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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1770

To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to improve the

acquisition workforce of civilian Federal agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 7, 1995

Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act

to improve the acquisition workforce of civilian Federal

agencies.

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 ‘‘Civilian Agency Acqui5 sition Workforce Improvement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.

7 The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41

8 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

9 following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 35. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.

2 ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section does not apply to

3 an executive agency that is subject to chapter 87 of title

4 10, United States Code.

5 ‘‘(b) MANAGEMENT POLICIES.—

6 ‘‘(1) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The head

7 of each executive agency, after consultation with the

8 Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, shall

9 establish policies and procedures for the effective

10 management (including accession, education, train11 ing, career development, and performance incentives)

12 of the acquisition workforce of the agency. The de13 velopment of acquisition workforce policies under

14 this section shall be carried out consistent with the

15 merit system principles set forth in paragraphs (1)

16 and (2) of section 2301(b) of title 5, United States

17 Code.

18 ‘‘(2) UNIFORM IMPLEMENTATION.—The head

19 of each executive agency shall ensure that, to the

20 maximum extent practicable, acquisition workforce

21 policies and procedures established are uniform in

22 their implementation throughout the agency.

23 ‘‘(3) GOVERNMENTWIDE POLICIES AND EVAL24 UATION.—The Administrator shall issue policies to

25 promote uniform implementation of this section by

26 executive agencies, with due regard for differences in
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1 program requirements among agencies that may be

2 appropriate and warranted in view of the agency

3 mission. The Administrator shall evaluate the imple4 mentation of the provisions of this section by execu5 tive agencies.

6 ‘‘(c) SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE AUTHORI7 TIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—Subject to the authority,

8 direction, and control of the head of an executive agency,

9 the senior procurement executive of the agency shall carry

10 out all powers, functions, and duties of the head of the

11 agency with respect to implementation of this section. The

12 senior procurement executive shall ensure that the policies

13 of the head of the executive agency established in accord14 ance with this section are implemented throughout the

15 agency.

16 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS.—The

17 Administrator shall ensure that the heads of executive

18 agencies collect and maintain standardized information on

19 the acquisition workforce related to implementation of this

20 section. To the maximum extent practicable, such data re21 quirements shall conform to standards established by the

22 Office of Personnel Management for the Central Personnel

23 Data File.

24 ‘‘(e) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—The programs es25 tablished by this section shall apply to all employees in
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1 the General Schedule Contracting series (GS–1102) and

2 the General Schedule Purchasing series (GS–1105), and

3 to any employees regardless of series who have been ap4 pointed as contracting officers whose authority exceeds the

5 micro-purchase threshold, as that term is defined in sec6 tion 32(g). The head of each executive agency may include

7 employees in other series who perform acquisition or ac8 quisition-related functions.

9 ‘‘(f) CAREER DEVELOPMENT.—

10 ‘‘(1) CAREER PATHS.—The head of each execu11 tive agency shall ensure that appropriate career

12 paths for personnel who desire to pursue careers in

13 acquisition are identified in terms of the education,

14 training, experience, and assignments necessary for

15 career progression to the most senior acquisition po16 sitions. The head of each executive agency shall

17 make information available on such career paths.

18 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL DUTIES AND TASKS.—For each

19 career path, the head of each executive agency shall

20 identify the critical acquisition-related duties and

21 tasks in which, at minimum, employees of the agen22 cy in the career path shall be competent to perform

23 at full performance grade levels. For this purpose,

24 the head of the executive agency shall provide appro25 priate coverage of the critical duties and tasks iden-
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1 tified by the Director of the Federal Acquisition In2 stitute.

3 ‘‘(3) MANDATORY TRAINING AND EDU4 CATION.—For each career path, the head of each ex5 ecutive agency shall establish requirements for the

6 completion of course work and related on-the-job

7 training in the critical acquisition-related duties and

8 tasks of the career path. The head of each executive

9 agency shall also encourage employees to maintain

10 the currency of their acquisition knowledge and gen11 erally enhance their knowledge of related acquisition

12 management disciplines through academic programs

13 and other self-developmental activities.

14 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES.—The head of

15 each executive agency, acting through the senior

16 procurement executive for the agency, shall provide

17 for an enhanced system of incentives for the encour18 agement of excellence in the acquisition workforce

19 which rewards performance of employees that con20 tribute to achieving the agency’s performance goals.

