HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.gao/gaobabjeu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I -A
f.i OMCCPTR3OLLER GENERIAL OF THE UNITED STATF
WASIII4(fTOU, D.C. 1O49
t-195208 April 23, 1980
St
The Honorable Allen F2. Ertel
House of Representatives ,0
Dear r. Ertei..
By letter of March 15, 1980, we sent you a copy
of our decision on the protest of Brodart, Ince,
'illiamnport, Pennsylvania, concerning thy award of
a contract for card catalog caso6 under solicitation
No. 79-13 issued by the Library of Congress. Earlier
you had requested our cetnments on the solicitation's
requirement tLhat each bidder have an on-site wood
drying kiln.
The facts did not requ'ire that the decision con-
aider the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the
kiln requirement, This iss:ue was not resolved as
all the bidders (includi:g Brodart), except the one
awardeC the contract, qua]iried their bids by taking
exceptions to various provisions of the solicitation.
Thus, all bids except that of the awardee appear to
have been nonresponsive and those firms could not have
been awarded a contract even if they had possessed a
kiln.
Although we appreciate your concern that the kiln
requirement may have been unddly restrictive of com-
petition, we think tile matter has become academic.
le have been infored by the Library that since this
proLest was filed, it has decid'd, after consultation
with Brodart and others, to attnmpt to meet its future
needs by requiring contractors to pur.hase certified
lumber from qualified suppliers, to certify that trans-
portation ani storage has had no adverse offecstupon
the lumber's moisture content, and to permit Library
personnel to inspect and reject any lumber with an
excessive moisture content. The Library has assured
us that so long as this new procedure works successfully,
It has no intention of reinstituting the on-site kiln
requirement. Under these circumstarces, we believe
no useful purpose would be served now by our expenditure
a. ,](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobabjeu0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)