II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1339

To provide for the debarment or suspension from Federal procurement and

nonprocurement activities of persons that violate certain labor and safety

laws.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 1, 1999

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide for the debarment or suspension from Federal

procurement and nonprocurement activities of persons

that violate certain labor and safety laws.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Procurement

5 and Assistance Integrity Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to improve the efficiency

8 and effectiveness and protect the integrity of the Federal

9 procurement and assistance systems by ensuring that the
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1 Federal Government does business with responsible con2 tractors and participants.

3 SEC. 3. DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION FOR VIOLATORS OF

4 CERTAIN LABOR AND SAFETY LAWS.

5 (a) DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION.—The Secretary

6 of Labor may debar or suspend a person from procure7 ment activities or nonprocurement activities upon a find8 ing, in accordance with procedures developed under this

9 section, that the person violated any of the following laws:

10 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29

11 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

12 (2) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29

13 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

14 (3) The Occupational Safety and Health Act

15 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

16 (4) Section 4212(a) of title 38, United States

17 Code.

18 (b) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of Labor and the

19 National Labor Relations Board shall jointly develop pro20 cedures to determine whether a violation of a law listed

21 in subsection (a) is serious enough to warrant debarment

22 or suspension under that subsection. The procedures shall

23 provide for an assessment of the nature and extent of com24 pliance with such laws, including whether there are or

25 were single or multiple violations of those laws or other
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•S 1339 IS

1 labor or safety laws and whether the violations occur or

2 have occurred at one facility, several facilities, or through3 out the company concerned. In developing the procedures,

4 the Secretary and the Board shall consult with depart5 ments and agencies of the Federal Government and pro6 vide, to the extent feasible, for ongoing exchanges of infor7 mation between the departments and agencies and the De8 partment of Labor and the Board in order to accurately

9 carry out such assessments.

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

11 (1) DEBAR.—The term ‘‘debar’’ means to ex12 clude, pursuant to established administrative proce13 dures, from Federal Government contracting and

14 subcontracting, or from participation in nonprocure15 ment activities, for a specified period of time com16 mensurate with the seriousness of the failure or of17 fense or the inadequacy of performance.

18 (2) NONPROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES.—The term

19 ‘‘nonprocurement activities’’ means all programs and

20 activities involving Federal financial and non21 financial assistance and benefits, as covered by Ex22 ecutive Order No. 12549 and the Office of Manage23 ment and Budget guidelines implementing that

24 order.
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1 (3) PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES.—The term

2 ‘‘procurement activities’’ means all acquisition pro3 grams and activities of the Federal Government, as

4 defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

5 (4) SUSPEND.—The term ‘‘suspend’’ means to

6 disqualify, pursuant to established administrative

7 procedures, from Federal Government contracting

8 and subcontracting, or from participation in non9 procurement activities, for a temporary period of

10 time because an entity or individual is suspected of

11 engaging in criminal, fraudulent, or seriously im12 proper conduct.

13 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect on

14 October 1, 1999.

15 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Acquisition Regula16 tion and the regulations issued pursuant to Executive

17 Order No. 12549 shall be revised to include provisions to

18 carry out this Act.

19 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor and

21 the National Labor Relations Board shall jointly submit

22 to Congress a report on the implementation of this Act.

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