ATR sends letter to Congress stressing the importance of competitive contracting and informing members of vote rating.

WASHINGTON - Americans for Tax Reform sent a letter to all members of Congress stressing the need to support President Bush's plan to save tax dollars by promoting more competition for federal goods and services. The letter was sent in response to increased Congressional attempts to block President Bush's goal of subjecting half of the federal government's commercial activities to private-sector bidding and competition over the next four years. In addition, the letter informed all members that ATR would rate any vote to weaken or eliminate the President's plan to subject the federal government's commercial activities to private-sector bidding and competition as a vote against taxpayers.

"Outside of reforming Social Security, ensuring competition between the private sector and the federal government through competitive sourcing is the most important domestic reform advocated by President Bush," said Grover Norquist, President of ATR. "Unfortunately, liberal lawmakers and their public sector employee union friends on Capital Hill would rather attack the President's plan than work to make government more efficient."

Competition among public and private entities drives down costs and ratchets up performance. According to the General Accounting Office and the Center for Naval Analysis, two independent and objective groups that have conducted the most thorough research on competitive sourcing, the cost of a function goes down 30 percent regardless of whether the in-house government employees or a private contractor win the competition. These efficiencies translate into savings of billions of dollars that can be used for much needed tax relief for all Americans.

"More competition leads to huge savings," said Norquist. "Absent competition, inefficient government monopolies will continue to waste tax dollars while failing to provide even a reasonable level of service. Therefore, the taxpayer is the ultimate loser when competitive sourcing is stymied."

If this attempt to short-circuit the President's efforts to bring competition and reform to the federal government is successful, public employee unions and their political allies in Congress will be successful in protecting inefficient government monopolies that waste taxpayers' dollars. In effect, they will kill the competitive sourcing initiative and roll back the opportunities presented for real fundamental reform of the federal government that can be achieved through competition.