IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1362 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To reform acquisition practices of the Federal Government. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Accountability in Contracting Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

TITLE I—IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF CONTRACTS 

Sec. 101. Limitation on length of noncompetitive contracts. 

Sec. 102. Minimizing sole-source contracts. 

Sec. 103. Maximizing fixed-price procurement contracts. 

TITLE II—INCREASING CONTRACT OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 201. Public disclosure of justification and approval documents for noncompetitive contracts. 

Sec. 202. Disclosure of Government contractor audit findings. 

Sec. 203. Study of acquisition workforce. 

Sec. 204. Repeal of sunset of training fund. 

Sec. 205. Notice to Congress of noncompetitive contracts awarded to foreignowned companies in countries sponsoring terrorism. 

Sec. 206. Prohibition on contracts to educational institutions not supporting 

U.S. defense efforts. 

TITLE III—PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN CONTRACTING 

Sec. 301. Additional provisions relating to procurement officials. 

Sec. 302. Report to Congress. 

6 TITLE I—IMPROVING THE 

7 QUALITY OF CONTRACTS 

8 SEC. 101. LIMITATION ON LENGTH OF NONCOMPETITIVE 

9 CONTRACTS. 

10 (a) REVISION OF FAR.—Not later than one year 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

12 Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to restrict the con13 tract period of any contract described in subsection (c) 

14 to the minimum contract period necessary— 


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1 (1) to meet the urgent and compelling require2 ments of the work to be performed under the con3 tract; and 

4 (2) to enter into another contract for the re5 quired goods or services through the use of competi6 tive procedures. 

7 (b) CONTRACT PERIOD.—The regulations promul8 gated under subsection (a) shall require the contract pe9 riod to not exceed one year, unless the head of the execu10 tive agency concerned determines that the Government 

11 would be seriously injured by the limitation on the con12 tract period. 

13 (c) COVERED CONTRACTS.—This section applies to 

14 any contract in an amount greater than $1,000,000 en15 tered into by an executive agency using procedures other 

16 than competitive procedures pursuant to the exception 

17 provided in section 303(c)(2) of the Federal Property and 

18 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2)) 

19 or section 2304(c)(2) of title 10, United States Code. 

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘executive agency’’ has the mean22 ing provided in section 4(1) of the Office of Federal 

23 Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(1)). 

24 (2) The term ‘‘head of the executive agency’’ 

25 means the head of an executive agency except that, 


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1 in the case of the Department of Defense, the term 

2 means— 

3 (A) in the case of a military department, 

4 the Secretary of the military department; 

5 (B) in the case of a Defense Agency, the 

6 head of the Defense Agency; and 

7 (C) in the case of any part of the Depart8 ment of Defense other than a military depart9 ment or Defense Agency, the Under Secretary 

10 of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Lo11 gistics. 

12 SEC. 102. MINIMIZING SOLE-SOURCE CONTRACTS. 

13 (a) PLANS REQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (c), 

14 the head of each executive agency covered by title III of 

15 the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 

16 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) or, in the case of the Depart17 ment of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Ac18 quisition, Technology, and Logistics, shall develop and im19 plement a plan to minimize, to the maximum extent prac20 ticable, the use of contracts entered into using procedures 

21 other than competitive procedures by the agency or de22 partment concerned. The plan shall contain measurable 

23 goals and shall be completed and submitted to the Com24 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

25 of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security 


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1 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Commit2 tees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

3 and the Senate and, in the case of the Department of De4 fense and the Department of Energy, the Committees on 

5 Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Represent6 atives, with a copy provided to the Comptroller General, 

7 not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

8 this Act. 

9 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The Comp10 troller General shall review the plans provided under sub11 section (a) and submit a report to Congress on the plans 

12 not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (c) REQUIREMENT LIMITED TO CERTAIN AGEN15 CIES.—The requirement of subsection (a) shall apply only 

16 to those agencies that awarded contracts in a total amount 

17 of at least $1,000,000,000 in the fiscal year preceding the 

18 fiscal year in which the report is submitted. 

19 (d) CERTAIN CONTRACTS EXCLUDED.—The fol20 lowing contracts shall not be included in the plans devel21 oped and implemented under subsection (a): 

22 (1) Contracts entered into under section 8(a) of 

23 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), in 

24 amounts less than the amounts listed in paragraph 

25 (1)(D)(i)(II) of that section. 


