I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 436 

To preserve open competition and Federal Government neutrality towards 

the labor relations of Federal Government contractors on Federal and 

federally funded construction projects. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2013 

Mr. HARRIS (for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. AMASH, Mr. 

AMODEI, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BARTON, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. 

BUCSHON, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. 

DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. HARPER, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. HUIZENGA of 

Michigan, Mr. HURT, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. LATTA, Mr. 

GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MULVANEY, 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. 

POE of Texas, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 

STIVERS, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILSON of 

South Carolina, Mr. WOLF, Mr. WOMACK, and Mr. YOUNG of Indiana) 

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

Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To preserve open competition and Federal Government neutrality towards the labor relations of Federal Government 

contractors on Federal and federally funded construction 

projects. 


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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 ‘‘Government Neutrality 

5 in Contracting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

8 (1) promote and ensure open competition on 

9 Federal and federally funded or assisted construc10 tion projects; 

11 (2) maintain Federal Government neutrality to12 wards the labor relations of Federal Government 

13 contractors on Federal and federally funded or as14 sisted construction projects; 

15 (3) reduce construction costs to the Federal 

16 Government and to the taxpayers; 

17 (4) expand job opportunities, especially for 

18 small and disadvantaged businesses; and 

19 (5) prevent discrimination against Federal Gov20 ernment contractors or their employees based upon 

21 labor affiliation or the lack thereof, thereby pro22 moting the economical, nondiscriminatory, and effi23 cient administration and completion of Federal and 

24 federally funded or assisted construction projects. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF OPEN COMPETITION AND FED2 ERAL GOVERNMENT NEUTRALITY. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

4 (1) GENERAL RULE.—The head of each execu5 tive agency that awards any construction contract 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, or that obli7 gates funds pursuant to such a contract, shall en8 sure that the agency, and any construction manager 

9 acting on behalf of the Federal Government with re10 spect to such contract, in its bid specifications, 

11 project agreements, or other controlling documents 

12 does not— 

13 (A) require or prohibit a bidder, offeror, 

14 contractor, or subcontractor from entering into, 

15 or adhering to, agreements with 1 or more 

16 labor organizations, with respect to that con17 struction project or another related construction 

18 project; or 

19 (B) otherwise discriminate against or give 

20 preference to a bidder, offeror, contractor, or 

21 subcontractor because such bidder, offeror, con22 tractor, or subcontractor— 

23 (i) becomes a signatory, or otherwise 

24 adheres to, an agreement with 1 or more 

25 labor organizations with respect to that 


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1 construction project or another related 

2 construction project; or 

3 (ii) refuses to become a signatory, or 

4 otherwise adhere to, an agreement with 1 

5 or more labor organizations with respect to 

6 that construction project or another related 

7 construction project. 

8 (2) APPLICATION OF PROHIBITION.—The provi9 sions of this section shall not apply to contracts 

10 awarded prior to the date of enactment of this Act, 

11 and subcontracts awarded pursuant to such con12 tracts regardless of the date of such subcontracts. 

13 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit a con15 tractor or subcontractor from voluntarily entering 

16 into an agreement described in such paragraph. 

17 (b) RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS AND OTHER ASSIST18 ANCE.—The head of each executive agency that awards 

19 grants, provides financial assistance, or enters into cooper20 ative agreements for construction projects after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, shall ensure that— 

22 (1) the bid specifications, project agreements, 

23 or other controlling documents for such construction 

24 projects of a recipient of a grant or financial assist25 ance, or by the parties to a cooperative agreement, 


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1 do not contain any of the requirements or prohibi2 tions described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub3 section (a)(1); or 

4 (2) the bid specifications, project agreements, 

5 or other controlling documents for such construction 

6 projects of a construction manager acting on behalf 

7 of a recipient or party described in paragraph (1), 

8 do not contain any of the requirements or prohibi9 tions described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub10 section (a)(1). 

11 (c) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If an executive agency, 

12 a recipient of a grant or financial assistance from an exec13 utive agency, a party to a cooperative agreement with an 

14 executive agency, or a construction manager acting on be15 half of such an agency, recipient or party, fails to comply 

16 with subsection (a) or (b), the head of the executive agency 

17 awarding the contract, grant, or assistance, or entering 

18 into the agreement, involved shall take such action, con19 sistent with law, as the head of the agency determines to 

20 be appropriate. 

21 (d) EXEMPTIONS.— 

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

23 agency may exempt a particular project, contract, 

24 subcontract, grant, or cooperative agreement from 

25 the requirements of 1 or more of the provisions of 


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1 subsections (a) and (b) if the head of such agency 

2 determines that special circumstances exist that re3 quire an exemption in order to avert an imminent 

4 threat to public health or safety or to serve the na5 tional security. 

6 (2) SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes 

7 of paragraph (1), a finding of ‘‘special cir8 cumstances’’ may not be based on the possibility or 

9 existence of a labor dispute concerning contractors 

10 or subcontractors that are nonsignatories to, or that 

11 otherwise do not adhere to, agreements with 1 or 

12 more labor organizations, or labor disputes con13 cerning employees on the project who are not mem14 bers of, or affiliated with, a labor organization. 

15 (3) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN

16 PROJECTS.—The head of an executive agency, upon 

17 application of an awarding authority, a recipient of 

18 grants or financial assistance, a party to a coopera19 tive agreement, or a construction manager acting on 

20 behalf of any of such entities, may exempt a par21 ticular project from the requirements of any or all 

22 of the provisions of subsection (a) or (b), if the 

23 agency head finds— 

24 (A) that the awarding authority, recipient 

25 of grants or financial assistance, party to a coVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 Feb 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H436.IH H436

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1 operative agreement, or construction manager 

2 acting on behalf of any of such entities had 

3 issued or was a party to, as of the date of the 

4 enactment of this Act, bid specifications, project 

5 agreements, agreements with 1 or more labor 

6 organizations, or other controlling documents 

7 with respect to that particular project, which 

8 contained any of the requirements or prohibi9 tions set forth in subsection (a)(1); and 

10 (B) that 1 or more construction contracts 

11 subject to such requirements or prohibitions 

12 had been awarded as of the date of the enact13 ment of this Act. 

14 (e) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATORY COUN15 CIL.—With respect to Federal contracts to which this sec16 tion applies, not later than 60 days after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

18 Council shall take appropriate action to amend the Fed19 eral Acquisition Regulation to implement the provisions of 

20 this section. 

21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.—The term 

23 ‘‘construction contract’’ means any contract for the 

24 construction, rehabilitation, alteration, conversion, 


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1 extension, or repair of buildings, highways, or other 

2 improvements to real property. 

3 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

4 agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

5 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that such 

6 term shall not include the Government Account7 ability Office. 

8 (3) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 

9 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

10 section 701(d) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

11 U.S.C. 2000e(d)). 

Æ 


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