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Union Calendar No. 251 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4727 

[Report No. 116–310] 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a mentor-prote ́ge ́

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

NOVEMBER 22, 2019 

Additional sponsor: Mr. TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 22, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

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


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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 ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Mentor-Prote ́ge ́ Program Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MENTOR7 PROTE ́ GE ́ PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

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

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

13 Department a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program (in this section re14 ferred to as the ‘Program’) under which a mentor firm 

15 enters into an agreement with a prote ́ge ́ firm for the pur16 pose of assisting the prote ́ge ́ firm to compete for prime 

17 contracts and subcontracts of the Department. 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish cri19 teria for mentor firms and prote ́ge ́ firms to be eligible to 

20 participate in the Program, including a requirement that 

21 a firm is not included on any list maintained by the Fed22 eral Government of contractors that have been suspended 

23 or debarred. 

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


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

2 through the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

3 Business Utilization of the Department, shall estab4 lish a process for submission of an application joint5 ly by a mentor firm and the prote ́ge ́ firm selected by 

6 the mentor firm. The application shall include each 

7 of the following: 

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

9 provided by the mentor firm, including, to the 

10 extent available, the number and a brief de11 scription of each anticipated subcontract to be 

12 awarded to the prote ́ge ́ firm. 

13 ‘‘(B) A schedule with milestones for 

14 achieving the assistance to be provided over the 

15 period of participation in the Program. 

16 ‘‘(C) An estimate of the costs to be in17 curred by the mentor firm for providing assist18 ance under the Program. 

19 ‘‘(D) Attestation that Program partici20 pants will submit to the Secretary reports at 

21 times specified by the Secretary to assist the 

22 Secretary in evaluating the prote ́ge ́ firm’s devel23 opmental progress. 

24 ‘‘(E) Attestations that Program partici25 pants will inform the Secretary in the event of 


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1 change in eligibility or voluntary withdrawal 

2 from the Program. 

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

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

5 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

6 Business Utilization shall notify applicants of ap7 proval or, in the case of disapproval, the process for 

8 resubmitting an application for reconsideration. 

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

10 Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may 

11 rescind the approval of an application under this 

12 subsection if it determines that such action is in the 

13 best interest of the Department. 

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

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

16 an agreement to participate in the Program for a period 

17 of not less than 36 months. 

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

19 prote ́ge ́ firm that enter into an agreement under sub20 section (d) may receive the following Program benefits: 

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

22 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

23 may receive evaluation credit for participating in the 

24 Program. 


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

2 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

3 may receive credit for a prote ́ge ́ firm performing as 

4 a first tier subcontractor or a subcontractor at any 

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

6 any subcontracts awarded to such prote ́ge ́ firm. 

7 ‘‘(3) A prote ́ge ́ firm may receive technical, man8 agerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon 

9 benefit from a mentor firm, including a subcontract 

10 award. 

11 ‘‘(4) Any other benefits identified by the Sec12 retary. 

13 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Not later than one year after the 

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

15 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Busi16 ness Utilization shall submit to the Committees on Home17 land Security and Small Business of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report that— 

19 ‘‘(1) identifies each agreement between a men20 tor firm and a prote ́ge ́ firm entered into under this 

21 section, including number of prote ́ge ́ firm partici22 pants that are— 

23 ‘‘(A) small business concerns; 

24 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 

25 controlled by veterans; 


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1 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 

2 controlled by service-disabled veterans; 

3 ‘‘(D) qualified HUBZone small business 

4 concerns; 

5 ‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 

6 controlled by socially and economically dis7 advantaged individuals; 

8 ‘‘(F) women-owned small business con9 cerns; 

10 ‘‘(G) historically Black colleges and univer11 sities; and 

12 ‘‘(H) minority institutions of higher edu13 cation; 

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

15 by mentor firms to prote ́ge ́ firms; 

16 ‘‘(3) identifies contracts within the Department 

17 in which a mentor firm serving as the prime con18 tractor provided subcontracts to a prote ́ge ́ firm 

19 under the Program; and 

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

21 been— 

22 ‘‘(A) an increase in the technical capabili23 ties of prote ́ge ́ firms; and 

24 ‘‘(B) an increase in the quantity and esti25 mated value of prime contract and subcontract 


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1 awards to prote ́ge ́ firms for the period covered 

2 by the report. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI5 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

6 university’ means any of the historically Black col7 leges and universities referred to in section 2323 of 

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

9 1, 2018. 

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

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

12 small business concern that— 

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

14 to assisting a prote ́ge ́ to compete for Federal 

15 prime contracts and subcontracts; and 

16 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im17 posed by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) MINORITY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU19 CATION.—The term ‘minority institution of higher 

20 education’ means an institution of higher education 

21 with a student body that reflects the composition 

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

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

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

25 means a small business concern, a historically Black 


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1 college or university, or a minority institution of 

2 higher education that— 

3 ‘‘(A) is eligible to enter into a prime con4 tract or subcontract with the Department; and 

5 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im6 posed by the Secretary. 

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

8 terms ‘small business concern’, ‘small business con9 cern owned and controlled by veterans’, ‘small busi10 ness concern owned and controlled by service-dis11 abled veterans’, ‘qualified HUBZone small business 

12 concern’, and ‘small business concern owned and 

13 controlled by women’ have the meaning given such 

14 terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Small 

15 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). The term ‘small busi16 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 

17 economically disadvantaged individuals’ has the 

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

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

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

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

22 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

23 890A the following new item: 

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


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 251 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4727 

[Report No. 116–310] 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

establish a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program, and for 

other purposes. 

NOVEMBER 22, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS