IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 561 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

oversight of contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, 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 ‘‘Protecting Business 

3 Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTS UNDER CON5 TRACTS WITH SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 

6 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127 of title 38, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub10 section (l); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol12 lowing new subsection (k): 

13 ‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING.—(1)(A) 

14 The requirements applicable to a covered small business 

15 concern under section 46 of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 657s) shall apply with respect to a small business 

17 concern owned and controlled by veterans that is awarded 

18 a contract under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) For purposes of applying the requirements of 

20 section 46 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) 

21 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the term ‘similarly situated 

22 entity’ used in such section 46 includes a subcontractor 

23 for a small business concern owned and controlled by vet24 erans described in such subparagraph (A). 

25 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may award a contract under this 

26 section only after the Secretary obtains from the offeror 


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1 a certification that the offeror will comply with the re2 quirements described in paragraph (1)(A) if awarded the 

3 contract. Such certification shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) specify the exact performance require5 ments applicable under such paragraph; and 

6 ‘‘(B) explicitly acknowledge that the certifi7 cation is subject to section 1001 of title 18. 

8 ‘‘(3)(A) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged 

9 Business Utilization for the Department, established pur10 suant to section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 644(k)), and the Chief Acquisition Officer of the 

12 Department, established pursuant to section 1702 of title 

13 41, shall jointly implement a process using the systems 

14 described in section 16(g)(2) of the Small Business Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(2)), and any other relevant systems 

16 available, to monitor compliance with this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Busi18 ness Utilization and the Chief Acquisition Officer shall 

19 jointly refer any violations or suspected violations of this 

20 subsection to the Inspector General of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines, in consultation with 

22 the Inspector General of the Department, that a small 

23 business concern that is awarded a contract under this 

24 section did not act in good faith with respect to the re25 quirements described in paragraph (1)(A), the small busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Feb 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H561.RFS H561

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1 ness concern shall be subject to any or all of the following 

2 consequences— 

3 ‘‘(i) referral to the Debarment and Suspension 

4 Committee of the Department; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a fine under section 16(g)(1) of the Small 

6 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(1)); and 

7 ‘‘(iii) prosecution for violating section 1001 of 

8 title 18. 

9 ‘‘(D) Not later than November 30 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2021 through 2025, the Inspector General shall sub11 mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

12 and House of Representatives a report for the fiscal year 

13 preceding the fiscal year during which the report is sub14 mitted that includes, for the fiscal year covered by the re15 port— 

16 ‘‘(i) the number of referred violations and sus17 pected violations received under subparagraph (B); 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the disposition of such referred violations, 

20 including the number of small business concerns sus21 pended or debarred from Federal contracting or re22 ferred to the Attorney General for prosecution.’’. 

23 (b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (k) of section 8127 of 

24 title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 


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1 shall apply with respect to a contract entered into after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 25, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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