I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2055

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

JUNE 5, 2001

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. ARMEY, Mr.

HAYWORTH, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.

ISAKSON, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. KELLER, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. PAUL, Mr.

HALL of Texas, Mr. SESSIONS, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. LINDER, and Mr.

SOUDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 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.

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 It is the purpose of this Act to—

3 (1) promote and ensure open competition on

4 Federal and federally funded or assisted construc5 tion projects;

6 (2) maintain Federal Government neutrality to7 wards the labor relations of Federal Government

8 contractors on Federal and federally funded or as9 sisted construction projects;

10 (3) reduce construction costs to the Federal

11 Government and to the taxpayers;

12 (4) expand job opportunities, especially for

13 small and disadvantaged businesses; and

14 (5) prevent discrimination against Federal Gov15 ernment contractors or their employees based upon

16 labor affiliation or the lack thereof, thereby pro17 moting the economical, nondiscriminatory, and effi18 cient administration and completion of Federal and

19 federally funded or assisted construction projects.

20 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF OPEN COMPETITION AND FED21 ERAL GOVERNMENT NEUTRALITY.

22 (a) PROHIBITION.—

23 (1) GENERAL RULE.—The head of each execu24 tive agency that awards any construction contract

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, or that obli26 gates funds pursuant to such a contract, shall en-
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1 sure that the agency, and any construction manager

2 acting on behalf of the Federal Government with re3 spect to such contract, in its bid specifications,

4 project agreements, or other controlling documents

5 does not—

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

7 contractor, or subcontractor from entering into,

8 or adhering to, agreements with 1 or more

9 labor organization, with respect to that con10 struction project or another related construction

11 project; or

12 (B) otherwise discriminate against a bid13 der, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor be14 cause such bidder, offeror, contractor, or

15 subcontractor—

16 (i) became a signatory, or otherwise

17 adhered to, an agreement with 1 or more

18 labor organization with respect to that con19 struction project or another related con20 struction project; or

21 (ii) refused to become a signatory, or

22 otherwise adhere to, an agreement with 1

23 or more labor organization with respect to

24 that construction project or another related

25 construction project.
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1 (2) APPLICATION OF PROHIBITION.—The provi2 sions of this section shall not apply to contracts

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

4 and subcontracts awarded pursuant to such con5 tracts regardless of the date of such subcontracts.

6 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in

7 paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit a con8 tractor or subcontractor from voluntarily entering

9 into an agreement described in such paragraph.

10 (b) RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS AND OTHER ASSIST11 ANCE.—The head of each executive agency that awards

12 grants, provides financial assistance, or enters into cooper13 ative agreements for construction projects after the date

14 of enactment of this Act, shall ensure that—

15 (1) the bid specifications, project agreements,

16 or other controlling documents for such construction

17 projects of a recipient of a grant or financial assist18 ance, or by the parties to a cooperative agreement,

19 do not contain any of the requirements or prohibi20 tions described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub21 section (a)(1); or

22 (2) the bid specifications, project agreements,

23 or other controlling documents for such construction

24 projects of a construction manager acting on behalf

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

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

5 a recipient of a grant or financial assistance from an exec6 utive agency, a party to a cooperative agreement with an

7 executive agency, or a construction manager acting on be8 half of such an agency, recipient or party, fails to comply

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

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

11 into the agreement, involved shall take such action, con12 sistent with law, as the head of the agency determines to

13 be appropriate.

14 (d) EXEMPTIONS.—

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

16 agency may exempt a particular project, contract,

17 subcontract, grant, or cooperative agreement from

18 the requirements of 1 or more of the provisions of

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

20 determines that special circumstances exist that re21 quire an exemption in order to avert an imminent

22 threat to public health or safety or to serve the na23 tional security.

24 (2) SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes

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

2 existence of a labor dispute concerning contractors

3 or subcontractors that are nonsignatories to, or that

4 otherwise do not adhere to, agreements with 1 or

5 more labor organization, or labor disputes con6 cerning employees on the project who are not mem7 bers of, or affiliated with, a labor organization.

8 (3) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN

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

10 application of an awarding authority, a recipient of

11 grants or financial assistance, a party to a coopera12 tive agreement, or a construction manager acting on

13 behalf of any of such entities, may exempt a par14 ticular project from the requirements of any or all

15 of the provisions of subsections (a) or (c), if the

16 agency head finds—

17 (A) that the awarding authority, recipient

18 of grants or financial assistance, party to a co19 operative agreement, or construction manager

20 acting on behalf of any of such entities had

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

22 enactment of this Act, bid specifications, project

23 agreements, agreements with one or more labor

24 organizations, or other controlling documents

25 with respect to that particular project, which
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1 contained any of the requirements or prohibi2 tions set forth in subsection (a)(1); and

3 (B) that one or more construction contracts

4 subject to such requirements or prohibitions had

5 been awarded as of the date of the enactment of this

6 Act.

7 (e) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATORY COUN8 CIL.—With respect to Federal contracts to which this sec9 tion applies, not later than 60 days after the date of enact10 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory

11 Council shall take appropriate action to amend the Fed12 eral Acquisition Regulation to implement the provisions of

13 this section.

14 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

15 (1) CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.—The term

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

17 construction, rehabilitation, alteration, conversion,

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

19 improvements to real property.

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

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

22 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that such

23 term shall not include the General Accounting Of24 fice.
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1 (3) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor

2 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in

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

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

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