I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2334

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend and make improvements

to the provisions relating to procurement contract goals for small disadvantaged businesses and certain institutions of higher education, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 23, 1999

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr.

DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr.

HINOJOSA, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. BROWN of

Florida, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms.

KILPATRICK, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. CLAYTON,

Ms. LEE, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. ORTIZ, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. WATERS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Ms. SANCHEZ) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend and make

improvements to the provisions relating to procurement

contract goals for small disadvantaged businesses and

certain institutions of higher education, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Contract

3 Equity Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. CONTRACT GOALS FOR SMALL DISADVANTAGED

5 BUSINESSES AND CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS OF

6 HIGHER EDUCATION.

7 (a) MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON USE OF PRICE

8 ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 2323(e)(3)

9 of title 10, United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv);

11 and

12 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following

13 new clause:

14 ‘‘(iii) No suspension shall be issued in an indus15 try category under this paragraph if the President

16 determines in writing that contracts for a price ex17 ceeding fair market cost are necessary to remedy

18 demonstrated discrimination in such industry cat19 egory. Any such determination shall be published in

20 the Federal Register for a period of not less than 60

21 days before becoming effective. Any person or entity

22 adversely affected by the application of such des23 ignation may seek judicial review in the appropriate

24 United States district court.’’.

25 (b) EXTENSION OF SECTION 2323.—Subsection (k)

26 of section 2323 of such Code is amended by striking out
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1 ‘‘2000’’ both places it appears and inserting in lieu thereof

2 ‘‘2005’’.

3 SEC. 3. MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS.

4 (a) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION TERM.—Subsection

5 (e)(2) of section 831 of the National Defense Authoriza6 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2302 note) is

7 amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(2) A program participation term for any pe9 riod of not more than three years, except that the

10 term may be a period of up to five years if the Sec11 retary of Defense determines in writing that unusual

12 circumstances justify a program participation term

13 in excess of three years.’’.

14 (b) INCENTIVES AUTHORIZED FOR MENTOR

15 FIRMS.—Subsection (g) of such section is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘shall’’ and

17 inserting ‘‘may’’;

18 (2) in paragraph (2)—

19 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

20 (i) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘may’’;

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and

23 all that follows through ‘‘(i) as a line item’’

24 and inserting ‘‘subsection (f) as provided

25 for in a line item’’;
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1 (iii) by striking the semicolon pre2 ceding clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘, except

3 that this clause does not apply in a case in

4 which the Secretary of Defense determines

5 in writing that unusual circumstances jus6 tify reimbursement using a separate con7 tract.’’; and

8 (iv) by striking clauses (ii), (iii), and

9 (iv); and

10 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in11 serting the following:

12 ‘‘(B) The determinations made in annual perform13 ance reviews of a mentor firm’s mentor-protege agreement

14 under subsection (l)(2) shall be a major factor in the de15 terminations of amounts of reimbursement, if any, that

16 the mentor firm is eligible to receive in the remaining

17 years of the program participation term under the agree18 ment.

19 ‘‘(C) The total amount reimbursed under this para20 graph to a mentor firm for costs of assistance furnished

21 in a fiscal year to a protege firm may not exceed

22 $1,000,000, except in a case in which the Secretary of De23 fense determines in writing that unusual circumstances

24 justify a reimbursement of a higher amount.’’; and
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1 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘either

2 subparagraph (A) or (C) of paragraph (2) or are re3 imbursed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of such

4 paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’.

5 (c) FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Sub6 section (j) of such section is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(j) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—(1) No mentor8 protege agreement may be entered into under subsection

9 (e) after September 30, 2004.

10 ‘‘(2) No reimbursement may be paid, and no credit

11 toward the attainment of a subcontracting goal may be

12 granted, under subsection (g) for any cost incurred after

13 September 30, 2005.’’.

14 (d) REPORTS AND REVIEWS.—Subsection (l) of such

15 section is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(l) REPORTS AND REVIEWS.—(1) The mentor firm

17 and protege firm under a mentor-protege agreement shall

18 submit to the Secretary of Defense an annual report on

19 the progress made by the protege firm in employment, rev20 enues, and participation in Department of Defense con21 tracts during the fiscal year covered by the report. The

22 requirement for submission of an annual report applies

23 with respect to each fiscal year covered by the program

24 participation term under the agreement and each of the

25 two fiscal years following the expiration of the program
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1 participation term. The Secretary shall prescribe the tim2 ing and form of the annual report.

3 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall conduct an annual per4 formance review of each mentor-protege agreement that

5 provides for reimbursement of costs. The Secretary shall

6 determine on the basis of the review whether—

7 ‘‘(i) all costs reimbursed to the mentor firm

8 under the agreement were reasonably incurred to

9 furnish assistance to the protege firm in accordance

10 with the requirements of this section and applicable

11 regulations; and

12 ‘‘(ii) the mentor firm and protege firm accu13 rately reported progress made by the protege firm in

14 employment, revenues, and participation in Depart15 ment of Defense contracts during the program par16 ticipation term covered by the mentor-protege agree17 ment and the two fiscal years following the expira18 tion of the program participation term.

19 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall act through the Commander

20 of the Defense Contract Management Command in car21 rying out the reviews and making the determinations

22 under subparagraph (A).

23 ‘‘(3) Not later than 6 months after the end of each

24 of fiscal years 2000 through 2004, the Secretary of De-
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1 fense shall submit to Congress an annual report on the

2 mentor-protege program for that fiscal year.

3 ‘‘(2) The annual report for a fiscal year shall include,

4 at a minimum, the following:

5 ‘‘(A) The number of mentor-protege agreements

6 that were entered into during the fiscal year.

7 ‘‘(B) The number of mentor-protege agreements

8 that were in effect during the fiscal year.

9 ‘‘(C) The total amount reimbursed to mentor

10 firms pursuant to subsection (g) during the fiscal

11 year.

12 ‘‘(D) Each mentor-protege agreement, if any,

13 that was approved during the fiscal year in accord14 ance with subsection (e)(2) to provide a program

15 participation term in excess of 3 years, together with

16 the justification for the approval.

17 ‘‘(E) Each reimbursement of a mentor firm in

18 excess of the limitation in subsection (g)(2)(C) that

19 was made during the fiscal year pursuant to an ap20 proval granted in accordance with that subsection,

21 together with the justification for the approval.

22 ‘‘(F) Trends in the progress made in employ23 ment, revenues, and participation in Department of

24 Defense contracts by the protege firms participating

25 in the program during the fiscal year and the pro-
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1 tege firms that completed or otherwise terminated

2 participation in the program during the preceding

3 two fiscal years.’’.

4 (e) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF

5 FUNDING.—Subsection (n) of such section is repealed.

6 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE AND SAVINGS PROVISION.—(1)

7 The amendments made by this section shall take effect

8 on October 1, 1999, and shall apply with respect to men9 tor-protege agreements that are entered into under section

10 831(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis11 cal Year 1991 on or after that date.

12 (2) Section 831 of the National Defense Authoriza13 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1991, as in effect on September

14 30, 1999, shall continue to apply with respect to mentor15 protege agreements entered into before October 1, 1999.

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