II 

Calendar No. 565 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2061 

[Report No. 113–257] 

To prevent conflicts of interest relating to contractors providing background 

investigation fieldwork services and investigative support services. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Reported by Mr. CARPER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To prevent conflicts of interest relating to contractors providing background investigation fieldwork services and 

investigative support services. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Conflicts 

5 of Interest with Contractors Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means— 

4 (A) an Executive agency (as defined in sec5 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code); 

6 (B) a military department (as defined in 

7 section 102 of title 5, United States Code); 

8 (C) an element of the intelligence commu9 nity (as that term is defined in section 3 of the 

10 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

11 3003)); 

12 (D) the United States Postal Service; and 

13 (E) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

14 (2) the term ‘‘background investigation 

15 fieldwork services’’ means the investigatory fieldwork 

16 conducted to determine the eligibility of an indi17 vidual for a security clearance or suitability for Fed18 eral employment, including— 

19 (A) interviews of the individual or friends, 

20 family, or other sources who might have rel21 evant knowledge of the individual; and 

22 (B) reviews of— 

23 (i) educational and employment 

24 records; 

25 (ii) criminal and other legal records; 

26 and 


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1 (iii) credit history; 

2 (3) the term ‘‘background investigation support 

3 services’’ means the clerical, administrative, and 

4 technical support services provided to various func5 tions critical to the background investigation proc6 ess, including— 

7 (A) initial processing and scheduling of in8 vestigative requests; 

9 (B) information technology and informa10 tion technology support; 

11 (C) file maintenance; 

12 (D) imaging or copying of investigation 

13 documents; and 

14 (E) mail processing; and 

15 (4) the term ‘‘quality review process’’ means 

16 performing the final quality review of a background 

17 investigation, or assisting or facilitating the quality 

18 review or another quality assurance process, to en19 sure investigative, administrative, and other required 

20 standards have been met before the completed back21 ground investigation is delivered to the adjudicating 

22 agency. 

23 SEC. 3. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. 

24 After the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

25 of the Office of Personnel Management may not award 


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1 a contract to an entity under which the entity will conduct 

2 quality review processes for background investigation 

3 fieldwork services or background investigation support 

4 services that, as of the date of the award of the contract, 

5 are being conducted by that entity. 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Conflicts of 

8 Interest with Contractors Act’’. 

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act— 

11 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means— 

12 (A) an Executive agency (as defined in sec13 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code); 

14 (B) a military department (as defined in 

15 section 102 of title 5, United States Code); 

16 (C) an element of the intelligence commu17 nity (as that term is defined in section 3 of the 

18 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

19 3003)); 

20 (D) the United States Postal Service; and 

21 (E) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

22 (2) the term ‘‘background investigation fieldwork 

23 services’’ means the investigatory fieldwork conducted 

24 to determine the eligibility of an individual for log25 ical and physical access to Federally-controlled faciliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Sep 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2061.RS S2061

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1 ties or information systems, suitability or fitness for 

2 Federal employment, eligibility for access to classified 

3 information or to hold a national security sensitive 

4 position, or fitness to perform work for or on behalf 

5 of the Federal Government as a contractor or em6 ployee, including— 

7 (A) interviews of the individual, the em8 ployer of the individual, former employers of the 

9 individual, and friends, family, and other 

10 sources who might have relevant knowledge of the 

11 individual; and 

12 (B) reviews of— 

13 (i) educational and employment 

14 records; 

15 (ii) criminal and other legal records; 

16 and 

17 (iii) credit history; 

18 (3) the term ‘‘background investigation support 

19 services’’ means the clerical, administrative, and tech20 nical support services provided to various functions 

21 critical to the background investigation process, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) initial processing and scheduling of in24 vestigative requests; 


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1 (B) information technology and information 

2 technology support; 

3 (C) file maintenance; 

4 (D) imaging or copying of investigation 

5 documents; and 

6 (E) mail processing; and 

7 (4) the term ‘‘quality review process’’ means per8 forming the final quality review of a background in9 vestigation to ensure investigative, administrative, 

10 and other required standards have been met before the 

11 completed background investigation is delivered to the 

12 adjudicating agency. 

13 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CONTRACTING TO PREVENT ORGA14 NIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, a contract may not be entered 

17 into, and an extension of or option on a contract may not 

18 be exercised, with a contractor to conduct a quality review 

19 process relating to background investigation fieldwork serv20 ices or background investigation support services if the con21 tractor is performing the services to be reviewed. 


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Calendar No. 565 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2061 

[Report No. 113–257] 

A BILL 

To prevent conflicts of interest relating to contracservices and investigative support services. tors providing background investigation fieldwork 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Reported with an amendment 


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