IB 

Union Calendar No. 525 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3980 

[Report No. 112–722] 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to procurement center 

representatives and acquisition planning, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2012 

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER (for herself and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

DECEMBER 21, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. CHABOT, 

Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Mr. WEST, Mr. HANNA, Mr. SCHILLING, Mr. TIPTON, Mrs. ELLMERS, and Mr. MCKEON

DECEMBER 21, 2012 

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

and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 8, 2012] 

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A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to procurement center representatives and acquisition planning, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Small Business Opportunity Act of 2012’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—PROCUREMENT CENTER REPRESENTATIVES 

Sec. 101. Procurement center representatives. 

Sec. 102. Small Business Act contracting requirements training. 

TITLE II—ACQUISITION PLANNING 

Sec. 201. Acquisition planning. 

7 TITLE I—PROCUREMENT 

8 CENTER REPRESENTATIVES 

9 SEC. 101. PROCUREMENT CENTER REPRESENTATIVES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 15(l) of the Small Business 

11 Act (15 U.S.C. 644(l)) is amended by striking the subsection 

12 enumerator and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(l) PROCUREMENT CENTER REPRESENTATIVES.—’’. 

14 (b) ASSIGNMENT AND ROLE.—Paragraph (1) of section 

15 15(l) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 644(l)) is amended to read 

16 as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENT AND ROLE.—The Adminis18 trator shall assign to each major procurement center 

19 a procurement center representative with such assist20 ance as may be appropriate.’’. 

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1 (c) ACTIVITIES.—Section 15(l)(2) of such Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 644(l)(2)) is amended— 

3 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 

4 striking ‘‘(2) In addition to carrying out the respon5 sibilities assigned by the Administration, a breakout’’ 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A’’; 

8 (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) attend any provisioning conference or 

11 similar evaluation session during which a deter12 mination may be made with respect to the pro13 curement method to be used to satisfy a require14 ment, review any acquisition plan with respect 

15 to a requirement, and make recommendations re16 garding procurement method determinations and 

17 acquisition plans;’’; 

18 (3) in subparagraph (B)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) review, at any time, 

20 restrictions on competition’’ and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(B) review, at any time, barriers to small 

23 business participation in Federal contracting’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘items’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘goods and services’’; and 

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1 (C) by striking ‘‘limitations’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘barriers’’; 

3 (4) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘(C) review 

4 restrictions on competition’’ and inserting the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(C) review barriers to small business par7 ticipation in Federal contracting’’; 

8 (5) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(D) review any bundled or consolidated so11 licitation or contract in accordance with this 

12 Act;’’; 

13 (6) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘(E) have 

14 access to’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(E) have access to’’; and 

16 (7) by striking subparagraphs (F) and (G) and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(F) receive, from personnel responsible for 

19 reviewing unsolicited proposals, copies of unso20 licited proposals from small business concerns 

21 and any information on outcomes relating to 

22 such proposals; 

23 ‘‘(G) participate in any session or planning 

24 process and review any documents with respect 

25 to a decision to convert an activity performed by 

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1 a small business concern to an activity per2 formed by a Federal employee; 

3 ‘‘(H) have electronic access to any acquisi4 tion plan developed or in development with re5 spect to a procurement activity; 

6 ‘‘(I) be an advocate for the maximum prac7 ticable utilization of small business concerns in 

8 Federal contracting, including by advocating 

9 against the bundling of contract requirements 

10 when not justified; and 

11 ‘‘(J) carry out any other responsibility as12 signed by the Administrator.’’. 

13 (d) APPEALS.—Section 15(l)(3) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 644(l)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘(3) A breakout procure15 ment center representative’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) APPEALS.—A procurement center represent17 ative’’. 

18 (e) NOTIFICATION AND INCLUSION.—Paragraph (4) of 

19 section 15(l) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 644(l)) is amended to 

20 read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION AND INCLUSION.—A procure22 ment center representative shall be notified of and in23 cluded in all applicable acquisition planning proc24 esses.’’. 

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1 (f) POSITION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 15(l)(5) of 

2 such Act (15 U.S.C. 644(l)(5)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking the paragraph enumerator and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) POSITION REQUIREMENTS.—’’; 

6 (2) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A procurement center 

9 representative assigned under this subsection 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) be a full-time employee of the Ad12 ministration; 

13 ‘‘(ii) be fully qualified, technically 

14 trained, and familiar with the goods and 

15 services procured by the major procurement 

16 center to which that representative is as17 signed; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) have a Level III Federal Acquisi19 tion Certification in Contracting (or any 

20 successor certification) or the equivalent De21 partment of Defense certification, except 

22 that any person serving in such a position 

23 on the date of enactment of this clause may 

24 continue to serve in that position for a pemstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with 

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1 riod of 5 years without the required certifi2 cation.’’; and 

3 (3) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘(C) The 

4 Administration shall establish personnel positions for 

5 breakout procurement representatives and advisers as6 signed pursuant to’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION.—The Administrator 

8 shall establish personnel positions for procure9 ment center representatives assigned under’’. 

