Congressional panel's report endorses increased business for small defense firms

 

A U.S. Congressional panel penned a report stating small businesses should have increased opportunity to win contracts.

A defense panel with the U.S. House of Representatives is encouraging the U.S. Department of Defense to provide increased business opportunity for smaller-sized defense firms, according to The Hill.

The House Armed Services panel on Business Challenges within the Defense Industry listed export reform as one of several recommendations in a report forwarded to the Pentagon this week. As budgets at the Defense Department constrict, defense firms in the U.S. are viewing opportunities in international markets as one method of saving money.

Regulations now in place at the federal level for military hardware sales overseas make it difficult to present their products to military forces around the globe. Larger defense firms are orienting their business interests toward Middle Eastern and Asian nations as part of an effort to fall into place with the new national security strategy presented by the Obama Administration.

The importance of adjusting laws overseeing military exports is "something we heard everywhere we went," U.S. Representative Bill Shuster told the publication.

The Republican is the chairman of the bipartisan panel that was created six months ago. The report is supportive of efforts to direct business to small defense firms, which would enhance career opportunities for people holding security clearance.