II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4546 

To prohibit conflict of interests among consulting firms that simultaneously 

contract with the Government of the People’s Republic of China and 

the United States Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2022 

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

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit conflict of interests among consulting firms that 

simultaneously contract with the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the United States Government, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Time to Choose Act 

5 of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Department of Defense and other agen2 cies in the United States Government regularly 

3 award contracts to firms such as Deloitte, McKinsey 

4 & Company, and others who are simultaneously pro5 viding consulting services to the Government of the 

6 People’s Republic of China and proxies or affiliates 

7 thereof. 

8 (2) The provision of such consulting services by 

9 firms like Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and oth10 ers to entities in the People’s Republic of China di11 rectly supports efforts by that nation’s government 

12 to generate economic and military power that it can 

13 then use to undermine the economic and national se14 curity of the American people, including through 

15 economic coercion and by threatening or using mili16 tary force against us. 

17 (3) It is a conflict of interest for firms like 

18 Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and others to simul19 taneously aid in the efforts of the Government of the 

20 People’s Republic of China to undermine the eco21 nomic and national security of the United States 

22 while they are simultaneously contracting with the 

23 Department of Defense and other United States 

24 Government agencies responsible for defending the 


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1 United States from foreign threats, above all from 

2 China. 

3 (4) Firms like Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, 

4 and others should no longer be allowed to engage in 

5 such a conflict of interest and should instead be re6 quired to choose between aiding the efforts of the 

7 Government of the People’s Republic of China to 

8 harm the United States or helping the United States 

9 Government to defend its citizens against such for10 eign coercion. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL CONTRACTING WITH 

12 ENTITIES THAT ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY AID13 ING IN THE EFFORTS OF THE PEOPLE’S RE14 PUBLIC OF CHINA TO HARM THE UNITED 

15 STATES. 

16 In order to end conflict of interests in Federal con17 tracting among consulting firms that simultaneously con18 tract with the United States Government and covered for19 eign entities, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council 

20 shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, amend the Federal Acquisition Regula22 tion— 

23 (1) to require any entity that provides the serv24 ices described in the North American Industry Clas25 sification System’s Industry Group code 5416, prior 


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1 to entering into a Federal contract, to certify that 

2 neither it nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates hold 

3 a contract with one or more covered foreign entities; 

4 and 

5 (2) to prohibit Federal contracts from being 

6 awarded to an entity that provides the services de7 scribed under the North American Industry Classi8 fication System’s Industry Group code 5416 if the 

9 entity or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates are de10 termined, based on the self-certification required 

11 under paragraph (1) or other information, to be a 

12 contractor of, or otherwise providing services to, a 

13 covered foreign entity. 

14 SEC. 4. PENALTIES FOR FALSE INFORMATION ON CON15 TRACTING WITH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

16 CHINA. 

17 (a) TERMINATION, SUSPENSION, AND DEBAR18 MENT.—If the head of an executive agency determines 

19 that a consulting firm described in section 3 has knowingly 

20 submitted a false certification or information on or after 

21 the date on which the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

22 Council amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursu23 ant to such section, the head of the executive agency shall 

24 terminate the contract with the consulting firm and con25 sider suspending or debarring the firm from eligibility for 


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1 future Federal contracts in accordance with subpart 9.4 

2 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

3 (b) FALSE CLAIMS ACT.—A consulting firm de4 scribed in section 3 that, for the purposes of the False 

5 Claims Act, intentionally hides or misrepresents one or 

6 more contracts with covered foreign entities shall be sub7 ject to the penalties and corrective actions described in 

8 the False Claims Act, including liability for three times 

9 the amount of damages which the United States Govern10 ment sustains, including funds or other resources ex11 pended on or in support of the solicitation, selection, and 

12 performance of such contracts. 

13 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 

16 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means— 

17 (A) a person, business trust, business asso18 ciation, company, institution, government agen19 cy, university, partnership, limited liability com20 pany, corporation, or any other individual or or21 ganization that can legally enter into contracts, 

22 own properties, or pay taxes on behalf of, the 

23 Government of the People’s Republic of China; 

24 (B) the Chinese Communist Party; 


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1 (C) the People’s Republic of China’s 

2 United Front; 

3 (D) an entity owned or controlled by, or 

4 that performs activities on behalf of, a person 

5 or entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or 

6 (C); and 

7 (E) an individual that is a member of the 

8 board of directors, an executive officer, or a 

9 senior official of an entity described in subpara10 graph (A), (B), (C), or (D). 

11 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

12 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

14 (3) FALSE CLAIMS ACT.—The term ‘‘False 

15 Claims Act’’ means sections 3729 through 3733 of 

16 title 31, United States Code. 

17 (4) NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICA18 TION SYSTEM’S INDUSTRY GROUP CODE 5416.—The 

19 term ‘‘North American Industry Classification Sys20 tem’s Industry Group code 5416’’ refers to the 

21 North American Industry Classification System cat22 egory that covers Management, Scientific, and Tech23 nical Consulting Services as Industry Group code 

24 5416, including industry codes 54151, 541611, 


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1 541612, 541613, 541614, 541618, 54162, 541620, 

2 54169, 541690. 

Æ 


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