Improper Lobbying Activities by DOD on the Proposed Procurement of the C-5B Aircraft

As requested, the Comptroller General commented on GAO reports concerning the investigation of the cooperative effort between the Department of the Air Force and Lockheed Corporation to influence House consideration of a bill which would authorize procurement of the C-5B aircraft. GAO found that there was a cooperative effort and that the Air Force's participation in this effort violated an appropriation act restriction against using appropriated funds to influence legislation pending before Congress. The Department of Defense (DOD) interpreted the restriction as applying only to broad-based mass appeals to the general public, seeking to have members of the public contact their congressmen in support of the agency's position. However, GAO found a concerted joint effort between Lockheed and the Air Force to reach out to Lockheed's contractors and employees and to other companies not directly involved in the C-5B development and production, for the express purpose of influencing the House of Representatives on the C-5B authorization. GAO believes that the effort, in its totality, went beyond the limit of appropriate executive-legislative contact allowed by the law. GAO included a detailed analysis of the DOD response to its reports on this matter.