21 ‘‘(g) QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) GENERAL SCHEDULE CONTRACTING SE23 RIES (GS–1102).—

24 ‘‘(A) ENTRY LEVEL QUALIFICATIONS.—

25 The Director of the Office of Personnel Man-
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1 agement shall require that, after October 1,

2 1996, a person may not be appointed to a posi3 tion in the GS–1102 occupational series unless

4 the person—

5 ‘‘(i) has received a baccalaureate de6 gree from an accredited educational insti7 tution authorized to grant baccalaureate

8 degrees,

9 ‘‘(ii) has completed at least 24 semes10 ter credit hours (or the equivalent) of

11 study from an accredited institution of

12 higher education in any of the following

13 disciplines: accounting, business finance,

14 law, contracts, purchasing, economics, in15 dustrial management, marketing, quan16 titative methods, or organization and man17 agement, or

18 ‘‘(iii) has passed a written test deter19 mined by the Administrator for Federal

20 Procurement Policy, after consultation

21 with the Director of the Office of Person22 nel Management, to demonstrate the

23 judgmental skills necessary for positions in

24 this series.
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1 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS FOR SENIOR CON2 TRACTING POSITIONS.—The Director of the Of3 fice of Personnel Management shall require

4 that, after October 1, 1996, persons may be ap5 pointed to positions at and above full perform6 ance grade levels in the GS–1102 occupational

7 series only if those persons—

8 ‘‘(i) have satisfied the educational re9 quirement either of subsection (g)(1)(A)(i)

10 or subsection (g)(1)(A)(ii),

11 ‘‘(ii) have successfully completed all

12 training required for the position under

13 subsection (f)(3), and

14 ‘‘(iii) have satisfied experience and

15 other requirements established by the Di16 rector for such positions.

17 However, this requirement shall apply to per18 sons employed on October 1, 1996, in GS–1102

19 positions at those grade levels only as a pre20 requisite for promotion to a GS–1102 position

21 at a higher grade.

22 ‘‘(2) GENERAL SCHEDULE PURCHASING SERIES

23 (GS–1105).—The Director of the Office of Personnel

24 Management shall require that, after October 1,

25 1996, a person may not be appointed to a position
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1 in the GS–1105 occupational series unless the per2 son—

3 ‘‘(A) has successfully completed 2 years of

4 course work from an accredited educational in5 stitution authorized to grant degrees, or

6 ‘‘(B) has passed a written test determined

7 by the Administrator for Federal Procurement

8 Policy, after consultation with the Director of

9 the Office of Personnel Management, to dem10 onstrate the judgmental skills necessary for po11 sitions in this series.

12 ‘‘(3) CONTRACTING OFFICERS.—The head of

13 each executive agency shall require that, beginning

14 after October 1, 1996, a person may be appointed

15 as a contracting officer with authority to award or

16 administer contracts for amounts above the micro17 purchase threshold, as that term is defined in sec18 tion 32(g), only if the person—

19 ‘‘(A) has successfully completed all manda20 tory training required of an employee in an

21 equivalent GS–1102 or 1105 position under

22 subsection (f)(3); and

23 ‘‘(B) meets experience and other require24 ments established by the head of the agency,

25 based on the dollar value and complexity of the
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1 contracts that the employee will be authorized

2 to award or administer under the appointment

3 as a contracting officer.

4 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—(A) The requirements set

5 forth in subsection (g) (1) and (2), as applicable,

6 shall not apply to any person employed in the GS–

7 1101 or GS–1105 series on October 1, 1996.

8 ‘‘(B) Employees of an executive agency who do

9 not satisfy the full qualification requirements for ap10 pointment as a contracting officer under subsection

11 (g)(3) may be appointed as a contracting officer for

12 a temporary period of time under procedures estab13 lished by the agency head. The procedures shall—

14 ‘‘(i) require that the person have completed

15 a significant portion of the required training,

16 ‘‘(ii) require a plan be established for the

17 balance of the required training,

18 ‘‘(iii) specify a period of time for comple19 tion of the training, and

20 ‘‘(iv) include provisions for withdrawing or

21 terminating the appointment prior to the sched22 uled expiration date, where appropriate.

