United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

Comptroller General

of the United States

 

Decision

Matter of: Pierce First Medical; Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC--

Reconsideration

File: B-406291.3; B-406291.4

Date: June 13, 2012

Chet McLendon for Pierce First Medical and Louis N. Leon-Guerrero for Alternative 

Contracting Enterprises, LLC, the protesters.

Tricia A. Leminger, Esq., and Stephen Starks, Esq., Kroger, Gardis & Regas, LLP, 

for Bosma Industries for the Blind, Inc., the intervenor.

Dennis Foley, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs; and Dennis Lockard, Esq., 

Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, for the 

agencies

Nora K. Adkins, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General 

Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Protesters’ requests to reconsider our decision denying their protests are denied 

where the requests merely express disagreement with the prior decision, reiterate

arguments made previously, and raise new arguments that could have been made 

during the course of the underlying protests.

DECISION

Pierce First Medical (PFM), of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Alternative 

Contracting Enterprises, LLC (ACE), of Tucson, Arizona, request reconsideration of 

our decision in Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First Medical, 

B-406265 et al., Mar. 26, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 124, in which we denied these firms’ 

protests against the issuance of purchase orders under two basic ordering 

agreements to Bosma Industries for the Blind, Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana, by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), for medical exam and surgical gloves. 

We deny the requests for reconsideration.

The protesters filed several protests with our Office challenging the agency’s award 

of various purchase orders to Bosma, arguing that the VA failed to first consider 

whether these procurements should have been set aside for service-disabled, 
Page 2 B-406291.3; B-406291.4 

veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) or veteran-owned small business (VOSB) 

concerns in accordance with the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information 

Technology Act of 2006 (the VA Act), 38 U.S.C. §§ 8127-8128 (2006), before 

purchasing the items from Bosma under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act.

1

 

41 U.S.C. §§ 8501-8506 (2011). The protests also asserted that the gloves

provided to the VA by Bosma are made in the People’s Republic of China in 

violation of the Buy American Act.2

In our decision, we found that the VA reasonably read the VA Act and the JWOD

Act together to harmonize the two statutes, where each had mandatory language 

concerning set-aside preferences for SDVOSB or VOSB contractors, and AbilityOne 

contractors, respectively. We therefore concluded that the VA appropriately issued

sole-source purchase orders to Bosma, an AbilityOne nonprofit vendor, for items

that were on the AbilityOne procurement list, even though SDVOSB concerns 

indicated that they could provide the gloves. We also noted that we do not review 

decisions of the Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely 

Disabled to add or delete a commodity or service from the AbilityOne procurement 

list, and that the Buy American Act did not provide a basis for challenging the VA’s 

sole-source purchase orders from the AbilityOne list.

Both protesters have requested reconsideration of our prior decision on the basis 

that the decision was legally flawed. Our Bid Protest Regulations require that a 

party requesting reconsideration must show that our prior decision contains errors 

of either fact or law, or must present information not previously considered that 

warrants reversal or modification of our decision. Bid Protest Regulations, 

4 C.F.R. § 21.14(a) (2012); Department of Housing and Urban Dev.--Recon., 

B-279575.2, Nov. 4, 1998, 98-2 CPD ¶ 105 at 2; Department of the Army--Recon., 

B-271492.2, Nov. 27, 1996, 96-2 CPD ¶ 203 at 5. Information not previously 

considered means information that was not available to the protester when the initial 

protest was filed. Allstate Van & Storage, Inc.--Recon., B-270744.2, Aug. 20, 1996, 

96-2 CPD ¶ 72 at 2. Failure to make all arguments or submit all information 

available during the course of the initial protest undermines the goals of our bid 

protest forum--to produce fair and equitable decisions based on consideration of 

both parties’ arguments on a fully developed record--and cannot justify 

reconsideration of our prior decision. The Dep’t of the Army--Recon., B-237742.2, 

 1 The AbilityOne program, which is administered by the Committee for Purchase 

from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, implements the JWOD Act by 

providing employment opportunities for people who are blind or have other severe 

disabilities through the award of federal contracts. 41 C.F.R. § 51-1.3 (2011).

2 The protesters raised numerous other challenges to the VA’s issuance of the 

purchase orders to Bosma. While our decision discussed only the more significant 

arguments in resolving the protests, we considered all of the parties’ arguments.
Page 3 B-406291.3; B-406291.4 

June 11, 1990, 90-1 CPD ¶ 546 at 4. In addition, our Office will not consider a 

request for reconsideration based on repetition of arguments previously raised. 

