HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

895

1995 T79.6

nities, the Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight, the Committee

on House Oversight, the Committee on

Resources, the Committee on Science,

and the Committee on Transportation

and Infrastructure.

T79.4 ORDER OF BUSINESS—AMENDMENT

SUBSTITUTION—H.R. 1530

On motion of Mr. DELLUMS, by

unanimous consent,

Ordered, That during the further consideration of the bill (H.R. 1530) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year

1996 for military activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year

1996, and for other purposes, pursuant

to House Resolution 164, the following

amendment is substituted for and is to

be considered in lieu of the amendment

numbered 2, as printed in subpart D of

Part 1 of House Report No. 104–136:

Page 38, line 18, insert ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘Of the amounts’’.

Page 38, after line 22, insert the following:

(b) REDUCTION.—The amounts provided in

subsection (a) and in section 201(4) are each

hereby reduced by $628,000,000.

(c) NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE AMOUNT.—

Of the amount provided in subsection (a) (as

reduced by subsection (b)), $371,000,000 is for

the National Missile Defense program.

At the end of title IV (page 161, after line

3), insert the following new section:

SEC. 433. ADDITIONAL MILITARY PERSONNEL AUTHORIZATION.

There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1996 for military personnel the sum

of $628,000,000. Of the amount appropriated

pursuant to such authorization—

(1) $150,000,000 (or the full amount appropriated, whichever is less) shall be for increased payments for the Variable Housing

Allowance program under section 403a of

title 37, United States Code, by reason of the

amendments made by section 604; and

(2) any remaining amount shall be allocated, in such manner as the Secretary of

Defense prescribes, for payments for the

Variable Housing Allowance, the Basic Allowance for Quarters, and the Basic Allowance for Subsistence in such a manner as to

minimize the need for enlisted personnel to

apply for food stamps.

Page 280, beginning on line 19, strike out

‘‘beginning after June 30, 1996’’ and inserting

in lieu thereof ‘‘after September 1995’’.

T79.5 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

The SPEAKER pro tempore, Mr.

BUNNING, pursuant to House Resolution 164 and rule XXIII, declared the

House resolved into the Committee of

the Whole House on the state of the

Union for the further consideration of

the bill (H.R. 1530) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1996 for military activities of the Department of

Defense, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 1996,

and for other purposes.

Mr. EMERSON, Chairman of the

Committee of the Whole, resumed the

chair; and after some time spent therein,

T79.6 RECORDED VOTE

A recorded vote by electronic device

was ordered in the Committee of the

Whole on the following amendment

submitted by Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois

to the amendment, as modified, submitted by Mr. CLINGER:

Amendment submitted by Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois:

Strike out sections 801, 802, 803, and 806 in

the matter proposed to be inserted, and insert in lieu of section 801 the following:

SEC. 801. COMPETITION PROVISIONS.

(a) CONFERENCE BEFORE SUBMISSION OF

BIDS OR PROPOSALS.—(1) Section 2305(a) of

title 10, United State Code, is amended by

adding at the end the following paragraph:

‘‘(6) To the extent practicable, for each

procurement of property or services by an

agency, the head of the agency shall provide

for a conference on the procurement to be

held for anyone interested in submitting a

bid or proposal in response to the solicitation for the procurement. The purpose of the

conference shall be to inform potential bidders and offerors of the needs of the agency

and the qualifications considered necessary

by the agency to compete successfully in the

procurement.’’.

(2) Section 303A of the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

U.S.C. 253a) is amended by adding at the end

the following new subsection:

‘‘(f) To the extent practicable, for each procurement of property or services by an agency, an executive agency shall provide for a

conference on the procurement to be held for

anyone interested in submitting a bid or proposal in response to the solicitation for the

procurement. The purpose of the conference

shall be to inform potential bidders and

offerors of the needs of the executive agency

and the qualifications considered necessary

by the executive agency to compete successfully in the procurement.’’

(b) DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE SELECTION PLAN

IN SOLICITATION.—(1) Section 2305(a) of title

10, United States Code, is further amended in

paragraph (2)—

(A) by striking out ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (A);

(B) by striking out the period at the end of

subparagraph (B) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following new

subparagraph:

‘‘(C) a description, in as much detail as is

practicable, of the source selection plan of

the agency, or a notice that such plan is

available upon request.’’.

