I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1982

To amend title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 

Act of 1949 to provide to contracting officers of the civilian agencies 

the same authorities available to Department of Defense contracting 

officers to competitively evaluate products offered by Federal Prison 

Industries, Inc., to assure that such products represent the best value 

for the taxpayer dollars being expended, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2003

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself and Mr. SOUDER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL

To amend title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to provide to contracting officers of the civilian agencies the same authorities available 

to Department of Defense contracting officers to competitively evaluate products offered by Federal Prison 

Industries, Inc., to assure that such products represent 

the best value for the taxpayer dollars being expended, 

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. PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CIVILIAN 

2 AGENCIES RELATING TO PRODUCTS OF FED3 ERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES. 

4 Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative 

5 Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 318. PRODUCTS OF FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES: 

8 PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) MARKET RESEARCH.—Before purchasing a 

10 product listed in the latest edition of the Federal Prison 

11 Industries catalog under section 4124(d) of title 18, 

12 United States Code, the head of an executive agency shall 

13 conduct market research to determine whether the Federal 

14 Prison Industries product is comparable to products avail15 able from the private sector that best meet the executive 

16 agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of deliv17 ery. 

18 ‘‘(b) COMPETITION REQUIREMENT.—If the head of 

19 the executive agency determines that a Federal Prison In20 dustries product is not comparable in price, quality, or 

21 time of delivery to products available from the private sec22 tor that best meet the executive agency’s needs in terms 

23 of price, quality, and time of delivery, the agency head 

24 shall use competitive procedures for the procurement of 

25 the product or shall make an individual purchase under 

26 a multiple award contract. In conducting such a competi-
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1 tion or making such a purchase, the agency head shall 

2 consider a timely offer from Federal Prison Industries. 

3 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION BY HEAD OF EXECUTIVE

4 AGENCY.—The head of an executive agency shall ensure 

5 that—

6 ‘‘(1) the executive agency does not purchase a 

7 Federal Prison Industries product or service unless 

8 a contracting officer of the agency determines that 

9 the product or service is comparable to products or 

10 services available from the private sector that best 

11 meet the agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, 

12 and time of delivery; and 

13 ‘‘(2) Federal Prison Industries performs its 

14 contractual obligations to the same extent as any 

15 other contractor for the executive agency. 

16 ‘‘(d) MARKET RESEARCH DETERMINATION NOT

17 SUBJECT TO REVIEW.—A determination by a contracting 

18 officer regarding whether a product or service offered by 

19 Federal Prison Industries is comparable to products or 

20 services available from the private sector that best meet 

21 an executive agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, and 

22 time of delivery shall not be subject to review pursuant 

23 to section 4124(b) of title 18. 

24 ‘‘(e) PERFORMANCE AS A SUBCONTRACTOR.—(1) A 

25 contractor or potential contractor of an executive agency 
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1 may not be required to use Federal Prison Industries as 

2 a subcontractor or supplier of products or provider of serv3 ices for the performance of a contract of the executive 

4 agency by any means, including means such as—

5 ‘‘(A) a contract solicitation provision requiring 

6 a contractor to offer to make use of products or 

7 services of Federal Prison Industries in the perform8 ance of the contract; 

9 ‘‘(B) a contract specification requiring the con10 tractor to use specific products or services (or class11 es of products or services) offered by Federal Prison 

12 Industries in the performance of the contract; or 

13 ‘‘(C) any contract modification directing the use 

14 of products or services of Federal Prison Industries 

15 in the performance of the contract. 

16 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘‘contractor’’, with 

17 respect to a contract, includes a subcontractor at any tier 

18 under the contract. 

19 ‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED AND SENSITIVE

20 INFORMATION.—The head of an executive agency may not 

21 enter into any contract with Federal Prison Industries 

22 under which an inmate worker would have access to—

23 ‘‘(1) any data that is classified; 

24 ‘‘(2) any geographic data regarding the location 

25 of—
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1 ‘‘(A) surface and subsurface infrastructure 

2 providing communications or water or electrical 

3 power distribution; 

4 ‘‘(B) pipelines for the distribution of nat5 ural gas, bulk petroleum products, or other 

6 commodities; or 

7 ‘‘(C) other utilities; or 

8 ‘‘(3) any personal or financial information 

9 about any individual private citizen, including infor10 mation relating to such person’s real property how11 ever described, without the prior consent of the indi12 vidual. 

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

14 ‘‘(1) The term ‘competitive procedures’ has the 

15 meaning given such term in section 4(5) of the Of16 fice of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 

17 403(5)). 

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘market research’ means obtain19 ing specific information about the price, quality, and 

20 time of delivery of products available in the private 

21 sector through a variety of means, which may in22 clude—

23 ‘‘(A) contacting knowledgeable individuals 

24 in government and industry; 
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1 ‘‘(B) interactive communication among in2 dustry, acquisition personnel, and customers; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(C) interchange meetings or pre-solicita5 tion conferences with potential offerors.’’.

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