II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1736 

To achieve cost savings through the reform of Federal acquisition practices 

and procedures. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To achieve cost savings through the reform of Federal 

acquisition practices and procedures. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Acquisition Savings Reform Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Use of reverse auction methods. 

Sec. 4. Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative. 

Sec. 5. Savings through leveraging the Federal Government’s purchasing power. 

Sec. 6. Governmentwide contract vehicles. 


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Sec. 7. Streamlining of contract closeouts. 

Sec. 8. Affordability as a requirement for certain acquisition plans. 

Sec. 9. Cost efficiency objectives for service contracts. 

Sec. 10. Establishing governmentwide acquisition savings criteria. 

Sec. 11. Office of Management and Budget savings requirements. 

Sec. 12. Expedited payment to small business. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROVED BUSINESS CASE.—The term 

4 ‘‘approved business case’’ means a business case ap5 proved by the senior procurement executive of an ex6 ecutive agency. 

7 (2) ACQUISITION.—The term ‘‘acquisition’’ has 

8 the meaning given the term in section 131 of title 

9 41, United States Code. 

10 (3) COMMERCIAL ITEM.—The term ‘‘commer11 cial item’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 103 of title 41, United States Code. 

13 (4) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

14 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

15 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

16 (5) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘Federal Acquisition Regulation’’ means the 

18 Federal Acquisition Regulation maintained under 

19 section 1303(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code. 

20 (6) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATORY COUN21 CIL.—The term ‘‘Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

22 Council’’ means the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 


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1 Council established under section 1302(a) of title 

2 41, United States Code. 

3 (7) FEDERAL STRATEGIC SOURCING VEHICLES

4 (FSSVS).—The term ‘‘Federal Strategic Sourcing Ve5 hicles’’ means a kind of governmentwide interagency 

6 acquisition contract or agreement designated by the 

7 Office of Management and Budget to leverage the 

8 Federal Government’s buying power and save tax9 payers money. 

10 (8) INTERAGENCY CONTRACT.—The term 

11 ‘‘interagency contract’’— 

12 (A) includes— 

13 (i) governmentwide acquisition con14 tracts as defined in Federal Acquisition 

15 Regulation part 2.101; 

16 (ii) multi-agency contracts as defined 

17 in Federal Acquisition Regulation part 

18 2.101; 

19 (iii) Federal Supply Schedule con20 tracts; and 

21 (iv) franchise funds; and 

22 (B) does not include contracts entered into 

23 under the authority of section 1535 of title 31, 

24 United States Code. 


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1 (9) PROCUREMENT.—The term ‘‘procurement’’ 

2 has the meaning given the term in section 111 of 

3 title 41, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 3. USE OF REVERSE AUCTION METHODS. 

5 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

7 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

8 to require the heads of executive agencies, to the extent 

9 possible, to use online reverse auction, or an equivalent 

10 method, in the procurement of commercial items above the 

11 simplified acquisition threshold whenever doing so would 

12 be expected to result in savings to the agencies. The regu13 latory guidance shall address the circumstances in which 

14 use of reverse auctions is appropriate, and shall direct 

15 agencies, in deciding whether to use auctions or an equiva16 lent method, to consider the dollar volume of the acquisi17 tion and potential to streamline the procurement for the 

18 agency and vendors. 

19 SEC. 4. FEDERAL STRATEGIC SOURCING INITIATIVE. 

20 (a) CONSIDERATION IN ACQUISITION PLANNING

21 PROCESS.—Not later than 270 days after the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

23 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

24 to require the consideration of Federal Strategic Sourcing 

25 Vehicles in the acquisition planning process, by including 


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1 a listing of Federal Strategic Sourcing Vehicles in the 

2 ‘‘Priorities for use of Government supply sources’’ for 

3 Supplies and Services. The Office of Management and 

4 Budget shall maintain a website with the current list of 

5 Federal Strategic Sourcing Vehicles. The Supplies priority 

6 shall be after the priority for wholesale supply services. 

7 The Services priority shall be after services which are on 

8 the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for 

9 Purchase From People Who are Blind or Severely Dis10 abled. The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amend11 ed to authorize purchases from other than from Federal 

12 Strategic Sourcing Vehicles, provided that consideration 

13 is given to its use in the acquisition planning process. The 

14 plan will be documented to acknowledge why usage of 

15 other than Federal Strategic Sourcing Vehicles is war16 ranted. The acknowledgment shall indicate that such ac17 tion is judged to be in the best interest of the Federal 

18 Government in terms of the combination quality, timeli19 ness, and cost that best meets the requirement. Cost com20 parisons shall include the administrative cost of the acqui21 sition. Unusual and compelling urgency as prescribed in 

22 the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall also be an au23 thorized reason from deviating from the Federal Strategic 