4 C.F.R. § 21.14(a). 

We find that PFM’s and ACE’s requests do not satisfy the standard for 

reconsideration. In this regard, the requests for reconsideration primarily repeat 

arguments previously made and considered by our Office, and merely express 

disagreement with our prior decision. See Gordon R.A. Fishman--Recon., 

B-257634.4, Sept. 9, 1996, 96-2 CPD ¶ 110 at 2-3. In addition, the reconsideration 

requests also raise information that was available to the protesters at the time they 

filed their protests but has not been presented to our Office until now; this also does 

not meet the standard for reconsideration. Allstate Van & Storage, Inc.--Recon., 

supra. Although we have considered all of the protesters’ arguments, we discuss 

their major contentions below.

As relevant to these reconsideration requests, the pertinent portions of the VA Act 

state: 

(d) USE OF RESTRICTED COMPETITION.--Except as provided in 

subsections (b) and (c), for purposes of meeting the goals under 

subsection (a), and in accordance with this section, a contracting 

officer of the [VA] shall award contracts on the basis of competition 

restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled by 

veterans if the contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that 

two or more small business concerns owned and controlled by 

veterans will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair 

and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.

38 U.S.C. § 8127(d) (2006 & Supp. 2011).

(a) CONTRACTING PRIORITY--In procuring goods and services 

pursuant to a contracting preference under this title or any other 

provision of law, the Secretary shall give priority to a small business 

concern owned and controlled by veterans, if such business concern 

also meets the requirements of that contracting preference.

38 U.S.C. § 8128(a) (2006). 

The JWOD Act also establishes a contracting priority for AbilityOne as follows:

An entity of the Federal Government intending to procure a product or 

service on the procurement list . . . shall procure the product or service 

from a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or a qualified nonprofit 

agency for other severely disabled in accordance with regulations of 
Page 4 B-406291.3; B-406291.4 

the Committee and at the price the Committee establishes if the 

product or service is available within the period required by the entity.

41 U.S.C. § 8504(a) (2011).

PFM and ACE contend that our decision failed to give effect to the VA Act’s plain 

and unambiguous language, which they allege establishes an absolute priority for 

SDVOSB and VOSB concerns in all VA contracting over preferences established 

under “any other provision of law,” including the JWOD Act’s AbilityOne preference. 

See 38 U.S.C. 8128(a). In this regard, the protesters assert that our decision,

Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First Medical, supra, was 

inconsistent with our prior decisions in Aldevra, B-405271, B-405524, Oct. 11, 2011, 

2011 CPD ¶ 183 and Aldevra, B-406205, Mar. 14, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 112, which 

the protesters argue support their interpretation of the VA Act as establishing 

absolute priority for SDVOSB and VOSB concerns in VA contracting.3

 The 

protesters argue that, in light of this priority, GAO erred when it deferred to the VA’s 

interpretation of the priority between the VA and JWOD Acts. In the protesters’ 

view, the more specific and later-enacted VA Act repealed by implication the priority 

given to AbilityOne contractors for items on the procurement list under the JWOD 

Act. 

We disagree. Our decisions in Aldevra involved the interpretation of the VA Act 

without reference to other statutory preferences. Alternative Contracting 

Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First Medical, supra, at 4 n.8. In Aldevra, we concluded 

that the VA Act, 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d), required a contracting officer to first determine 

whether two or more SDVOSB concerns will submit offers at a fair and reasonable 

price before proceeding with a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) acquisition. 

Moreover, we did not give deference to the VA’s decision that FSS acquisitions

could take priority over the VA Act’s set-asides for SDVOSB and VOSB concerns. 

In our view, the VA’s elevation of FSS acquisitions over SDVOSB and VOSB 

set-asides (when the conditions described in the VA Act are met) was inconsistent 

with the plain meaning of the statute--which was to give this priority to SDVOSB and 

VOSB concerns in these circumstances. See Aldevra, B-406205, Mar. 14, 2012, 

2012 CPD ¶ 112 at 5, citing, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 

467 U.S. 837, 842-43 (1984). 

Unlike Aldevra, the current case concerns two unambiguous statutory mandates in 

apparent conflict, which required our Office to attempt to harmonize the two 

statutes.4

 3 Our Office issued two separate decisions regarding the priority of SDVOSB 

concerns, which we collectively refer to here as Aldevra.

