II 

Calendar No. 680 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4631 

[Report No. 118–277] 

To amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit minimum education 

requirements for proposed contractor personnel in certain contract solicitations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2024 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit minimum 

education requirements for proposed contractor personnel 

in certain contract solicitations, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Allowing Contractors 

3 to Choose Employees for Select Skills Act’’ or the ‘‘AC4 CESS Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. USE OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING EXPERIENCE 

6 AND EDUCATION OF CONTRACTOR PER7 SONNEL. 

8 (a) FLEXIBILITY IN CONTRACTOR EDUCATION RE9 QUIREMENTS.—Chapter 33 of title 41, United States 

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 section: 

12 ‘‘§ 3313. Flexibility in contractor education require13 ments 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.—The term 

16 ‘education requirement’ includes a requirement that 

17 can be met through— 

18 ‘‘(A) education; 

19 ‘‘(B) experience; or 

20 ‘‘(C) a combination of education and expe21 rience. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘executive 

23 agency’ has the meaning given that term in section 

24 133. 

25 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—A solicitation may not set forth 

26 any minimum education requirement for proposed conVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Dec 09, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4631.RS S4631

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1 tractor personnel in order for a bidder to be eligible for 

2 award of a contract unless the contracting officer includes 

3 in the solicitation a written justification that explains why 

4 the needs of the executive agency cannot be met without 

5 such requirement and clarifies how the requirement en6 sures the needs are met.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

8 The table of sections for chapter 33 of title 41, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements.’’. 

11 (c) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than 60 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

13 Office of Management and Budget shall issue guidance to 

14 executive agencies for implementing the amendment made 

15 by subsection (a) that includes the following: 

16 (1) Instructions for contracting officers on the 

17 manner in which the written justification require18 ment of section 3313(b) of title 41, United States 

19 Code, as added by subsection (a), may be met, in20 cluding a requirement that each use of an education 

21 requirement be separately determined, justified, and 

22 reviewed. 

23 (2) In the case of a solicitation in which edu24 cation requirements are included, instructions on 

25 how alternative certifications, industry-recognized 


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1 credentials, and work-based learning programs, in2 cluding apprenticeships, may satisfy such require3 ments. 

4 (d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

5 section shall apply with respect to solicitations issued on 

6 or after the date that is 180 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 (e) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

10 General shall submit to Congress an evaluation of execu11 tive agency compliance with section 3313 of title 41, 

12 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.—The term 

15 ‘‘education requirement’’ includes a requirement that 

16 can be met through— 

17 (A) education; 

18 (B) experience; or 

19 (C) a combination of education and experi20 ence. 

21 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

22 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

23 133 of title 41, United States Code. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Allowing Contractors 

3 to Choose Employees for Select Skills Act’’ or the ‘‘ACCESS 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. USE OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING EDUCATION 

6 OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL. 

7 (a) FLEXIBILITY IN CONTRACTOR EDUCATION RE8 QUIREMENTS.—Chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, 

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

10 ‘‘§ 3313. Flexibility in contractor education require11 ments 

12 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—A solicitation may not set forth 

13 any minimum education requirement for proposed con14 tractor personnel in order for a bidder to be eligible for 

15 award of a contract unless the contracting officer includes 

16 in the solicitation a written justification that explains why 

17 the needs of the executive agency cannot be met without any 

18 such requirement and clarifies how the requirement ensures 

19 the needs are met. 

20 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 

21 the term ‘executive agency’ has the meaning given that term 

22 in section 133.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

24 table of sections for chapter 33 of title 41, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements.’’. 

3 (c) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

5 Office of Management and Budget shall issue guidance to 

6 the heads of executive agencies for implementing the amend7 ment made by subsection (a) that includes the following: 

8 (1) Instructions for contracting officers for the 

9 justifications under section 3313(a) of title 41, United 

10 States Code, as added by subsection (a), including a 

11 requirement that each use of an education require12 ment be determined, justified, and reviewed. 

13 (2) Instructions for contracting officers that en14 courages the use of alternatives to education require15 ments. 

16 (d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

17 section shall apply with respect to solicitations issued on 

18 or after the date that is 15 months after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act. 

20 (e) REPEAL.—Section 813 of the Floyd D. Spence Na21 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub22 lic Law 106–398; 114 Stat. 1654A-214), as implemented 

23 in subpart 39.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 

24 as in effect on July 1, 2024, is repealed as of the date that 

25 the guidance required by subsection (c) becomes effective. 


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1 (f) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 36 months after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

3 shall submit to Congress an evaluation of executive agency 

4 compliance with section 3313 of title 41, United States 

5 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

6 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘education’’ means 

8 an associate, baccalaureate, graduate, or professional 

9 degree, specified coursework, or other form of edu10 cational attainment awarded by a junior or commu11 nity college, college, or university that is accredited as 

12 a collegiate institution by a recognized accrediting 

13 agency or approved by the appropriate State edu14 cation authority under State law to grant associate 

15 or higher degrees. 

16 (2) EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘‘edu17 cation requirement’’ includes a requirement that can 

18 be met either through— 

19 (A) education alone; 

20 (B) education or experience; or 

21 (C) a combination of education and experi22 ence. 

23 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

24 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

25 133 of title 41, United States Code. 


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Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 

41, United States Code, to prohibit minimum educational 

requirements for proposed contractor personnel in certain 

contract solicitations, and for other purposes.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 680 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4631 

[Report No. 118–277] 

A BILL 

To amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit 

tions, and for other purposes. contractor personnel in certain contract solicitaminimum education requirements for proposed 

DECEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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