IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4727 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home3 land Security Mentor-Prote ́ge ́ Program Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MENTOR5 PROTE ́ GE ́ PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 

7 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 890B. MENTOR-PROTE ́ GE ́ PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

11 Department a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program (in this section re12 ferred to as the ‘Program’) under which a mentor firm 

13 enters into an agreement with a prote ́ge ́ firm for the pur14 pose of assisting the prote ́ge ́ firm to compete for prime 

15 contracts and subcontracts of the Department. 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish cri17 teria for mentor firms and prote ́ge ́ firms to be eligible to 

18 participate in the Program, including a requirement that 

19 a firm is not included on any list maintained by the Fed20 eral Government of contractors that have been suspended 

21 or debarred. 

22 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM APPLICATION AND APPROVAL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The Secretary, acting 

24 through the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

25 Business Utilization of the Department, shall estab26 lish a process for submission of an application jointVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS H4727

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1 ly by a mentor firm and the prote ́ge ́ firm selected by 

2 the mentor firm. The application shall include each 

3 of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) A description of the assistance to be 

5 provided by the mentor firm, including, to the 

6 extent available, the number and a brief de7 scription of each anticipated subcontract to be 

8 awarded to the prote ́ge ́ firm. 

9 ‘‘(B) A schedule with milestones for 

10 achieving the assistance to be provided over the 

11 period of participation in the Program. 

12 ‘‘(C) An estimate of the costs to be in13 curred by the mentor firm for providing assist14 ance under the Program. 

15 ‘‘(D) Attestation that Program partici16 pants will submit to the Secretary reports at 

17 times specified by the Secretary to assist the 

18 Secretary in evaluating the prote ́ge ́ firm’s devel19 opmental progress. 

20 ‘‘(E) Attestations that Program partici21 pants will inform the Secretary in the event of 

22 change in eligibility or voluntary withdrawal 

23 from the Program. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

25 receipt of an application pursuant to paragraph (1), 


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1 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

2 Business Utilization shall notify applicants of ap3 proval or, in the case of disapproval, the process for 

4 resubmitting an application for reconsideration. 

5 ‘‘(3) RESCISSION.—The head of the Office of 

6 Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may 

7 rescind the approval of an application under this 

8 subsection if it determines that such action is in the 

9 best interest of the Department. 

10 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM DURATION.—A mentor firm and 

11 prote ́ge ́ firm approved under subsection (c) shall enter into 

12 an agreement to participate in the Program for a period 

13 of not less than 36 months. 

14 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM BENEFITS.—A mentor firm and 

15 prote ́ge ́ firm that enter into an agreement under sub16 section (d) may receive the following Program benefits: 

17 ‘‘(1) With respect to an award of a contract 

18 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

19 may receive evaluation credit for participating in the 

20 Program. 

21 ‘‘(2) With respect to an award of a contract 

22 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

23 may receive credit for a prote ́ge ́ firm performing as 

24 a first tier subcontractor or a subcontractor at any 


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1 tier in an amount equal to the total dollar value of 

2 any subcontracts awarded to such prote ́ge ́ firm. 

3 ‘‘(3) A prote ́ge ́ firm may receive technical, man4 agerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon 

5 benefit from a mentor firm, including a subcontract 

6 award. 

7 ‘‘(4) Any other benefits identified by the Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

11 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Busi12 ness Utilization shall submit to the Committees on Home13 land Security and Small Business of the House of Rep14 resentatives a report that— 

15 ‘‘(1) identifies each agreement between a men16 tor firm and a prote ́ge ́ firm entered into under this 

17 section, including number of prote ́ge ́ firm partici18 pants that are— 

19 ‘‘(A) small business concerns; 

20 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 

21 controlled by veterans; 

22 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 

23 controlled by service-disabled veterans; 

24 ‘‘(D) qualified HUBZone small business 

25 concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 

2 controlled by socially and economically dis3 advantaged individuals; 

4 ‘‘(F) women-owned small business con5 cerns; 

6 ‘‘(G) historically Black colleges and univer7 sities; and 

8 ‘‘(H) minority institutions of higher edu9 cation; 

10 ‘‘(2) describes the type of assistance provided 

11 by mentor firms to prote ́ge ́ firms; 

12 ‘‘(3) identifies contracts within the Department 

13 in which a mentor firm serving as the prime con14 tractor provided subcontracts to a prote ́ge ́ firm 

15 under the Program; and 

16 ‘‘(4) assesses the degree to which there has 

17 been— 

18 ‘‘(A) an increase in the technical capabili19 ties of prote ́ge ́ firms; and 

20 ‘‘(B) an increase in the quantity and esti21 mated value of prime contract and subcontract 

22 awards to prote ́ge ́ firms for the period covered 

23 by the report. 

24 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI2 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

3 university’ means any of the historically Black col4 leges and universities referred to in section 2323 of 

5 title 10, United States Code, as in effect on March 

6 1, 2018. 

7 ‘‘(2) MENTOR FIRM.—The term ‘mentor firm’ 

8 means a for-profit business concern that is not a 

9 small business concern that— 

10 ‘‘(A) has the ability to assist and commits 

11 to assisting a prote ́ge ́ to compete for Federal 

12 prime contracts and subcontracts; and 

13 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im14 posed by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(3) MINORITY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU16 CATION.—The term ‘minority institution of higher 

17 education’ means an institution of higher education 

18 with a student body that reflects the composition 

19 specified in section 312(b) of the Higher Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(b)). 

21 ‘‘(4) PROTE ́GE ́ FIRM.—The term ‘prote ́ge ́ firm’ 

22 means a small business concern, a historically Black 

23 college or university, or a minority institution of 

24 higher education that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is eligible to enter into a prime con2 tract or subcontract with the Department; and 

3 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im4 posed by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 

6 terms ‘small business concern’, ‘small business con7 cern owned and controlled by veterans’, ‘small busi8 ness concern owned and controlled by service-dis9 abled veterans’, ‘qualified HUBZone small business 

10 concern’, and ‘small business concern owned and 

11 controlled by women’ have the meaning given such 

12 terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). The term ‘small busi14 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 

15 economically disadvantaged individuals’ has the 

16 meaning given such term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of 

17 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 890A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 890B. Mentor-prote ́ge ́ program.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 9, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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