II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4251 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a mentor-prote ́ge ́

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2020 

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

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program, 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 ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Mentor-Prote ́ge ́ Program Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MENTOR7 PROTE ́ GE ́ PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 

9 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 890B. MENTOR-PROTE ́ GE ́ PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Department a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program (in this section re4 ferred to as the ‘Program’) under which a mentor firm 

5 enters into an agreement with a prote ́ge ́ firm for the pur6 pose of assisting the prote ́ge ́ firm to compete for prime 

7 contracts and subcontracts of the Department. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish cri9 teria for mentor firms and prote ́ge ́ firms to be eligible to 

10 participate in the Program, including a requirement that 

11 a firm is not included on any list maintained by the Fed12 eral Government of contractors that have been suspended 

13 or debarred. 

14 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM APPLICATION AND APPROVAL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The Secretary, acting 

16 through the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

17 Business Utilization of the Department, shall estab18 lish a process for submission of an application joint19 ly by a mentor firm and the prote ́ge ́ firm selected by 

20 the mentor firm. The application shall include each 

21 of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) A description of the assistance to be 

23 provided by the mentor firm, including, to the 

24 extent available, the number and a brief de25 scription of each anticipated subcontract to be 

26 awarded to the prote ́ge ́ firm. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A schedule with milestones for 

2 achieving the assistance to be provided over the 

3 period of participation in the Program. 

4 ‘‘(C) An estimate of the costs to be in5 curred by the mentor firm for providing assist6 ance under the Program. 

7 ‘‘(D) Attestation that Program partici8 pants will submit to the Secretary reports at 

9 times specified by the Secretary to assist the 

10 Secretary in evaluating the prote ́ge ́ firm’s devel11 opmental progress. 

12 ‘‘(E) Attestations that Program partici13 pants will inform the Secretary in the event of 

14 change in eligibility or voluntary withdrawal 

15 from the Program. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

17 receipt of an application pursuant to paragraph (1), 

18 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

19 Business Utilization shall notify applicants of ap20 proval or, in the case of disapproval, the process for 

21 resubmitting an application for reconsideration. 

22 ‘‘(3) RESCISSION.—The head of the Office of 

23 Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may 

24 rescind the approval of an application under this 


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1 subsection if it determines that such action is in the 

2 best interest of the Department. 

3 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM DURATION.—A mentor firm and 

4 prote ́ge ́ firm approved under subsection (c) shall enter into 

5 an agreement to participate in the Program for a period 

6 of not less than 36 months. 

7 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM BENEFITS.—A mentor firm and 

8 prote ́ge ́ firm that enter into an agreement under sub9 section (d) may receive the following Program benefits: 

10 ‘‘(1) With respect to an award of a contract 

11 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

12 may receive evaluation credit for participating in the 

13 Program. 

14 ‘‘(2) With respect to an award of a contract 

15 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 

16 may receive credit for a prote ́ge ́ firm performing as 

17 a first tier subcontractor or a subcontractor at any 

18 tier in an amount equal to the total dollar value of 

19 any subcontracts awarded to such prote ́ge ́ firm. 

20 ‘‘(3) A prote ́ge ́ firm may receive technical, man21 agerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon 

22 benefit from a mentor firm, including a subcontract 

23 award. 

24 ‘‘(4) Any other benefits identified by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

3 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Busi4 ness Utilization shall submit to the Committees on Home5 land Security and Small Business of the House of Rep6 resentatives a report that— 

7 ‘‘(1) identifies each agreement between a men8 tor firm and a prote ́ge ́ firm entered into under this 

9 section, including number of prote ́ge ́ firm partici10 pants that are— 

11 ‘‘(A) small business concerns; 

12 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 

13 controlled by veterans; 

14 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 

15 controlled by service-disabled veterans; 

16 ‘‘(D) qualified HUBZone small business 

17 concerns; 

18 ‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 

19 controlled by socially and economically dis20 advantaged individuals; 

21 ‘‘(F) women-owned small business con22 cerns; 

23 ‘‘(G) historically Black colleges and univer24 sities; and 


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1 ‘‘(H) minority institutions of higher edu2 cation; 

3 ‘‘(2) describes the type of assistance provided 

4 by mentor firms to prote ́ge ́ firms; 

5 ‘‘(3) identifies contracts within the Department 

6 in which a mentor firm serving as the prime con7 tractor provided subcontracts to a prote ́ge ́ firm 

8 under the Program; and 

9 ‘‘(4) assesses the degree to which there has 

10 been— 

11 ‘‘(A) an increase in the technical capabili12 ties of prote ́ge ́ firms; and 

13 ‘‘(B) an increase in the quantity and esti14 mated value of prime contract and subcontract 

15 awards to prote ́ge ́ firms for the period covered 

16 by the report. 

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

18 ‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI19 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

20 university’ means any of the historically Black col21 leges and universities referred to in section 2323 of 

22 title 10, United States Code, as in effect on March 

23 1, 2018. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MENTOR FIRM.—The term ‘mentor firm’ 

2 means a for-profit business concern that is not a 

3 small business concern that— 

4 ‘‘(A) has the ability to assist and commits 

5 to assisting a prote ́ge ́ to compete for Federal 

6 prime contracts and subcontracts; and 

7 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im8 posed by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(3) MINORITY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU10 CATION.—The term ‘minority institution of higher 

11 education’ means an institution of higher education 

12 with a student body that reflects the composition 

13 specified in section 312(b) of the Higher Education 

14 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(b)). 

15 ‘‘(4) PROTE ́GE ́ FIRM.—The term ‘prote ́ge ́ firm’ 

16 means a small business concern, a historically Black 

17 college or university, or a minority institution of 

18 higher education that— 

19 ‘‘(A) is eligible to enter into a prime con20 tract or subcontract with the Department; and 

21 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im22 posed by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 

24 terms ‘small business concern’, ‘small business con25 cern owned and controlled by veterans’, ‘small busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251

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1 ness concern owned and controlled by service-dis2 abled veterans’, ‘qualified HUBZone small business 

3 concern’, and ‘small business concern owned and 

4 controlled by women’ have the meaning given such 

5 terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Small 

6 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). The term ‘small busi7 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 

8 economically disadvantaged individuals’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of 

10 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 890A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 890B. Mentor-prote ́ge ́ program.’’. 

Æ 


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