PETALUMA, Calif., Aug. 10,2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pentagon and Sikorsky have identified four witnessesthat will be providing testimony in the upcoming December trialin a case filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL). The ASBL filedthe case after the Pentagon and Sikorsky refused to release Sikorsky's smallbusiness subcontracting plan submitted to the Pentagon's 28-year-oldComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP). The ASBL believes the information will show thePentagon has falsified the volume of subcontracts that have been awarded tosmall businesses since the program began in 1989.

In 2014, Pentagon spokeswoman, Maureen Schumann acknowledgedthat due to its lack of transparency and accountability, the CSPTP "has led to an erosion of our small business industrial base"

In 2015, the Pentagon revealed that the CSPTP had actually harmedsmall businesses when they released data showing subcontracts to smallbusinesses have dropped by 50 percent. This information was released followingthe Pentagons statement that they want the CSPTP scrapped, acknowledging that there has never been anyevidence that the program achieved its goal of increasing subcontractingopportunities for small businesses.

In a November 6, 2014 hearing Judge Alsup stated, "The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is so the publiccan see how our government works. Congress passed this law to make smallbusinesses have access to some of these projects, and here is the United Statescovering it up." Judge Alsup described the ASBL as being in a David and Goliath battle against the big government and bigbusiness and accused the Pentagon of suppressing evidence.

The Pentagon and Sikorsky are claiming the release of the datain Sikorsky's small business subcontracting plan would cause them substantialcompetitive harm. The ASBL has countered by exposing the fact that Sikorsky'scontracts with the government are sole source contracts and Sikorsky has no competitors fortheir government contracts. The ASBL has also exposed the fact that the namesof Sikorsky's subcontractors are publicly available on the Federal Procurement Data System.

The ASBL believes the Pentagons efforts to withhold the smallbusiness subcontracting data may be to obscure the fact that the Pentagon isallowing their prime contractors to subcontract with their own wholly ownedsubsidiaries or report awards to Fortune 500 firms and other large businessesas small business subcontracts.

The identified witnesses in the trial include: Janice Buffler –DOD Associate director of Subcontracting policy, Andrew Driver – SikorskyAircraft Senior Manager of Market Analytics, Amy Johnson – Sikorsky AircraftCorporation Director of Supply Chain and Martha Crawford - Sikorsky AircraftCorporation Supplier Diversity Manager/Small Business LiaisonOfficer. Janice Buffler's deposition is set for August 21^st 2017 in San Francisco, and the Trial is scheduled for December11^th 2017.

For the full story click here: https://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=2801