II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3185

To end taxpayer support of Federal Government contractors against whom

repeated civil judgments or criminal convictions for certain offenses have

been entered.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 11 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

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

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To end taxpayer support of Federal Government contractors

against whom repeated civil judgments or criminal convictions for certain offenses have been entered.

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 ‘‘Taxpayer Protection

5 and Contractor Integrity Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to end support by the tax8 payers of the United States of Federal Government con9 tractors that violate the trust of such taxpayers through
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1 repeated civil judgments or criminal convictions for certain

2 offenses.

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds the following:

5 (1) Taxpayer dollars should not be used to sup6 port individuals or entities who repeatedly violate

7 laws regarding Federal contracting and the trust of

8 taxpayers, thus putting the integrity of future con9 tracts at risk.

10 (2) The Federal Acquisition Regulation already

11 requires bidders on Federal contracts to disclose

12 honestly the existence of indictments, charges, con13 victions, or civil judgments against such bidders.

14 (3) The Federal Acquisition Regulation also re15 quires contracting officers to make a determination

16 regarding the responsibility of a potential contractor

17 prior to awarding a contract to ensure that the po18 tential contractor has a satisfactory record of integ19 rity and business ethics and a satisfactory perform20 ance record.

21 (4) Regardless of the number or seriousness of

22 convictions or civil judgments against a potential

23 contractor, however, the Federal Acquisition Regula24 tion provides Federal agencies wide discretion in de25 termining whether to initiate suspension or debar-
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1 ment procedures. There is currently no maximum

2 number of convictions above which an entity or indi3 vidual becomes ineligible for future contract awards.

4 SEC. 4. EXPANDED DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR BID5 DERS ON FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

6 A contracting officer for a Federal contract shall re7 quire any potential contractor who has disclosed the exist8 ence of an indictment, charge, conviction, or civil judg9 ment under section 94.409(a) of the Federal Acquisition

10 Regulation (or any successor provision) to submit informa11 tion regarding the number of convictions or civil judg12 ments entered against the potential contractor, the nature

13 of the offenses, and whether any fines, penalties, or dam14 ages were assessed.

15 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF FUTURE CONTRACTS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal contract for the pro17 curement of property or services may be awarded to any

18 individual or entity against whom a total of three or more

19 convictions or civil judgments have been entered after the

20 date of the enactment of this Act for any of the following:

21 (1) Commission of fraud or a criminal offense

22 in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain,

23 of performing a Federal, State, or local government

24 contract or subcontract.
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1 (2) Violation of a Federal or State antitrust

2 statute relating to the submission of offers for Fed3 eral contracts.

4 (3) Commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery,

5 bribery, falsification or destruction of records, mak6 ing false statements, or receiving stolen property in

7 connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or

8 performing a Federal, State or local government

9 contract or subcontract.

10 (b) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with

11 respect to a contract awarded on or after the date of the

12 enactment of this Act.

13 (c) LENGTH OF PROHIBITION; REPORT.—The prohi14 bition on the award of a contract under this section shall

15 terminate after a period of three years beginning on the

16 date that the most recent conviction or civil judgment has

17 been entered against the potential contractor if—

18 (1) during such three-year period, the potential

19 contractor demonstrates a satisfactory record of eth20 ics and integrity by avoiding additional criminal con21 victions or civil judgments regarding the offenses de22 scribed in subsection (a);

23 (2) the potential contractor submits to the Di24 rector of the Office of Management and Budget a

25 report on the steps that have been taken by the po-
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1 tential contractor (such as changes in company pol2 icy, personnel, or procedures) to prevent future vio3 lations; and

4 (3) the Director certifies that the steps taken

5 are satisfactory.

6 (d) ADDITIONAL OFFENSES.—If an individual or en7 tity who has been prohibited from being awarded a Fed8 eral contract under subsection (a) has a conviction or civil

9 judgment for an offense described in subsection (a) en10 tered against the individual or entity after the termination

11 of the three-year period described in subsection (c), such

12 individual or entity shall be prohibited from being awarded

13 a Federal contract for an additional three years.

14 SEC. 6. PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER.

15 (a) AUTHORITY.—The President may waive the ap16 plication of section 5 if the President determines that—

17 (1) such a waiver is in the interests of national

18 security; or

19 (2) the need for the property or services to be

20 acquired under the contract is of such an unusual

21 and compelling urgency that the Federal Govern22 ment would be seriously injured if the application of

23 such section is not waived.

24 (b) WAITING PERIOD.—The President may not exer25 cise the waiver authority of this section until 45 days after
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1 the date that the President submits to Congress in writing

2 a justification for such waiver.

3 SEC. 7. PAYMENT OF LEGAL COSTS.

4 In any case in which the United States brings an ac5 tion against an individual or entity for an offense de6 scribed in section 5(a) and a verdict of guilty is rendered,

7 the United States shall not be responsible for payment of

8 legal costs of the individual or entity in connection with

9 the action.

10 SEC. 8. CONTRACTOR DEFINED.

11 In this Act, the term ‘‘contractor’’ has the meaning

12 given such term in section 9.403 of the Federal Acquisi13 tion Regulation, as in effect on the date of the enactment

14 of this Act.

15 SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION.

16 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as superseding

17 the authority of a Federal contracting officer to make a

18 determination of nonresponsibility regarding a potential

19 contractor, or to initiate suspension and debarment proce20 dures against an entity or individual against whom three

21 or more convictions or civil judgments for the offenses de22 scribed in section 5(a) have not been entered.

Æ