II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3702 

To provide for full and open competition for Federal contracts related to 

natural disaster reconstruction efforts. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 

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

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for full and open competition for Federal 

contracts related to natural disaster reconstruction efforts. 

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 ‘‘Natural Disaster Fair5 ness in Contracting Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS. 

7 In entering into a contract to procure property or 

8 services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction 

9 efforts, the head of an executive agency shall comply with 

10 the requirements under section 303 of the Federal PropVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:12 Nov 20, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3702.IS S3702

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1 erty and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 

2 253), except that the exceptions to the requirement for 

3 competitive procedures provided under paragraphs (3), 

4 (4), and (7) of subsection (c) of such section shall not 

5 apply to such contract. 

6 SEC. 3. WRITTEN APPROVAL FOR USE OF NON-COMPETI7 TIVE PROCEDURES REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN 

8 CONTRACTS. 

9 (a) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The head of an executive 

10 agency may enter into a contract to procure property or 

11 services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction 

12 efforts using other than full and open competition only 

13 upon the written approval of the President or the Presi14 dent’s designee. 

15 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In 

16 any case in which procedures other than full and open 

17 competitive procedures are to be used to enter into such 

18 a contract, the head of such executive agency shall submit 

19 not later than 7 calendar days before the award of the 

20 contract a notification to the Committee on Appropria21 tions of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of 

22 the House of Representatives, and the standing commit23 tees of the Senate and the House of Representatives that 

24 have jurisdiction over the executive agency. Such notifica25 tion shall provide the justification for use of other than 


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1 full and open competitive procedures, a brief description 

2 of the contract’s scope, the amount of the contract, a dis3 cussion of how the contracting agency identified and solic4 ited offers from contractors, a list of the contractors solic5 ited, and the justification and approval documents (as re6 quired under section 303(f)(1) of the Federal Property 

7 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 

8 253(f)(1)) on which was based the determination of use 

9 of procedures other than full and open competitive proce10 dures. 

11 (c) SCOPE OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) SIZE OF CONTRACTS.—This section shall 

13 not apply to contracts of less than $5,000,000. 

14 (2) APPLICABILITY.—This section also shall 

15 apply to any extension, amendment, or modification 

16 of contracts for the procurement of property or serv17 ices in connection with natural disaster reconstruc18 tion efforts entered into prior to the enactment of 

19 this Act using other than full and open competitive 

20 procedures. 

21 (3) SMALL BUSINESS EXCEPTION.—This sec22 tion shall not apply to contracts authorized by the 

23 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.). 

24 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE REQUIRED. 

25 (a) PUBLICATION AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive 

2 agency that enters into a contract for the procure3 ment of property or services in connection with nat4 ural disaster reconstruction efforts through the use 

5 of other than full and open competitive procedures 

6 shall publish in the Federal Register or Federal 

7 Business Opportunities, and otherwise make avail8 able to the public not later than 7 calendar days be9 fore the date on which the contract is entered into, 

10 the following information: 

11 (A) The amount of the contract. 

12 (B) A brief description of the scope of the 

13 contract. 

14 (C) A discussion of how the executive 

15 agency identified, and solicited offers from, po16 tential contractors to perform the contract, to17 gether with a list of the potential contractors 

18 that were issued solicitations for the offers. 

19 (D) The justification and approval docu20 ments (as required under section 303(f)(1) of 

21 the Federal Property and Administrative Serv22 ices Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(f)(1)) on 

23 which was based the determination to use pro24 cedures other than competitive procedures. 

25 (2) SCOPE OF REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (A) SIZE OF CONTRACTS.—This section 

2 shall not apply to contracts of less than 

3 $5,000,000. 

4 (B) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall 

5 also apply to any extension, amendment, or 

6 modification of contracts entered into prior to 

7 the enactment of this Act using other than full 

8 and open competitive procedures. 

9 (C) SMALL BUSINESS EXCEPTION.—This 

10 section shall not apply to contracts authorized 

11 by the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et 

12 seq.). 

13 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DISCLOSURE LAWS.— 

14 Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting obli15 gations to disclose United States Government information 

16 under any other provision of law. 

17 SEC. 5. CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO UNDER UNUSUAL AND 

18 COMPELLING URGENCY EXCEPTION. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PERFORMANCE WITHIN 6- 

20 MONTH PERIOD.—The head of an executive agency may 

21 not rely on the exception provided under section 303(c)(2) 

22 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act 

23 of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2)) to enter into a contract 

24 to procure property or services in connection with natural 

25 disaster reconstruction efforts using procedures other than 


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1 competitive procedures unless the contract will be per2 formed within a 6-month period. 

3 (b) EXTENDED NOTIFICATION AND DISCLOSURE

4 DEADLINES.—The notification and disclosure deadlines 

5 specified in section 3(b) and section 4(a)(1), respectively, 

6 shall be 7 calendar days after the date a contract is en7 tered into in the case of a contract described in subsection 

8 (a). 

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

12 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act 

14 (41 U.S.C. 403). 

15 (2) FULL AND OPEN COMPETITIVE PROCE16 DURES.—The term ‘‘full and open competition’’ has 

17 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Of18 fice of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 

19 403). 

20 (3) NATURAL DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION EF21 FORTS.—The term ‘‘natural disaster reconstruction 

22 efforts’’ means reconstruction efforts undertaken in 

23 an area subject to a declaration by the President of 

24 a major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. 


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1 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 

Æ 


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