II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1844 

To provide for full and open competition for Federal contracts related to 

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita reconstruction efforts. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2005 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for full and open competition for Federal contracts related to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita 

reconstruction efforts. 

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 ‘‘Hurricane Katrina and 

5 Hurricane Rita Fairness in Contracting Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS. 

7 In entering into a contract to procure property or 

8 services in connection with Hurricane Katrina or Hurri9 cane Rita reconstruction efforts, the head of an executive 

10 agency shall comply with the requirements under section 
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1 303 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 

2 Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253), except that the exceptions 

3 to the requirement for competitive procedures provided 

4 under paragraphs (3), (4), and (7) of subsection (c) of 

5 such section shall not apply to such contract. 

6 SEC. 3. WRITTEN APPROVAL FOR USE OF NON-COMPETI7 TIVE PROCEDURES REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN 

8 CONTRACTS. 

9 (a) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The head of an executive 

10 agency may enter into a contract to procure property or 

11 services in connection with Hurricane Katrina or Hurri12 cane Rita reconstruction efforts using other than full and 

13 open competition only upon the written approval of the 

14 President or the President’s designee. 

15 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In 

16 any case in which procedures other than full and open 

17 competitive procedures are to be used to enter into such 

18 a contract, the head of such executive agency shall submit 

19 not later than 7 calendar days before the award of the 

20 contract a notification to the Committee on Appropria21 tions of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of 

22 the House of Representatives, and the standing commit23 tees of the Senate and the House of Representatives that 

24 have jurisdiction over the executive agency. Such notifica25 tion shall provide the justification for use of other than 
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1 full and open competitive procedures, a brief description 

2 of the contract’s scope, the amount of the contract, a dis3 cussion of how the contracting agency identified and solic4 ited offers from contractors, a list of the contractors solic5 ited, and the justification and approval documents (as re6 quired under section 303(f)(1) of the Federal Property 

7 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 

8 253(f)(1)) on which was based the determination of use 

9 of procedures other than full and open competitive proce10 dures. 

11 (c) SCOPE OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) SIZE OFCONTRACTS.—This section shall 

13 not apply to contracts of less than $5,000,000. 

14 (2) APPLICABILITY.—This section also shall 

15 apply to any extension, amendment or modification 

16 of contracts for the procurement of property or serv17 ices in connection with Hurricane Katrina or Hurri18 cane Rita reconstruction efforts entered into prior to 

19 the enactment of this Act using other than full and 

20 open competitive procedures. 

21 (3) SMALL BUSINESS EXCEPTION.—This sec22 tion shall not apply to contracts authorized by the 

23 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.). 

24 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE REQUIRED. 

25 (a) PUBLICATION AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive 

2 agency that enters into a contract for the procure3 ment of property or services in connection with Hur4 ricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita reconstruction ef5 forts through the use of other than full and open 

6 competitive procedures shall publish in the Federal 

7 Register or Federal Business Opportunities, and 

8 otherwise make available to the public not later than 

9 7 calendar days before the date on which the con10 tract is entered into, the following information: 

11 (A) The amount of the contract. 

12 (B) A brief description of the scope of the 

13 contract. 

14 (C) A discussion of how the executive 

15 agency identified, and solicited offers from, po16 tential contractors to perform the contract, to17 gether with a list of the potential contractors 

18 that were issued solicitations for the offers. 

19 (D) The justification and approval docu20 ments (as required under section 303(f)(1) of 

21 the Federal Property and Administrative Serv22 ices Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(f)(1)) on 

23 which was based the determination to use pro24 cedures other than competitive procedures. 

25 (2) SCOPE OFREQUIREMENTS.— 
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1 (A) SIZE OFCONTRACTS.—This section 

2 shall not apply to contracts of less than 

3 $5,000,000. 

4 (B) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall 

5 also apply to any extension, amendment, or 

6 modification of contracts entered into prior to 

7 the enactment of this Act using other than full 

8 and open competitive procedures. 

9 (C) SMALL BUSINESS EXCEPTION.—This 

10 section shall not apply to contracts authorized 

11 by the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et 

12 seq.). 

13 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DISCLOSURE LAWS.— 

14 Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting obli15 gations to disclose United States Government information 

16 under any other provision of law. 

17 SEC. 5. CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO UNDER UNUSUAL AND 

18 COMPELLING URGENCY EXCEPTION. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PERFORMANCE WITHIN 6- 

20 MONTH PERIOD.—The head of an executive agency may 

21 not rely on the exception provided under section 303(c)(2) 

22 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act 

23 of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2)) to enter into a contract 

24 to procure property or services in connection with Hurri25 cane Katrina or Hurricane Rita reconstruction efforts 
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1 using procedures other than competitive procedures unless 

2 the contract will be performed within a 6-month period. 

3 (b) EXTENDED NOTIFICATION AND DISCLOSURE

4 DEADLINES.—The notification and disclosure deadlines 

5 specified in section 3(b) and section 4(a)(1), respectively, 

6 shall be 7 calendar days after the date a contract is en7 tered into in the case of a contract described in subsection 

8 (a). 

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act, the terms ‘‘full and open competitive pro11 cedures’’ and ‘‘executive agency’’ have the meanings given 

12 such terms in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procure13 ment Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403). 

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