[1] CICA was passed into law as a foundation for the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and to foster competition and reduce costs.
The theory was that more competition for procurements would reduce costs and allow more small businesses to win Federal Government contracts.
Under CICA all procurements must be competed as full and open (there are some exceptions found in FAR Part 6) so that any qualified company can submit an offer.
[1] Deputy Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci had proposed related steps to reform defense-related (military) acquisition.
[1] The law defines a role for GAO to adjudicate "bid protests", which are claims that the government awarded a contract improperly.