23 ‘‘(5) WAIVER.—The senior procurement execu24 tive for an executive agency may waive any or all of

25 the qualification requirements of subsection (g) (1)
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1 and (2) for a person if the person possesses signifi2 cant potential for advancement to levels of greater

3 responsibility and authority, based on demonstrated

4 job performance and qualifying experience. This au5 thority may not be redelegated by the senior pro6 curement executive. With respect to each waiver

7 granted under this subsection, the senior procure8 ment executive shall set forth in writing the ration9 ale for the decision to waive such requirements.

10 ‘‘(h) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTA11 TION.—

12 ‘‘(1) FUNDING LEVELS.—The head of an execu13 tive agency shall request in the budget for the agen14 cy an amount equal to no less than 2.5 percent of

15 the base aggregate salary cost of the acquisition

16 workforce subject to this section, for education and

17 training under this section. The head of the execu18 tive agency shall set forth separately the funding lev19 els requested in the budget justification documents

20 submitted in support of the President’s budget sub21 mitted to Congress under section 1105 of title 31,

22 United States Code. Funds appropriated for edu23 cation and training under this section may not be

24 obligated or used for any other purpose.
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1 ‘‘(2) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—The head

2 of an executive agency may enter into a written

3 agreement with another agency to participate in pro4 grams established under this section on a reimburs5 able basis.

6 ‘‘(3) TUITION ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstanding

7 the prohibition in section 4107(b) of title 5, United

8 States Code, the head of each executive agency may

9 provide for tuition reimbursement and education (in10 cluding a full-time course of study leading to a de11 gree) for acquisition personnel in the agency related

12 to the purposes of this section.

13 ‘‘(4) INTERN PROGRAMS.—The head of each ex14 ecutive agency may establish intern programs in

15 order to recruit highly qualified and talented individ16 uals and provide them with opportunities for acceler17 ated promotions, career broadening assignments,

18 and specified training for advancement to senior ac19 quisition positions. For such programs, the head of

20 an executive agency, without regard to the provisions

21 of title 5, United States Code, may appoint individ22 uals to competitive GS–5, GS–7, or GS–9 positions

23 in the General Schedule Contracting series (GS–

24 1102) who have graduated from baccalaureate or

25 master’s programs in purchasing or contracting
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1 from accredited educational institutions authorized

2 to grant baccalaureate and master’s degrees.

3 ‘‘(5) COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

4 The head of each executive agency may establish an

5 agencywide cooperative education credit program for

6 acquisition positions. Under the program, the head

7 of the executive agency may enter into cooperative

8 arrangements with one or more accredited institu9 tions of higher education which provide for such in10 stitutions to grant undergraduate credit for work

11 performed in such position.

12 ‘‘(6) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—

13 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Where deemed

14 appropriate, the head of each executive agency

15 may establish a scholarship program for the

16 purpose of qualifying individuals for acquisition

17 positions in the agency.

18 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to par19 ticipate in a scholarship program established

20 under this paragraph by an executive agency,

21 an individual must—

22 ‘‘(i) be accepted for enrollment or be

23 currently enrolled as a full-time student at

24 an accredited educational institution au-
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1 thorized to grant baccalaureate or grad2 uate degrees (as appropriate);

3 ‘‘(ii) be pursuing a course of edu4 cation that leads toward completion of a

5 bachelor’s, master’s, or doctor’s degree (as

6 appropriate) in a qualifying field of study,

7 as determined by the head of the agency;

8 ‘‘(iii) sign an agreement described in

9 subparagraph (C) under which the partici10 pant agrees to serve a period of obligated

11 service in the agency in an acquisition po12 sition in return for payment of educational

13 assistance as provided in the agreement;

14 and

15 ‘‘(iv) meet such other requirements as

16 the head of the agency prescribes.

17 ‘‘(C) AGREEMENT.—An agreement be18 tween the head of an executive agency and a

19 participant in a scholarship program established

20 under this paragraph shall be in writing, shall

21 be signed by the participant, and shall include

22 the following provisions:

23 ‘‘(i) The agreement of the head of the

24 agency to provide the participant with edu25 cational assistance for a specified number
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1 of school years, not to exceed 4, during

2 which the participant is pursuing a course

3 of education in a qualifying field of study.