 See, e.g., Posadas v. National City Bank of New York, 296 U.S. 497, 503 

4 The preference for FSS acquisitions is not a statutory mandate.
Page 5 B-406291.3; B-406291.4 

(1936) (honoring a longstanding principle of statutory construction, that if possible, 

statutes should be construed harmoniously, so as to give effect to both). Since the 

set-aside provisions of the VA Act, 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d), are silent with regard to the 

VA Act’s priority over (or subordination to) the JWOD Act’s contracting preference,

we concluded that the VA had appropriately harmonized the two conflicting 

provisions in its Federal Register preamble and guidelines, which established

priority for AbilityOne contractors for items already listed on the AbilityOne 

procurement list, but gave priority to the VA Act for previously unlisted items.

Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First Medical, supra, at 6;

see Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134 (1944). In harmonizing the two statutes, 

we avoided the disfavored approach of interpreting a statute as repealing another 

statute by implication. Alternative Contracting Enterprises, LLC; Pierce First 

Medical, supra, at 5, citing, Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 549 (1974). 

Moreover, we do not agree with the protesters’ argument that the VA Act preference 

operates without regard to any other provision of law. As set forth in full above, 

section 8128(a) anticipates the operation of other statutory preferences, and 

requires that priority be given “to a small business concern owned and controlled by 

veterans, if such business concern also meets the requirements of that contracting 

preference.” 38 U.S.C. § 8128(a) (emphasis added).

We also find that additional information and arguments provided by PFM and ACE 

for the first time in the reconsideration requests do not provide a basis to reconsider 

our decision. 

For example, the protesters contend that the 2006 Congressional testimony of the 

Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs shows that the VA initially recognized an

absolute priority in the VA Act applicable to all VA contracts, including priority over 

items on the AbilityOne procurement list. They assert that the Deputy Secretary 

chose not to recommend any changes with regard to the VA Act priority over 

AbilityOne, even though he recommended other changes in his testimony. Thus, in 

the protesters’ view, the VA accepted their interpretation of the VA Act, i.e., that 

SDVOSB and VOSB contractors have priority over AbilityOne contractors for items 

on the procurement list. 

In our view, this argument does not provide a valid basis for our Office to reverse its 

decision. Even if we agreed with the protesters’ interpretation of the Deputy 

Secretary’s silence--and we do not--the testimony of one VA witness in 2006 does 

not provide a basis for our Office to reach a different conclusion about the operation 

of this statute vis-à-vis another statute. In addition, the import of a VA witness’s 

2006 testimony could easily have been raised in the initial protest on this matter.

The protesters also allege that our decision erred in concluding that the Buy 

American Act does not provide a basis for challenging the VA’s sole-source

acquisitions from AbilityOne contractors. Although the protesters concede that the 
Page 6 B-406291.3; B-406291.4 

Buy American Act does not impose an absolute prohibition on the purchase of 

foreign-made products, they argue that the Buy American Act and the Trade 

Agreements Act do not permit the VA to purchase items from the People’s Republic 

of China, a non-eligible country, when there are domestic, U.S. made, or eligible 

country items available at fair market pricing.5 The protesters additionally claim that 

Bosma has violated the mandatory requirements for a federal contractor to provide 

accurate product information in its Online Representations and Certifications 

Application (ORCA) record with regard to Buy American Act and Trade Agreements 

Act compliance.

We have recognized that the Buy American Act does not provide a basis for 

challenging a sole-source procurement since it does not prohibit the purchase of 

foreign products, but merely posits a price comparison between competing offers, 

which is not possible when only one offer is present. See Design Pak, Inc., 

B-212579, Sept. 16, 1983, 83-2 CPD ¶ 336. As indicated above, we agreed with 

the VA that the JWOD Act required the VA to make a sole-source award to an 

AbilityOne contractor when an item is currently on the procurement list. While the 

protesters argue that they could provide the gloves at issue, once it was determined 

that the agency properly used the authority under the AbilityOne program to 

sole-source its needs, the Buy American Act’s price preference is inapplicable. 

Accordingly, the protesters’ disagreement with our conclusion provides no basis to 

reconsider our decision.

To the extent that the protesters assert that the VA was required to ensure that 

AbilityOne contractors comply with the Buy American Act before placing the orders,

and that Bosma violated the mandatory requirements for a federal contractor to 

provide accurate product information in its ORCA record with regard to Buy 

American Act compliance, these are issues for the Committee to consider, as our

Office does not have jurisdiction to hear these claims. 41 U.S.C. § 8503 (2011); 

see Microform Inc., B-246253, Nov. 13, 1991, 91-2 CPD ¶ 460 at 2.

For these reasons, we deny the request for reconsideration.

Lynn H. Gibson

General Counsel

 5 The Trade Agreements Act does not apply to acquisitions from Nonprofit Agencies 

Employing People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled, and therefore provides no 

basis for reconsideration. Federal Acquisition Regulation § 25.401(1)(4).