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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2778 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2778

 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a 
  report on competition among suppliers of the Department of Veterans 
                    Affairs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 2023

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a 
  report on competition among suppliers of the Department of Veterans 
                    Affairs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vetting for Equal Treatment of Small 
Business Act of 2023'' or the ``VETS Business Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON COMPETITION IN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              INDUSTRIAL BASE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs offers services to 
        veterans that require the Department to enter into the Federal 
        contracting process.
            (2) The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
        Utilization (OSDBU) of the Department works to develop policies 
        and programs that improve market research, increase direct 
        access, and maximize the participation of procurement veteran-
        owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small 
        businesses in Federal contracting.
            (3) The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (Public Law 
        98-369; 98 Stat. 1175) was enacted to encourage competition in 
        Government contracts to improve savings for the Government.
            (4) A lack of competition could artificially raise costs 
        incurred by the Department in future contract decisions.
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the 
state of competition among suppliers of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.
    (c) Contents.--The report submitted pursuant to subsection (b) 
shall include the following:
            (1) An examination of the number of contractors in the 
        industrial base that supports the Department.
            (2) Identification of areas for competition within such 
        industrial base that need improvement.
            (3) Identification of specific areas within the industrial 
        base where competition has either increased or decreased in 
        sole source contract decisions.
            (4) Recommendations of legislative or administrative action 
        to improve competition among suppliers of the Department.
    (d) Consultation.--In preparing the report required by subsection 
(b), the Secretary shall consult with the Office of Small and 
Disadvantaged Business Utilization of the Department.
    (e) Model.--To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall use as a 
model for the report required by subsection (a) the report of the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment entitled ``State 
of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base'' and dated February, 
2022.
    (f) Publication.--After submitting the report required by 
subsection (b) in accordance with such subsection, the Secretary shall 
make the report available to the public.
                                 <all>
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