H. R. 4920 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

An Act 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for an exception to certain 

small business contracting requirements applicable to the Department of Veterans 

Affairs procurement of certain goods and services covered under the Ability One 

program, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs 

Contracting Preference Consistency Act of 2020’’. 

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SMALL 

BUSINESS CONTRACTING REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN 

GOODS AND SERVICES COVERED UNDER ABILITY ONE PROGRAM. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 8127 of title 38, 

United States Code, is amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Except’’; 

(2) by inserting ‘‘in paragraph (2) and’’ before ‘‘in subsections (b) and (c)’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and except as provided 

by subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, with respect to the procurement of a covered product or service, a contracting officer of the 

Department shall procure such product or service from a source 

designated under chapter 85 of title 41, and in accordance with 

the regulations prescribed under such chapter. 

‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), subparagraph (A) shall not apply 

in the case of a covered product or service for which a contract 

was— 

‘‘(I) awarded under paragraph (1) after December 22, 2006; 

and 

‘‘(II) in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference 

Consistency Act of 2020. 

‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall cease to apply to a covered product or 

service described in such clause upon a determination of the Secretary that when the current contract for the covered product or 

service is terminated or expires there is no reasonable expectation 

that— 

‘‘(I) two or more small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans will submit offers as described in paragraph 

(1); and 
H. R. 4920—2 

‘‘(II) the award can be made at a fair and reasonable 

price that offers best value to the United States. 

‘‘(C) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered product or service’ 

means— 

‘‘(i) a product or service that— 

‘‘(I) is included on the procurement list under section 

8503(a) of title 41; and 

‘‘(II) was included on such procurement list on or before 

December 22, 2006; or 

‘‘(ii) a product or service that— 

‘‘(I) is a replacement for a product or service described 

under clause (i); 

‘‘(II) is essentially the same and meeting the same 

requirement as the product or service being replaced; and 

‘‘(III) a contracting officer determines meets the quality 

standards and delivery schedule of the Department.’’. 

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is further 

amended in each of subsections (b) and (c), by striking ‘‘For’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d)(2), for’’. 

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section 

shall apply with respect to a contract entered into on or after 

the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.