I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2912 

To provide authority for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan 

Reconstruction to suspend and debar contractors under certain circumstances. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. TIERNEY, and Ms. SPEIER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide authority for the Special Inspector General for 

Afghanistan Reconstruction to suspend and debar contractors under certain circumstances. 

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 ‘‘Afghanistan Suspen5 sion and Debarment Reform Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT AUTHORITY FOR 

2 SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR AFGHAN3 ISTAN RECONSTRUCTION UNDER CERTAIN 

4 CIRCUMSTANCES. 

5 (a) SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT PROCESS.—Sec6 tion 1229(g) of the National Defense Authorization Act 

7 for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 5 U.S.C. 

8 App.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(3) SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) REFERRAL OF CASE TO LEAD AGEN12 CY.—In carrying out the duties, responsibilities, 

13 and authorities set forth under this section, the 

14 Inspector General (or the Inspector General’s 

15 designee) may refer a potential suspension or 

16 debarment case described in subparagraph (B) 

17 to the lead agency for that suspension or debar18 ment. If such a referral is made, the Inspector 

19 General shall notify the Interagency Committee 

20 on Debarment and Suspension and the congres21 sional committees described in subparagraph 

22 (G) of the referral. If the Inspector General is 

23 unable to determine which agency is the lead 

24 agency for purposes of a referral under this 

25 subparagraph, the Inspector General shall re26 quest the Interagency Committee to resolve the 


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1 issue of which agency is the lead agency, in ac2 cordance with section 873 of the Duncan Hun3 ter National Defense Authorization Act for Fis4 cal Year 2009 (Public Law 110–417; 31 U.S.C. 

5 6101 note). 

6 ‘‘(B) COVERED CASES.— 

7 ‘‘(i) A potential suspension or debar8 ment case described in this subparagraph 

9 is a case involving a person that is an Af10 ghan national or foreign national or for11 eign company operating in Afghanistan 

12 that has received in the past, is receiving, 

13 or may receive in the future, funds from 

14 any— 

15 ‘‘(I) covered prime contract; or 

16 ‘‘(II) covered subcontract. 

17 ‘‘(ii) In this subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(I) The term ‘covered prime 

19 contract’ means a prime contract that 

20 is a contract described in subsection 

21 (i)(2). 

22 ‘‘(II) The term ‘covered sub23 contract’ means a subcontract that is 

24 a contract described in subsection 

25 (i)(2) under a covered prime contract. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE OR DECLINATION OF

2 CASE.—Not later than 30 days after the date of 

3 referral of a suspension or debarment case 

4 under subparagraph (A), the lead agency 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) accept or decline the case; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) submit to the Inspector General 

8 and the Interagency Committee a written 

9 notification and rationale for accepting or 

10 declining the case. 

11 ‘‘(D) DETERMINATION BY INTERAGENCY

12 COMMITTEE IF LEAD AGENCY DECLINES

13 CASE.—If the lead agency declines to accept a 

14 suspension or debarment case referred under 

15 subparagraph (A) or fails to respond to the re16 ferral, the Interagency Committee shall make a 

17 determination, not later than 45 days after the 

18 date of the referral of the case under subpara19 graph (A), regarding whether the Inspector 

20 General shall act as lead agency in the case. 

21 The Interagency Committee shall submit to the 

22 congressional committees described in subpara23 graph (G) a written notification of the deter24 mination. 


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1 ‘‘(E) DETERMINATION BY LEAD AGENCY

2 IF LEAD AGENCY ACCEPTS CASE.—If the lead 

3 agency accepts a suspension or debarment case 

4 referred under subparagraph (A), the agency 

5 shall make a determination, not later than 60 

6 days after the date of the referral of the case 

7 under subparagraph (A), to either suspend or 

8 debar the person that is the subject of the case 

9 or decline to suspend or debar the person. If 

10 the lead agency declines to suspend or debar 

11 the person, the lead agency shall, not later than 

12 15 days after the determination, submit to the 

13 congressional committees described in subpara14 graph (G) a written notification and rationale 

15 for the determination to decline to suspend or 

16 debar the person. 

17 ‘‘(F) SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT AU18 THORITY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Interagency 

20 Committee determines under subparagraph 

21 (D) that the Inspector General may act as 

22 lead agency in a suspension or debarment 

23 case referred under subparagraph (A), 

24 then the Inspector General (or the Inspec25 tor General’s designee) may suspend or 


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1 debar a person from procurement or non2 procurement activities of the Federal Gov3 ernment in accordance with regulations im4 plementing the suspension and debarment 

5 system of the Federal Government, includ6 ing the Federal Acquisition Regulation and 

7 the Office of Management and Budget 

8 guidelines to agencies on governmentwide 

9 debarment and suspension (nonprocure10 ment) in part 180 of title 2 of the Code of 

11 Federal Regulations. 

12 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—In exercising the 

13 authority provided under clause (i), the In14 spector General (or the Inspector General’s 

15 designee) may, with respect to a particular 

16 contract, grant, or other procurement or 

17 nonprocurement activity, grant an excep18 tion that permits a person debarred or sus19 pended pursuant to clause (i) to submit an 

20 offer for or be awarded the contract, grant, 

21 or other activity. If such an exception is 

22 granted, the Inspector General shall sub23 mit to the congressional committees de24 scribed in subparagraph (G) a written no25 tification and rationale for the exception. 


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1 ‘‘(G) COMMITTEES DESCRIBED.—The com2 mittees described in this subparagraph are the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(i) The Committees on Foreign Af5 fairs and on Oversight and Government 

6 Reform of the House of Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The Committees on Foreign Re8 lations and on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs of the Senate.’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITION OF INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.— 

11 Section 1229(m) of such Act (Public Law 110–181; 5 

12 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON DEBAR15 MENT AND SUSPENSION.—The term ‘Interagency 

16 Committee on Debarment and Suspension’ or ‘Inter17 agency Committee’ means the committee constituted 

18 under sections 4 and 5 of Executive Order No. 

19 12549.’’. 

20 (c) DEADLINE FOR PUBLICATION OF RULES.—The 

21 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

22 publish any interim final rules submitted to the Office to 

23 implement the amendments made by this Act in the Fed24 eral Register within 30 days after the date of submission. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY AND REPORT. 

5 (a) STUDY.—After the termination of the Office of 

6 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction 

7 under section 1229(o)(1) of the National Defense Author8 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 

9 122 Stat. 380; 5 U.S.C. App.), the Comptroller General 

10 of the United States shall conduct a study on the authority 

11 and process provided under section 1229(g)(3) of such Act 

12 (as added by section 2 of this Act). 

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

15 submit to Congress a report on the study carried out 

16 under subsection (a), with such recommendations as the 

17 Comptroller General considers appropriate with respect to 

18 the suspension and debarment system of the Federal Gov19 ernment. 

Æ 


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