24 Sourcing Vehicles. 


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1 (b) MAXIMIZATION OF SMALL BUSINESS AND OTHER

2 SOCIOECONOMIC CATEGORIES IN FEDERAL STRATEGIC

3 SOURCING VEHICLES.—The Administrator for Federal 

4 Procurement Policy shall issue policy maximizing the par5 ticipation of small business and other socioeconomic cat6 egories such as service-disabled veteran-owned small busi7 ness in these Federal Strategic Sourcing Vehicles. Agen8 cies shall also be credited towards their small business 

9 goals when awarding to small business Federal Strategic 

10 Sourcing Vehicle contract holders. 

11 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF DESIGNATED FEDERAL

12 STRATEGIC SOURCE VEHICLES.—The Office of Manage13 ment and Budget shall identify on its website a list of all 

14 Federal Strategic Source Vehicle contracts and agree15 ments and awardees. 

16 (d) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PUR17 CHASES AND SERVICES IN INITIATIVE.— 

18 (1) DATA COLLECTION.—The Director of the 

19 Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe 

20 regulations requiring Chief Information Officers and 

21 Chief Acquisition Officers of executive agencies to 

22 develop and gather such data on information tech23 nology purchases and service acquisitions by North 

24 American Industrial Classification codes. 


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1 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The regulations pre2 scribed under this subsection shall require the head 

3 of each executive agency to submit to the Director 

4 of Office of Management and Budget an annual re5 port through fiscal year 2016 including the data col6 lected under paragraph (1) and a plan for the stra7 tegic sourcing of information technology purchases 

8 and common commercial services. The plan shall in9 clude specific milestones, measurable savings, and 

10 evaluation criteria. 

11 (e) REPORTING.—The head of each executive agency 

12 shall submit to the Director of the Office of Management 

13 and Budget an annual report for each of fiscal years 2013 

14 through 2016, estimating the amount of savings achieved 

15 through the usage of Federal Strategic Sourcing Vehicles 

16 and through other measurable acquisition savings methods 

17 approved by the Administrator for Federal Procurement 

18 Policy. The report shall also specify by each Federal Stra19 tegic Sourcing Vehicle commodity what guidance the agen20 cy has issued to employees instructing them to procure 

21 goods or services through the Federal Strategic Sourcing 

22 Vehicle. If the agency has not issued such guidance to 

23 their employees, the agency shall submit an explanation. 


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1 SEC. 5. SAVINGS THROUGH LEVERAGING THE FEDERAL 

2 GOVERNMENT’S PURCHASING POWER. 

3 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Manage5 ment and Budget shall develop a plan to achieve not less 

6 than $1,000,000,000 in measurable savings through Fed7 eral Strategic Sourcing Vehicles for fiscal years 2013 

8 through 2016. The plan shall include an annual scorecard 

9 measuring the success of each executive agency in achiev10 ing savings. 

11 SEC. 6. GOVERNMENTWIDE CONTRACT VEHICLES. 

12 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

14 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

15 to provide that— 

16 (1) where an agency is unable to satisfy the re17 quirements from a mandatory source, agencies are 

18 strongly encouraged to utilize Federal Supply Sched19 ules, governmentwide acquisition contracts, multi20 agency contracts, and any other procurement instru21 ments intended for use by multiple agencies, includ22 ing blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) under Fed23 eral Supply Schedule contracts absent a written jus24 tification that the governmentwide contract is not in 

25 the best interest of the Federal Government; 


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1 (2) agencies shall promote acquisition strategies 

2 utilizing these vehicles to maximize participation of 

3 small businesses and other socioeconomic categories, 

4 including set-asides of acquisitions under these vehi5 cles; and 

6 (3) contracting officers shall be encouraged by 

7 agency guidance to maximize competition under 

8 these vehicles to the maximum amount practicable 

9 with the goal of achieving the best value to the Fed10 eral Government. 

11 SEC. 7. STREAMLINING OF CONTRACT CLOSEOUTS. 

12 (a) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE CONTRACT CLOSEOUT

13 AUDITS.— 

14 (1) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 270 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed16 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the 

17 Federal Acquisition Regulation to provide con18 tracting officers the authority to waive contract 

19 closeout audits above the simplified acquisition pur20 chase threshold based on risk assessments. Factors 

21 upon which an assessment of low risk may include 

22 time and material contracts, low dollar cost type 

23 contracts, and contractors with approved business 

24 systems, strong internal controls, and good past per25 formance ratings. 


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1 (2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 270 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator for Federal Procurement Policy, in collabora4 tion with the Director of the Defense Procurement 

5 and Acquisition Policy, shall issue guidance for as6 sisting contracting officials in determining when 

7 waivers of contract closeout audits pursuant to para8 graph (1) are appropriate. 

