2006. The eTravel program's future is uncertain because of a House amendment in the fiscal 2006 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill (H.R. 3058) barring GSA from funding the program.
The DTS contract, which originated in May 1998, was renegotiated in 2002 with the Los Angeles-based military contractor Northrop Grumman from a fee-for-service pact. At the time, the military wanted more control over its travel system and it was more cost-effective for the Pentagon to pay a fixed price for the travel italy tour operators system. According to Northrop Grumman, an eTravel system would cost the Pentagon an additional $50 million a year once the system was fully deployed
Under GSA's eTravel program, a system provider is selected along with a primary travel service provider. System providers for eTravel include Northrop Grumman, which is aligned with American Express Travel-Related italy tour operators Services Co. Inc.; Electronic Data Systems Corp. which partners with Navigant Sato Travel; and CW Government Travel Inc., which is aligned with Carlson Wagonlit Government Travel.
According to the DTS program office, GSA's eTravel program does not have the necessary structure to handle the department's italy tour operators needs, which include connecting to 30 Defense financial and data processing systems. italy tour operators DTS' expected savings are in automating the financial management processes, the military said, and a study by the Pentagon and GSA found that eTravel did not fulfill those needs.
DTS currently has portioned off a section of military travel for small business-only competition. italy tour operators The House voted to ax GSA's eTravel program after a group of small travel agencies claimed they were unable to obtain government contracts under eTravel.
Peggy Butler, senior contracting officer for DTS acquisitions' division at the Information Technology E-Commerce Commercial Contract Center, in an e-mail to small travel agency officials and obtained by Government Executive said: "If you have any influence on Capitol Hill, please use it. This bill cannot be passed."