4 The assistance may include payment of

5 tuition, fees, books, laboratory expenses,

6 and a stipend.

7 ‘‘(ii) The participant’s agreement—

8 ‘‘(I) to accept such educational

9 assistance,

10 ‘‘(II) to maintain enrollment and

11 attendance in the course of education

12 until completed,

13 ‘‘(III) while enrolled in such

14 course, to maintain an acceptable level

15 of academic standing (as prescribed

16 by the head of the agency), and

17 ‘‘(IV) after completion of the

18 course of education, to serve as a full19 time employee in an acquisition posi20 tion in the agency for a period of time

21 of one calendar year for each school

22 year or part thereof for which the par23 ticipant was provided a scholarship

24 under the program.
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1 ‘‘(D) REPAYMENT.—(i) Any person partici2 pating in a program established under this

3 paragraph shall agree to pay to the United

4 States the total amount of educational assist5 ance provided to the person under the program

6 if the person is voluntarily separated from the

7 agency or involuntarily separated for cause

8 from the agency before the end of the period for

9 which the person has agreed to continue in the

10 service of the agency in an acquisition position.

11 ‘‘(ii) If an employee fails to fulfill the

12 agreement to pay to the Government the total

13 amount of educational assistance provided to

14 the person under the program, a sum equal to

15 the amount of the educational assistance may

16 be recovered by the Government from the em17 ployee (or the estate of the employee) by setoff

18 against accrued pay, compensation, amount of

19 retirement credit, or other amount due the em20 ployee from the Government; and by such other

21 method as is provided by law for the recovery

22 of amounts owing to the Government.

23 ‘‘(iii) The head of an executive agency may

24 waive in whole or in part a repayment required

25 under this paragraph if the head of the agency
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1 determines the recovery would be against equity

2 and good conscience or would be contrary to the

3 best interests of the United States.

4 ‘‘(E) TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT.—

5 There shall be no requirement that a position

6 be offered to a person after such person suc7 cessfully completes a course of education re8 quired by an agreement under this paragraph.

9 If no position is offered, the agreement shall be

10 considered terminated.’’.

11 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ACQUISITION INSTITUTE.

12 Section 6 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy

13 Act (41 U.S.C. 405), is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (d) by amending paragraph

15 (5) to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(5) providing for and directing the activities of

17 the Federal Acquisition Institute (including rec18 ommending to the Administrator of General Services

19 a sufficient budget for such activities), which shall

20 be located in the General Services Administration;’’;

21 and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:

24 ‘‘(l) The Federal Acquisition Institute shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) recommend policies, procedures, and

2 guidelines to the Administrator, for—

3 ‘‘(A) fostering and promoting the develop4 ment of a professional acquisition workforce

5 governmentwide, and

6 ‘‘(B) administering the provisions of sec7 tion 35;

8 ‘‘(2) collect data and analyze acquisition

9 workforce data from the Office of Personnel Man10 agement, the heads of executive agencies, and,

11 through periodic surveys, from individual employees;

12 ‘‘(3) periodically analyze acquisition career

13 fields to identify critical competencies, duties, tasks,

14 and related academic prerequisites, skills, and

15 knowledge;

16 ‘‘(4) coordinate and assist agencies in identify17 ing and recruiting highly qualified candidates for ac18 quisition fields;

19 ‘‘(5) develop instructional materials for acquisi20 tion personnel in coordination with private and pub21 lic acquisition colleges and training facilities;

22 ‘‘(6) evaluate the effectiveness of training and

23 career development programs for acquisition person24 nel;
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1 ‘‘(7) promote the establishment and utilization

2 of academic programs by colleges and universities in

3 acquisition fields;

4 ‘‘(8) promote, coordinate, or conduct govern5 mentwide research and studies to improve the acqui6 sition process and the laws, policies, methods, regu7 lations, procedures, and forms relating to acquisition

8 by the executive agencies;

9 ‘‘(9) facilitate, to the extent requested by agen10 cies, interagency intern and training programs; and

11 ‘‘(10) perform other career management or re12 search functions as directed by the Administrator.’’.

13 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED PROVISION.

14 Section 502 of the Small Business and Federal Pro15 curement Competition Enhancement Act of 1984 (41

16 U.S.C. 414a) is repealed.

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