I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3625 

To provide for termination liability costs for certain National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2013 

Mr. BROOKS of Alabama introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for termination liability costs for certain National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration projects, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The International Space Station, the Space 

6 Launch System, and the Orion crew capsule will en7 able the Nation to continue operations in low-Earth 

8 orbit and to send its astronauts to deep space. As 

9 a result of their unique capabilities and their critical 

10 contribution to the future of space exploration, these 


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1 systems have been designated by Congress and the 

2 Administration as priority investments. 

3 (2) While the Space Launch System and the 

4 Orion programs, currently under development, have 

5 made significant progress, they have not been fund6 ed at levels authorized, and as a result congression7 ally authorized milestones will be delayed by several 

8 years. 

9 (3) In addition, contractors are currently hold10 ing program funding, estimated to be in the hun11 dreds of millions of dollars, to cover the potential 

12 termination liability should the Government choose 

13 to terminate a program for convenience. As a result, 

14 hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are unavail15 able for meaningful work on these programs. 

16 (4) According to the Government Accountability 

17 Office, the Administration procures most of its 

18 goods and services through contracts, and it termi19 nates very few of them. In fiscal year 2010, the Ad20 ministration terminated 28 of 16,343 active con21 tracts and orders—a termination rate of about 0.17 

22 percent. 

23 (5) Providing processes requiring congressional 

24 action on termination of these high-priority pro25 grams would enable contractors to apply taxpayer 


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1 dollars to making maximum progress in meeting the 

2 established technical goals and schedule milestones 

3 of these programs. 

4 SEC. 2. NASA TERMINATION LIABILITY. 

5 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Termination liability costs for 

6 a covered program shall be provided only pursuant to this 

7 section. 

8 (b) PROHIBITION ON RESERVING FUNDS.—The Ad9 ministrator may not reserve funds from amounts appro10 priated for a covered program, and shall direct prime con11 tractors not to reserve funds, for potential termination li12 ability costs with respect to a covered program. 

13 (c) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of Con14 gress that funds authorized to be appropriated for covered 

15 programs be applied in meeting established technical goals 

16 and schedule milestones. 

17 (d) VOID CONTRACTUAL PROVISIONS.—Any provi18 sion in a prime contract entered into before the date of 

19 enactment of this Act that provides for the payment of 

20 termination liability costs through any means other than 

21 as provided in this section is hereby declared to be void 

22 and unenforceable. 

23 (e) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION; NOTICE.— 

24 (1) TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE.—The 

25 Administrator may not initiate termination for the 


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1 convenience of the Government of a prime contract 

2 on a covered program unless such program termi3 nation is authorized or required by a law enacted 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (2) TERMINATION FOR CAUSE.—The Adminis6 trator shall notify the Committee on Science, Space, 

7 and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans9 portation of the Senate before initiating termination 

10 for cause of a prime contract on a covered program. 

11 (f) SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION REQUEST.— 

12 (1) REQUEST.—If the Administrator decides to 

13 terminate a prime contract on a covered program, 

14 and sufficient unobligated appropriations are not 

15 available to cover termination liability costs in the 

16 appropriations account that is funding the prime 

17 contract being terminated, the Administrator shall 

18 provide to Congress a notification that an authoriza19 tion of appropriations is necessary not later than 

20 120 days in advance of the proposed contract settle21 ment for the covered program. 

22 (2) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of 

23 Congress to provide additional authorization for ap24 propriations as may be necessary to pay termination 

25 liability costs on prime contracts for covered proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:39 Dec 03, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3625.IH H3625

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1 grams if Congress deems it appropriate that the Ad2 ministration terminate such prime contracts. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORTING. 

4 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter for the duration 

6 of the prime contracts on covered programs, the Adminis7 trator shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, 

8 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

10 the Senate a report that provides— 

11 (1) the estimated termination liability costs for 

12 each of the prime contracts; and 

13 (2) the basis for how such estimate was deter14 mined. 

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra18 tion’’ means the National Aeronautics and Space 

19 Administration. 

20 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis21 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Administra22 tion. 

23 (3) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

24 program’’ means the International Space Station, 


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1 the Space Launch System, and the Orion crew cap2 sule. 

3 (4) ORION CREW CAPSULE.—The term ‘‘Orion 

4 crew capsule’’ refers to the multipurpose crew vehi5 cle described in section 303 of the National Aero6 nautics and Space Administration Authorization Act 

7 of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18323). 

8 (5) PRIME CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘prime 

9 contractor’’ means a person or entity contracting di10 rectly with the Federal Government on a covered 

11 program. 

12 (6) SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Space 

13 Launch System’’ refers to the follow-on Government14 owned civil launch system developed, managed, and 

15 operated by the Administration to serve as a key 

16 component to expand human presence beyond low17 Earth orbit, as described in section 302 of the Na18 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration Au19 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18322). 

20 (7) TERMINATION LIABILITY COSTS.—The term 

21 ‘‘termination liability costs’’ means any costs in22 curred by a prime contractor, or by any subcon23 tractor of a prime contractor, for which the Federal 


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1 Government is liable as a result of termination of a 

2 prime contract by the Administrator. 

Æ 


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