§ 301 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE Page 210

1See References in Text note below.

2So in original. Probably should be ‘‘internationally-agreedupon’’.

§ 301. Lease or rental arrangements of not less

than ten years; approval by Secretary; delegation of authority; information to Congress

(a) Leases

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter

or any other Act, no lease or other rental arrangement for a period of less than ten years,

and requiring an annual payment in excess of

$50,000 shall be entered into by the Secretary of

State for the purpose of renting or leasing offices, buildings, grounds, or living quarters for

the use of the Foreign Service abroad, unless

such lease or other rental arrangement is approved by the Secretary. The Secretary may

delegate his authority under this section only to

the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration or to the Director of the Office of Foreign Buildings. The Secretary shall keep the

Congress fully and currently informed with respect to leases or other rental arrangements approved under this section.

(b) Advance payments for long-term leases and

lease purchase

The Secretary may, subject to the availability

of appropriations, make advance payments for

long-term leases and lease-purchase agreements,

if the Secretary or his designee determines, in

each case, that such payments are in the interest of the United States Government in carrying

out the purposes of this chapter.

(May 7, 1926, ch. 250, §10, as added Pub. L. 89–636,

§4, Oct. 10, 1966, 80 Stat. 882; amended Pub. L.

102–138, title I, §115(a), (b), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat.

655.)

AMENDMENTS

1991—Pub. L. 102–138 designated existing provisions as

subsec. (a), inserted heading, substituted ‘‘$50,000’’ for

‘‘$25,000,’’, and added subsec. (b).

AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF STATE

Except as otherwise provided, Secretary of State to

have and exercise any authority vested by law in any

official or office of Department of State and references

to such officials or offices deemed to refer to Secretary

of State or Department of State, as appropriate, see

section 2651a of this title and section 161(d) of Pub. L.

103–236, set out as a note under section 2651a of this

title.

§ 302. Award of contracts

(a) Eligibility limitation for construction, etc.,

abroad

Eligibility for award of contracts under this

chapter or of any other contract by the Secretary of State, including lease-back or other

agreements, the purpose of which is to obtain

the construction, alteration, or repair of buildings and grounds abroad, when estimated to exceed $5,000,000, including any contract alternatives or options, shall be limited, after a determination that adequate competition will be

obtained thereby, to (1) American-owned bidders

and (2) bidders from countries which permit or

agree to permit substantially equal access to

American bidders for comparable diplomatic and

consular building projects, except that participation may be permitted by or limited to hostcountry bidders where required by international

agreement or by the law of the host country or

where determined by the Secretary of State to

be necessary in the interest of bilateral relations or necessary to carry out the construction

project.

(b) Foreign laws and regulations; competitive

status and adequacy; bidder qualifications

(1) Generally applicable laws and regulations

pertaining to licensing and other qualifications

to do business in the country in which the contract is to be performed shall not be deemed a

limitation of access for purposes of this section.

(2) For purposes of determining competitive

status, bids qualifying under subsection (a)(1) of

this section shall be reduced by 10 per centum.

(3) A determination of adequacy of competition for purposes of subsection (a) of this section

shall be made after advance publication by the

Secretary of State of the proposed project, and

receipt from not less than two prospective responsible bidders of intent to submit a bid or

proposal. If competition is not determined to be

adequate, contracts may be awarded without regard to subsection (a) of this section and this

subsection.

(4) Bidder qualification under subsection (a) of

this section shall be determined on the basis of

nationality of ownership, the burden of which

shall be on the prospective bidder. Qualification

under subsection (a)(1) of this section shall require evidence of (A) performance of similar

construction work in the United States, and (B)

either (i) ownership in excess of fifty percent by

United States citizens or permanent residents,

or (ii) incorporation in the United States for

more than three years and employment of

United States citizens or permanent residents in

more than half of the corporation’s permanent

full-time professional and managerial positions

in the United States.

(5) Qualification under this section shall be established on the basis of determinations at the

time bids are requested.

(c) Contracts for construction, etc., in United

States

Contracts for construction, alteration, or repair in the United States for or on behalf of any

foreign mission (as defined in section 202(a)(4) 1

of title II of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 4302(a)(4)) may,

pursuant to the authority of that title [22 U.S.C.

4301 et seq.], only be awarded to or performed by

bidders qualifying under subsection (a) (1) or (2)

or by nationals of the country for which the contract is being performed who are granted the

right of entry into the United States for that

purpose.

(d) Discretionary determinations by Secretary of

State

Determinations under this section shall be

committed to the discretion of the Secretary of

State.

(e) Termination of requirements

This section shall cease to be effective when

the Secretary of State determines that there are

internationally-agree-upon2 rules in effect on

bidding for construction contracts.