Sec. 652. Plan on privatization of the defense commissary system
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/bill/114/hr/1735/eas/section-652·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Not later than March 1, 2016, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report setting forth a plan for the privatization, in whole or in part, of the defense commissary system of the Department of Defense. The Secretary shall consult with major grocery retailers in the continental United States in developing the plan. The plan required by subsection
(a)shall ensure the provision of high quality grocery goods and products, discount savings to patrons, and high levels of customer satisfaction while achieving savings for the Department of Defense. The report required by subsection
(a)should include— an evaluation of the current rates of basic pay and basic allowance for subsistence payable to members of the Armed Forces, and an assessment whether such pay and allowance should be adjusted to ensure that members maintain purchasing power for grocery goods and products under the plan; an estimate of any initial and long-term costs or savings to the Department as a result of the implementation of the plan; an assessment whether the privatized defense commissary system under the plan can sustain the current savings to patrons of the defense commissary system; an assessment of the impact that privatization of the defense commissary system under the plan would have on all eligible beneficiaries; an assessment whether the privatized defense commissary system under the plan can sustain the continued operation of existing commissaries; and an assessment whether privatization of the defense commissary system is feasible for overseas commissaries. The plan shall include recommendations for such legislative action as the Secretary considers appropriate to implement the plan. Not later than 120 days after the submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the committees of Congress referred to in that subsection a report setting forth an assessment by the Comptroller General of the plan set forth in the report required by that subsection. Commencing as soon as practicable after the submittal to Congress of the report required by subsection (c), the Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of the plan set forth in the report required by subsection (a). The pilot program shall involve not fewer than five commissaries selected by the Secretary for purposes of the pilot program from among commissaries in the largest markets of the defense commissary system in the United States. The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program in accordance with the plan described in paragraph
(1)as modified by the Secretary in light of the assessment of the plan by the Comptroller General pursuant to subsection (c). The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a notice on any modifications made to the plan for purposes of the pilot program in light of the assessment. In an addition to any requirements under paragraph (3), the Secretary may include in the pilot program a component designed to permit eligible beneficiaries of the defense commissary system in the catchment areas of the commissaries selected for participation in the pilot program to order and purchase grocery goods and products otherwise available through the defense commissary system through the Internet and to receive items so ordered through home delivery. The duration of the pilot program shall be two years. Not later than 180 days after the completion of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the pilot program, including— an assessment of the feasibility and advisability of carrying out the plan described in paragraph (1), as modified, if at all, as described in paragraph (3); and a description of any modifications to the plan the Secretary considers appropriate in light of the pilot program.