PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 23,2014) - According to the American Small Business League, the renewal of a25-year-old fraudulent Pentagon program has been hidden in the House version ofthe 2015 National Defense Reauthorization Bill.

The renewal of the Comprehensive Subcontracting PlanTest Program (CSPTP) into its 28^th year oftesting is covered in section 811 of the FY 15 National Defense AuthorizationBill (H.R. 4435). To try and hide the renewal of the controversial andfraudulent program section 811 has been obscured from the bill.

The language renewing the Test Programis hidden under the section titled, "Subtitle B--Industrial Base Matters."

The Comprehensive Subcontracting PlanTest Program began in 1990 under the guise of "increasing subcontractingopportunities for small businesses." In reality the TestProgram was carefully written to do just the opposite. Prior to the TestProgram all Pentagon prime contractors were required to submit subcontractingplans and quarterly and annual subcontracting reports that were available tothe public.

Pentagon prime contractorsparticipating in the Test Program were no longer required to submit anysubcontracting plans and reports that were once available to the publiceffectively eliminating all transparency.

Prior to the Test Program all Pentagonprime contractors were subject to "liquidated damages" for failing toachieve subcontracting goals required under federal law. Under the Test Programprime contractors were exempt from any "liquidated damages"or other penalties for non-compliance with subcontracting goals.

With the elimination of publiclyavailable subcontracting plans, achievement reports and all penalties fornon-compliance, prime contractors had little or no incentive to comply withfederal law establishing subcontracting goals.

The American Small Business League (ASBL)estimates that since the Comprehensive Subcontracting Test Program wasestablished in 1990 small businesses havelikely been defrauded out of over one trilliondollars in federal subcontracts.

The decision by the House ofRepresentatives to hide section 811 may have also been based on theembarrassing language that had been included in the "Chairman's Mark" ofthe bill. Language in section 811 that renewed the Test Program into its 28^th year oftesting (2017) stated:

"However, after nearly 24 years since the originalauthorization of the program, the test program has yet to provide evidence thatit meets the original stated goal of the program..."

The American Small Business League filed suit against thePentagon in May in Federal District Court in San Francisco after the Pentagonrefused to release any data on the Test Program under the Freedom ofInformation Act.

The American Small Business League hasalso launched a national campaign workingwith Chambers of Commerce across the country to block the renewal of theComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program.

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