Gluesenkamp Perez, Warren Introduce Bill to Ensure Servicemembers Can Repair Equipment and Stop Defense Contractors from Overcharging U.S. Military

Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the Servicemember Right-to-Repair Act to increase military readiness and cut costs by allowing servicemembers to repair their own equipment. 

The United States military pays contractors hundreds of billions of dollars annually to purchase weapons systems and other equipment. However, servicemembers often face contractor-imposed restrictions on how they can diagnose, repair, and maintain equipment and weapons, making it difficult to conduct necessary fixes in the field without relying on contractors. These restrictions put military readiness at risk and can increase Pentagon spending on basic services and equipment. 

The U.S. Navy has been forced to fly contractors to ships at sea to perform simple fixes, Marines in Japan had to send engines back to the United States for repairs instead of fixing them on-site, and Marines have faced the choice of voiding generator warranties by repairing them or being unable to use the equipment. 

The legislation will ensure our military is provided with the tools and materials needed to maintain the equipment it has purchased and directs the Pentagon to use those tools to reduce sustainment costs, improve military readiness, and build servicemember skills needed in possible future austere environments. 

The Servicemember Right-to-Repair Act will:

• Ensure contractors provide our military with “fair and reasonable” access to repair materials, including parts, tools, and information, so servicemembers are able to repair their own equipment when needed.
  • Define “fair and reasonable” as providing similar prices, terms, and conditions as those made available to the contractor’s authorized repair providers to ensure an even playing field.
• Require that each major weapons program’s acquisition strategy includes three cost-saving proposals to cut sustainment costs without reducing performance requirements.
• Mandate a report on cost-saving strategies to enhance transparency.
• Require the Pentagon to assess the cost-effectiveness of access to intellectual property, ensuring it is a priority throughout a program’s lifecycle.
• Give our military additional flexibility to access and use repair data, ensuring access to repair data is a key consideration in regulations governing the rights of the United States in items developed with government funding.
• Require the Pentagon to track and publicly report instances when the military is forced to have a contractor repair equipment because right-to-repair restrictions prevent servicemembers from maintaining or repairing their own equipment.
• Promote accountability through reports from the Government Accountability Office. 

“Maintaining a ready and agile military is dependent on our servicemembers being able to repair their own equipment quickly and effectively. Military technicians want to be working with their hands to fix things – not getting stuck on the phone on hold with a manufacturer. Shipping equipment out for repair or bringing authorized contractors to sea or the battlefield isn’t just costly, challenging, and time-consuming – it deprives servicemembers of experience fixing the equipment they rely on to stay safe in hostile situations,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “By ensuring our military has the ability to fix critical equipment, we can empower our servicemembers, boost military readiness, save taxpayer dollars, and bring back respect for these skills.”

“Pentagon contractors are taking advantage of our military, forcing them to pay thousands and wait weeks for basic equipment repairs. Without the right to repair their own equipment, our servicemembers in the field are at risk,” said Sen. Warren. “I’ve long pushed for cutting waste out of the Pentagon budget, and this bill cuts out greedy contractors by empowering servicemembers and creating competition.”

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has fought for legislation to protect owners’ right to repair farm equipment, electronics, and automotives where, when, and how they would like.

The legislation is endorsed by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG).

Full text of the bill is available here. A one-page summary of the legislation is available here.