In the Senate of the United States,

September 30, 1996.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 4194) entitled ‘‘An Act to reauthorize alternative

means of dispute resolution in the Federal administrative

process, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Page 12, after line 5 insert:

1 SEC. 12. JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

2 FEDERAL CLAIMS AND THE DISTRICT COURTS

3 OF THE UNITED STATES: BID PROTESTS.

4 (a) BID PROTESTS.—Section 1491 of title 28, United

5 States Code, is amended—

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection

7 (c);

8 (2) in subsection (a) by striking out paragraph

9 (3); and

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (a), the follow11 ing new subsection;
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Both the Unites States Court of Federal Claims

2 and the district courts of the United States shall have juris3 diction to render judgment on an action by an interested

4 party objecting to a solicitation by a Federal agency for

5 bids or proposals for a proposed contract or to a proposed

6 award or the award of a contract or any alleged violation

7 of statute or regulation in connection with a procurement

8 or a proposed procurement. Both the United States Court

9 of Federal Claims and the district courts of the United

10 States shall have jurisdiction to entertain such an action

11 without regard to whether suit is instituted before or after

12 the contract is awarded.

13 ‘‘(2) To afford relief in such an action, the courts may

14 award any relief that the court considers proper, including

15 declaratory and injunctive relief except that any monetary

16 relief shall be limited to bid preparation and proposal costs.

17 ‘‘(3) In exercising jurisdiction under this sub18 section, the courts shall give due regard to the inter19 ests of national defense and national security and the

20 need for expeditious resolution of the action.

21 ‘‘(4) In any action under this subsection, the

22 courts shall review the agency’s decision pursuant to

23 the standards set forth in section 706 of title 5.’’.

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend25 ments made by this section shall take effect on December
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1 31, 1996 and shall apply to all actions filed on or after

2 that date.

3 (c) STUDY.—No earlier than 2 years after the effective

4 date of this section, the United States General Accounting

5 Office shall undertake a study regarding the concurrent ju6 risdiction of the district courts of the United States and

7 the Court of Federal Claims over bid protests to determine

8 whether concurrent jurisdiction is necessary. Such a study

9 shall be completed no later than December 31, 1999, and

10 shall specifically consider the effect of any proposed change

11 on the ability of small businesses to challenge violations of

12 Federal procurement law.

13 (d) SUNSET.—The jurisdiction of the district courts of

14 the United States over the actions described in section

15 1491(b)(1) of title 28, United States Code (as amended by

16 subsection (a) of this section) shall terminate on January

17 1, 2001 unless extended by Congress. The savings provisions

18 in subsection (e) shall apply if the bid protest jurisdiction

19 of the district courts of the United States terminates under

20 this subsection.

21 (e) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—

22 (1) ORDERS.—A termination under subsection

23 (d) shall not terminate the effectiveness of orders that

24 have been issued by a court in connection with an ac25 tion within the jurisdiction of that court on or before
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1 December 31, 2000. Such orders shall continue in ef2 fect according to their terms until modified, termi3 nated, superseded, set aside, or revoked by a court of

4 competent jurisdiction or by operation of law.

5 (2) PROCEEDINGS AND APPLICATIONS.—(A) a

6 termination under subsection (d) shall not affect the

7 jurisdiction of a court of the United States to con8 tinue with any proceeding that is pending before the

9 court on December 31, 2000.

10 (B) Orders may be issued in any such proceed11 ing, appeals may be taken therefrom, and payments

12 may be made pursuant to such orders, as if such ter13 mination had not occurred. An order issued in any

14 such proceeding shall continue in effect until modi15 fied, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked by

16 a court of competent jurisdiction or by operation of

17 law.

18 (C) Nothing in this paragraph prohibits the dis19 continuance or modification of any such proceeding

20 under the same terms and conditions and to the same

21 extent that proceeding could have been discontinued

22 or modified absent such termination.

23 (f) NONEXCLUSIVITY OF GAO REMEDIES.—In the

24 event that the bid protest jurisdiction of the district courts

25 of the United States is terminated pursuant to subsection
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1 (d), then section 3556 of title 31, United States Code, shall

2 be amended by striking ‘‘a court of the United States or’’

3 in the first sentence.

Attest:

Secretary.
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4194

AMENDMENT