Judge Writes 131 Page Tome On Bid Protest Opinion on Thule Air Base -- Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[bob7947]

You're not having déjà vu.  We really have been here before.  It's a COFC bid protest opinion on Thule Air Base.  This thing may tell you all you want to know about this Base in Northern Greenland.  Yeah, it's way above the Arctic Circle.  Don't punish yourself and try to reach the end of the protest.  Let me show you 1 paragraph from page 6.

Quote

The Administrative Record in the above captioned bid protest includes a letter, dated July 19, 1956, from Frederick Jandrey, Chargé d’Affaires at the United States Embassy in Copenhagen, to Erling Kristiansen, “Assistant Under Secretary of State” of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The July 19, 1956 letter states that it was “enclosing a draft of the record of the discussions” between the United States and Denmark, and states that “[o]ur drafts have been compared with your attached draft and with the changes noted thereon the two copies are in complete agreement.”7 (alteration added). Attached to the July 19, 1956 letter is a July 13, 1956 letter from Mr. Kristiansen to Mr. Jandrey which “[r]efer[s] to the discussions which have taken place from the 9th – 11th July between representatives of our two Governments on questions relating to the participation by Danish enterprises and labor in work on defense areas in Greenland” and states, “I hereby enclose a draft to an Agreed Record of the discussions.” (capitalization in original; alterations added). The July 13, 1956 letter further states, “[i]f you can agree to the wording of the draft I would propose that the draft should be regarded as an Agreed Record and that it formally constitutes the understanding arrived at in this matter between our two Governments.” (capitalization in original; alteration added). Enclosed with the July 13, 1956 letter is an “Agreed Record of Meeting Held Between American and Danish Representatives July 9 and 10[, 1956] in Copenhagen on Contracts and Labor Used in Work on Defense Areas in Greenland,” (capitalization and emphasis in original; alteration added), which states, in relevant part, that “Construction, Operation and Maintenance contracts for works in the defense areas in Greenland will in future only be awarded to Danish and American enterprises.” Further, “[w]ith regard to the procedure to be followed for the awarding of contracts for work in Greenland,” the “Agreed Record” provides that that “if it was felt that the nature of the conditions was such as to place Danish enterprises at a handicap, consultation should take place between the contracting officers and contractors with a view of ensuring that proposals be submitted on an equal basis.” (alteration added). Moreover, the 1956 “Agreed Record” states that “Danish enterprises shall in every respect as in the past enjoy treatment no less favorable than that accorded to American concerns,” and that “Danish labor” would be employed “to the maximum extent possible.” (capitalization in original).

You get the idea--its wordy.

[Vern Edwards]

The protest to the COFC was filed after the protester lost at the GAO.

The GAO denied the protest in eight pages. See Vectrus Services A-S, B-420527, May 18, 2022.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/730/720634.pdf

The COFC decision displays our bid protest system in all its splendor.

[here_2_help]

I just finished reading ... um ... skimming ... uh ... scrolling to the end of the decision. As far as I could tell, it was a stunning example of cut-n-paste skills from various documents. Take out the lengthy quotes and put references to them in footnotes, and the decision would have been about one-tenth of its length.

[formerfed]

Really disappointing decision document from this judge.  She seems to have knowledge of contracting from this select portion of the COFC bio and shouldn’t have to lay out this much background and rational 

Quote

Before being appointed to the United States Court of Federal Claims, Judge Horn served as Acting Solicitor and Principal Deputy Solicitor at the United States Department of the Interior, and as Associate Solicitor for General Law and Deputy Associate Solicitor for Surface Mining, also at the United States Department of the Interior. She formerly served as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Procurement and Financial Incentives, Senior Attorney for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Litigation Attorney at the Department of Energy. Judge Horn is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School, teaching Negotiations and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the LL.M. program and Trial Advocacy in the J.D. program

It’s a shame she allowed her clerks and staff to just piece together this 131 page document without succinctly summarizing the points