(2) Section 303A of the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

U.S.C. 253a) is further amended in subsection

(b)—

(A) by striking out ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of paragraph (1);

(B) by striking out the period at the end of

paragraph (2) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘;

and’’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following new

paragraph:

‘‘(3) a description, in as much detail as is

practicable, of the source selection plan of

the executive agency, or a notice that such

plan is available upon request.’’.

(c) DISCUSSIONS NOT NECESSARY WITH

EVERY OFFEROR.—(1) Section 2305(b)(4)(A)(i)

of title 10, United States Code, is amended by

inserting before the semicolon the following:

‘‘and provided that discussions need not be

conducted with an offeror merely to permit

that offeror to submit a technically acceptable revised proposal’’.

(2) Section 303B(d)(1)(A) of the Federal

Property and Administrative Services Act of

1949 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended by inserting

before the semicolon the following: ‘‘and provided that discussions need not be conducted

with an offeror merely to permit that offeror

to submit a technically acceptable revised

proposal’’.

(d) PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENTS OF COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.(1) Section 2305(b)(2) of title

10, United States Code, is amended by adding

at the end the following: ‘‘With respect to

competitive proposals, the head of the agency may make a preliminary assessment of a

proposal received, rather than a complete

evaluation of the proposal received, rather

than a complete evaluation of the proposal

and may eliminate the proposal from further

consideration if the head of the agency determines the proposal has no chance for contract award.’’.

(2) Section 303B of the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

(U.S.C. 253b) is amended by adding at the end

the following: ‘‘With respect to competitive

proposals, the head of the agency may make

a preliminary assessment of a proposal, and

may eliminate the proposal from further

consideration if the head of the agency determines the proposal has no chance for contract award.’’

(e) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.—The

Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to reflect the amendments made by

subsections (a)< (b), (c), and (d).

Amendment, as modified, submitted

by Mr. CLINGER:

After the heading for title VIII (page 323,

after line 15), insert the following (and conform the table of contents accordingly):

Subtitle A—Competition

SEC. 801. IMPROVEMENT OF COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS.

(a) ARMED SERVICES ACQUISITIONS.—(1) Section 2304 of title 10, United States Code, is

amended to read as follows:

‘‘§ 2304. Contracts: competition requirements

‘‘(a) MAXIMUM PRACTICABLE COMPETITION.—

Except as provided in subsections (b), (c),

and (e) and except in the case of procurement

procedures otherwise expressly authorized by

statute, the head of an agency in conducting

a procurement for property or services—

‘‘(1) shall obtain maximum practicable

competition through the use of competitive

procedures consistent with the need to efficiently fulfill the Government’s requirements in accordance with this chapter and

the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and

‘‘(2) shall use the competitive procedure or

combination of competitive procedures that

is best suited under the circumstances of the

procurement.

‘‘(b) EXCLUSION OF PARTICULAR SOURCE.—

The head of an agency may provide for the

procurement of property or services covered

by this chapter using competitive procedures

but excluding a particular source in order to

establish or maintain an alternative source

or sources of supply for that property or

service. The Federal Acquisition Regulation

shall set forth the circumstances under

which a particular source may be excluded

pursuant to this subsection.

‘‘(c) EXCLUSION OF CONCERNS OTHER THAN

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND CERTAIN

OTHER ENTITIES.—The head of an agency

may provide for the procurement of property

or services covered by this section using

competitive procedures, but excluding concerns other than small business concerns in

furtherance of sections 9 and 15 of the Small

Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638, 644) and concerns

other than small business concerns, historically Black colleges and universities, and

minority institutions in furtherance of section 2323 of this title.

‘‘(d) PROCEDURES OTHER THAN COMPETITIVE

PROCEDURES.—Procedures other than competitive procedures may be used for purchasing property and services only when the

use of competitive procedures is not feasible

or appropriate. Each procurement using procedures other than competitive procedures

(other than a procurement for commercial