9 (3) USE OF ABILITYONE PROGRAM.—Where 

10 practicable, and in accordance with the Javits-Wag11 ner-O’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46 et seq.) as adminis12 tered by the Committee For Purchase From People 

13 Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, utilize the 

14 AbilityOne Program to accomplish non-inherently 

15 governmental tasks associated with contract or grant 

16 close-out in those cases where a Federal agency uti17 lizes contractor support for close-out functions. 

18 (b) FIRM-FIXED CONTRACTS.—Not later than 270 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed20 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Fed21 eral Acquisition Regulation to provide that, on firm-fixed 

22 contracts— 

23 (1) contractors shall submit a final invoice 

24 within 60 days of Federal Government acceptance or 


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1 relinquish payment unless exempted by the con2 tracting officer; 

3 (2) the contracting officer may— 

4 (A) close a contract without a final invoice 

5 if the amount due is less than $1,000 and less 

6 than 10 percent of the contract value; and 

7 (B) unilaterally deobligate any unliqui8 dated obligations remaining on the contract; 

9 and 

10 (3) such contracts may be closed with missing 

11 contract documentation if no additional product or 

12 service will be received by the Federal Government 

13 and there are no outstanding administrative actions. 

14 (c) AUTHORITY TO WRITE OFF UNRECONCILED

15 BALANCES FOR LOW-RISK CONTRACTS.—Not later than 

16 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the 

18 Federal Acquisition Regulation to provide contracting offi19 cers, with approval one level above the contracting officer 

20 concerned, the authority to write off unreconciled balances 

21 on low-risk contracts in cases in which— 

22 (1) all administrative actions are complete, in23 cluding final payment to the contractor unless ex24 empted under subsection (b)(1); and 


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1 (2) a written notice of the action has been sent 

2 to the payment office responsible for the contract. 

3 (d) AUTHORITY TO GRANT EXEMPTIONS.—The reg4 ulations promulgated under this section shall permit the 

5 head of contracting activity to grant exemptions to the re6 quirements under this section, with the exemptions in7 cluded in the contract file. 

8 (e) CONTRACTING OFFICER DEFINED.—In this sec9 tion, the term ‘‘contracting officer’’ includes procuring and 

10 administrative contracting officers. 

11 SEC. 8. AFFORDABILITY AS A REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN 

12 ACQUISITION PLANS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition 

15 Regulatory Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition 

16 Regulation to require heads of executive agencies to man17 date that affordability be included as a requirement for 

18 major systems, research and development, construction 

19 and architect-engineering acquisitions prior to the ap20 proval of any acquisition plan exceeding $100,000,000. 

21 (b) AFFORDABILITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

22 term ‘‘affordability’’ refers to conducting an acquisition 

23 program at a cost constrained by the maximum resources 

24 that an executive agency can allocate for a particular ca25 pability. 


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1 SEC. 9. COST EFFICIENCY OBJECTIVES FOR SERVICE CON2 TRACTS. 

3 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

5 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

6 to require service contracts valued at more than 

7 $100,000,000 include provisions to achieve productivity 

8 improvements and cost efficiencies. The regulation shall 

9 permit the head of contracting activity to grant exceptions 

10 to this requirement which shall be included in the contract 

11 file. 

12 SEC. 10. ESTABLISHING GOVERNMENTWIDE ACQUISITION 

13 SAVINGS CRITERIA. 

14 The Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, 

15 in collaboration with the Director of the Defense Procure16 ment and Acquisition Policy, shall establish at least one 

17 year from enactment a methodology to track and monitor 

18 progress made by executive agencies in achieving measur19 able acquisition savings. Measurable acquisition savings 

20 should include price reductions and cost savings through 

21 reduced acquisition costs such as administrative costs. 

22 SEC. 11. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET SAVINGS 

23 REQUIREMENTS. 

24 (a) PLAN FOR REDUCED USE OF TIME AND MATE25 RIALS CONTRACTS.—Not later than 270 days after the 

26 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for 


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1 Federal Procurement Policy, in coordination with the Ad2 ministrator of General Services and the Secretary of De3 fense, shall develop a plan for reducing the use of time 

4 and materials and labor hour contracts, including for or5 ders under indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity con6 tracts. 

7 (b) REPORT ON SPENDING ON MANAGEMENT SUP8 PORT SERVICE CONTRACTS.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis10 trator for Federal Procurement Policy, in collaboration 

11 with the Director of the Defense Procurement and Acqui12 sition Policy, shall submit to Congress a report on reduced 

13 spending on management support service contracts. 

14 SEC. 12. EXPEDITED PAYMENT TO SMALL BUSINESS. 

15 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

17 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

18 to reflect that governmentwide policy is to assist small 

19 business concerns by paying them as quickly as possible 

20 after invoices and all proper documentation, including ac21 ceptance, are received and before normal payment due 

22 dates established in the contract. 

Æ 


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