10 (g) MAJOR PROCUREMENT CENTER DEFINED.—Sec11 tion 15(l)(6) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 644(l)(6)) is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘(6) For purposes’’ and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(6) MAJOR PROCUREMENT CENTER DEFINED.— 

16 For purposes’’; and 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘other than commercial items 

18 and which has the potential to incur significant sav19 ings as the result of the placement of a breakout pro20 curement center representative’’ and inserting ‘‘goods 

21 or services, including goods or services that are com22 mercially available’’. 

23 (h) TRAINING.—Section 15(l)(7) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 644(l)(7)) is amended— 

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1 (1) by striking the paragraph enumerator and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(7) TRAINING.—’’; 

4 (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—At such times as 

7 the Administrator deems appropriate, a procure8 ment center representative shall provide training 

9 for contracting officers, other appropriate per10 sonnel of the procurement center to which such 

11 representative is assigned, and small businesses 

12 groups seeking to do business with such procure13 ment center. Such training shall acquaint the 

14 participants with the provisions of this sub15 section and shall instruct the participants in 

16 methods designed to further the purposes of this 

17 subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A procurement center 

19 representative may provide training under sub20 paragraph (A) only to the extent that the train21 ing does not interfere with the representative car22 rying out other activities under this subsection.’’; 

23 and 

24 (3) in subparagraph (B)— 

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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) The breakout procure2 ment center representative’’ and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(8) ANNUAL BRIEFING AND REPORT.—A pro5 curement center representative’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘sixty’’ and inserting ‘‘60’’. 

7 SEC. 102. SMALL BUSINESS ACT CONTRACTING REQUIRE8 MENTS TRAINING. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Defense Acquisition Uni11 versity and the Federal Acquisition Institute shall each pro12 vide a course on contracting requirements under the Small 

13 Business Act, including the requirements for small business 

14 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, 

15 qualified HUBZone small business concerns, small business 

16 concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically 

17 disadvantaged individuals, and small business concerns 

18 owned and controlled by women. 

19 (b) COURSE REQUIRED.—To have a Federal Acquisi20 tion Certification in Contracting (or any successor certifi21 cation) or the equivalent Department of Defense certifi22 cation an individual shall be required to complete the course 

23 established under subsection (a). 

24 (c) REQUIREMENT THAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

25 SPECIALISTS BE CERTIFIED.—Section 7(j)(10)(D)(i) of the 

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1 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(j)(10)(D)(i)) is amend2 ed by inserting after ‘‘to assist such Program Participant.’’ 

3 the following: ‘‘The Business Opportunity Specialist shall 

4 have a Level I Federal Acquisition Certification in Con5 tracting (or any successor certification) or the equivalent 

6 Department of Defense certification, except that a Business 

7 Opportunity Specialist serving at the time of the date of 

8 enactment of the Small Business Opportunity Act of 2012 

9 may continue to serve as a Business Opportunity Specialist 

10 for a period of 5 years beginning on that date of enactment 

11 without such a certification.’’. 

12 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 365 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

14 the United States shall conduct a study and submit a report 

15 to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the Committee on Small Business and En17 trepreneurship of the Senate on the relationship between the 

18 size and quality of the acquisition workforce and the Fed19 eral government’s ability to maximize the utilization of 

20 small businesses in Federal procurement. The report shall 

21 specifcally address the following: 

22 (1) The extent to which training on small busi23 ness contracting laws affects a contracting officer’s de24 termination to use one of the contracting authorities 

25 provided in the Small Business Act. 

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1 (2) The relationship between a robust Federal ac2 quisition workforce and small business success in ob3 taining Federal contracting opportunities. 

4 (3) The effect on economic growth if small busi5 nesses experienced a significant reduction in small 

6 business procurement activities. 

7 (4) The effect of the anticipated acceleration of 

8 retirements by the acquisition workforce on small 

9 business procurement opportunities. 

10 TITLE II—ACQUISITION 

11 PLANNING 

12 SEC. 201. ACQUISITION PLANNING. 

13 Section 15(e)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 644(e)(1)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘the various agencies’’ and in16 serting ‘‘a Federal department or agency’’; and 

17 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘and 

18 each such Federal department or agency shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) enumerate opportunities for the par20 ticipation of small business concerns during all 

21 acquisition planning processes and in all acqui22 sition plans; 

23 ‘‘(B) invite the participation of the appro24 priate Director of Small and Disadvantaged 

25 Business Utilization in all acquisition planning 

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1 processes and provide that Director access to all 

2 acquisition plans in development; and 

3 ‘‘(C) invite the participation of the appro4 priate procurement center representative in all 

5 acquisition planning processes and provide that 

6 representative access to all acquisition plans in 

7 development.’’. 

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Union Calendar No. 525 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3980 

[Report No. 112–722] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to 

tion planning, and for other purposes. procurement center representatives and acquisiDECEMBER 21, 2012 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

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