Doesn't this sound like the old Pentagon that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld came back to fix: Instead of spending $5,000 each to upgrade thousands of battle-tested but aging M-60 machine guns favored by special ops and security teams in the antiterrorism war, the Navy is dropping millions to develop a $15,000 replacement weapon--by 2004. "That's no help," says Rep. Mark Kirk. "We need a reliable weapon now." What can a rookie House member do about it besides rant when Rummy visits the Hill this week? Kirk knows the Pentagon reformer from when Rummy had Kirk's job as the Illinois district's representative in the 1960s. "I'm going straight to Rumsfeld," he says. "This is straight up his alley." You might know the portable M-60 as Rambo's gun. It fell out of favor because of parts problems, but the new maker, U.S. Ordnance, says that's been fixed. If all goes well, Kirk hopes to help the Nevada gun maker compete with the Belgian firm set to get the future Navy business for its South Carolina plant.

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