PETALUMA, Calif., Jan. 12, 2017/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On January 6^th 2017, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the public will not beable to see any documents that have been submitted by the Pentagon's largestprime contractors to the Pentagon's Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan TestProgram (CSPTP) over the last 28 years.

The American Small Business League (ASBL)originally won their FOIA case against the Pentagon in November of 2014. Federal DistrictCourt Judge William Alsup ordered the Pentagon to releasethe Sikorsky data to the ASBL after reviewing the information and deducing nothing in the report constituted as trade secret,proprietary or confidential financial information.

^th circuit ruling, ASBL President Lloyd Chapman had this to say: "TheAppeals Court ruling supports the ASBL's longstanding position that the CSPTP was establishedunder the guise of increasing subcontracting opportunities for small businesseswhen in reality it removes all transparency, allowing the Pentagon's topcontractors to violate federal contracting law and obscure all evidence ofnon-compliance."

Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumannsupported the ASBL's assertion that the CSPTP has actually reducedsubcontracting opportunities for small businesses, commenting in an article forThe Washington Post in September 2014 that the program "Has led to anerosion of the [the agencies] small business industrial base."

The ASBL estimates that since its inception in 1989, over $5 trillion have been administered through the CSPTP withno transparency. The ASBL finds this concerning following the recent IG reportshowing the Pentagon can't account for $6.5 trillion.

"The 9^th circuit ruling essentially eliminates all transparency on $5 trillion in Pentagon contracts over the last 28 years;it's not inconceivable that this ruling could eliminate transparency incontracts with the pentagon's largest prime contractors for the next 28years," said Lloyd Chapman.

"I think it's important for the public to know that the 9^th circuit judges never even saw the Sikorsky documents hecarefully reviewed while making his decision. Judge Alsup even accused thePentagon and Sikorsky of trying to "suppress the evidence." TheASBL plans on appealing its case to the Supreme Court."

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