PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 20, 2014/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a matter of daysPresident Obama and Congress will likely renew the 25-year-old Pentagon Comprehensive SubcontractingPlan Test Program (CSPTP) into its 28^th year of testing.

The Pentagon adopted the CSPTP 25 years ago in 1990 under the guise of "increasing subcontracting opportunities for small business."In reality the CSPTP did just the opposite. Once the CSPTP was implemented, it eliminated all transparency on publicly available smallbusiness subcontracting information and any penalties, such as liquidated damages,for prime contractors that failed to comply with their small businesssubcontracting goals.

Before 1990, the general public could use the small businesssubcontracting reports to track a prime contractor's compliance with theirsmall business subcontracting goals. 

For 25 years the Pentagon has refused to release any of the subcontracting data primecontractors participating in the CSPTP have submitted.

A 2004 GAO investigation found no evidence that the CSPTP hadever "increased subcontracting opportunities for small businesses."

The Chairman's Mark of the House version of the 2015 NationalDefense Authorization Bill stated, "However,after nearly 24 years since the original authorization of the program, the testprogram has yet to provide evidence that it meets the original stated goal ofthe program..."

In September, Professor Charles Tieferissued a legal opinion on the CSPTP that stated, "The programis a sham and its extension will be seriously harmful to vital opportunitiesfor small business to get government contracting work… There is no doubt in mymind the CSPTP has significantly reduced subcontracting opportunities for smallbusinesses. It should not have gotten its 25 years of extension as anever-tested 'Test Program.' Let it expire."

The American Small Business League (ASBL) has launched a national campaign to block the renewal of the CSPTP. The ASBL has been the onlynational small business advocacy group to publicly oppose the renewal of theprogram. The ASBL has filed suit in federal District Court in San Francisco under the Freedom of Information Act to force the Pentagon to releasethe most recent subcontracting reports submitted under the CSPTP by Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace and Engineering (BAE)and Sikorsky.

"The Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program is oneof the biggest anti-small business scams in the history of the Pentagon. Thevery idea of eliminating all transparency and penalties for prime contracts tosee if that increases subcontract opportunities for small business is astaggering example of Pentagon fraud. The fact that Congress has renewed thisprogram for 25 years is insane. The idea that President Obama and Congresscould renew this program into its 28^th year of testing is the absolute pinnacle of corruption in Washington," ASBL PresidentLloyd Chapman stated.

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