PETALUMA, Calif., Feb. 2, 2015(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Pentagonhas filedan appeal in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) casethey lost to the American Small Business League (ASBL).The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will now hear the case.

On November23, Federal District Court Judge William Alsup ordered the Pentagon to release a report SikorskyAviation Corporation submitted to the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan TestProgram to the ASBL by December 3.

"The purpose of the Freedomof Information Act is so the public can see how our government works. Congresspassed this law to make the small businesses have access to some of theseprojects, and here is the United States covering it up,"said Judge Alsup in the hearing.

The ASBL originally requested theSikorsky data to test the Pentagon's refusal to release any data on the CSPTP inover 25 years and prove the program had cheated small businesses out oftrillions of dollars in subcontracts.

The ASBL also hoped to use thedata to convince Congress not to include language inthe 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would renew the CSPTPinto its twenty-eighth year of testing.

ASBL President and founder LloydChapman has been an outspokencritic of the CSPTP. No Washington based organization claimingto represent the interests of small businesses has ever publicly criticized theprogram since it began over 25 years ago.

"The ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program has allowed the Pentagon to cheat Americansmall businesses out of trillions of dollars in subcontracts for over 25 years.The Pentagon knows the release of this data will prove that fact," statedChapman.

The Pentagon adopted the CSPTP in1990 under the pretense of "increasing subcontractingopportunities for small businesses." In reality the programeliminated all transparency on small business subcontracting programs by primecontractors and eliminated all non-compliance penalties such as"liquidated damages." 

In a Dec.30 article in the Washington Post, Pentagon spokeswoman MaureenSchumann confirmed Chapman's criticism that small businesses had been shortchangedby the CSPTP. She stated the program "has led to an erosion of [theagency's] small business industrial base," and while the Pentagon suggeststhat it has resulted in savings for the participating large contractors,"there is no evidence that the CSPTP has benefited small companies."

In September, Prof. CharlesTiefer issued a legal opinion on the CSPTP that confirmed Chapman'sconcerns that the program has harmed small businesses. Prof. Tiefer stated,"The program is a sham andits extension will be seriously harmful to vital opportunities for smallbusiness... There is no doubt in my mind the CSPTP has significantly reducedsubcontracting opportunities for small businesses… Let it expire."
 
Despite overwhelming evidence the CSPTP had significantly reducedsubcontracting opportunities for small businesses, President Obamasigned the 2015 NDAA and renewed the CSPTP into its twenty-eighth year oftesting, until 2017.

To view full press release, click here: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/02/02/701990/10118072/en/Pentagon-Appeals-Sikorsky-Case-to-9th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals.html