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1 (2) Contracts entered into under section 31 (15 

2 U.S.C. 657a) of such Act, in amounts less than the 

3 amounts listed in subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii) of that 

4 section. 

5 (3) Contracts entered into under section 36 of 

6 such Act (15 U.S.C. 657f), in amounts less than the 

7 amounts listed in subsection (a)(2) of that section. 

8 SEC. 103. MAXIMIZING FIXED-PRICE PROCUREMENT CON9 TRACTS. 

10 (a) PLANS REQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (c), 

11 the head of each executive agency covered by title III of 

12 the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 

13 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) or, in the case of the Depart14 ment of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Ac15 quisition, Technology, and Logistics, shall develop and im16 plement a plan to maximize, to the fullest extent prac17 ticable, the use of fixed-price type contracts for the pro18 curement of goods and services by the agency or depart19 ment concerned. The plan shall contain measurable goals 

20 and shall be completed and submitted to the Committee 

21 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

22 Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Commit24 tees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

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1 fense and the Department of Energy, the Committees on 

2 Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Represent3 atives, with a copy provided to the Comptroller General, 

4 not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. 

6 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The Comp7 troller General shall review the plans provided under sub8 section (a) and submit a report to Congress on the plans 

9 not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act. 

11 (c) REQUIREMENT LIMITED TO CERTAIN AGEN12 CIES.—The requirement of subsection (a) shall apply only 

13 to those agencies that awarded contracts in a total amount 

14 of at least $1,000,000,000 in the fiscal year preceding the 

15 fiscal year in which the report is submitted. 

16 TITLE II—INCREASING 

17 CONTRACT OVERSIGHT 

18 SEC. 201. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF JUSTIFICATION AND AP19 PROVAL DOCUMENTS FOR NONCOMPETITIVE 

20 CONTRACTS. 

21 (a) CIVILIAN AGENCY CONTRACTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Federal 

23 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 

24 (41 U.S.C. 253) is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

2 in the case of a procurement permitted by subsection (c), 

3 the head of an executive agency shall make publicly avail4 able, within 14 days after the award of the contract, the 

5 documents containing the justification and approval re6 quired by subsection (f)(1) with respect to the procure7 ment. 

8 ‘‘(B) In the case of a procurement permitted by sub9 section (c)(2), subparagraph (A) shall be applied by sub10 stituting ‘30 days’ for ‘14 days’. 

11 ‘‘(2) The documents shall be made available on the 

12 website of the agency and through the Federal Procure13 ment Data System. 

14 ‘‘(3) This subsection does not require the public avail15 ability of information that is exempt from public disclosure 

16 under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 303(f) 

18 of such Act is amended— 

19 (A) by striking paragraph (4); and 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

21 paragraph (4). 

22 (b) DEFENSE AGENCY CONTRACTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2304 of title 10, 

24 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(l)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

2 in the case of a procurement permitted by subsection (c), 

3 the head of an agency shall make publicly available, within 

4 14 days after the award of the contract, the documents 

5 containing the justification and approval required by sub6 section (f)(1) with respect to the procurement. 

7 ‘‘(B) In the case of a procurement permitted by sub8 section (c)(2), subparagraph (A) shall be applied by sub9 stituting ‘30 days’ for ‘14 days’. 

10 ‘‘(2) The documents shall be made available on the 

11 website of the agency and through the Federal Procure12 ment Data System. 

13 ‘‘(3) This subsection does not require the public avail14 ability of information that is exempt from public disclosure 

15 under section 552(b) of title 5.’’. 

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

17 2304(f) of such title is amended— 

18 (A) by striking paragraph (4); and 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

20 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively. 

21 SEC. 202. DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR 

22 AUDIT FINDINGS. 

23 (a) QUARTERLY REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

24 (1) The head of each Federal agency or depart25 ment or, in the case of the Department of Defense, 


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1 the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

2 Technology, and Logistics, shall submit to the chair3 man and ranking member of each committee speci4 fied in paragraph (2) on a quarterly basis a report 

5 that includes the following: 

6 (A) A list of completed audits performed 

7 by such agency or department issued during the 

8 applicable quarter that describe contractor costs 

9 in excess of $10,000,000 that have been identi10 fied as unjustified, unsupported, questioned, or 

11 unreasonable under any contract, task or deliv12 ery order, or subcontract. 

13 (B) The specific amounts of costs identi14 fied as unjustified, unsupported, questioned, or 

15 unreasonable and the percentage of their total 

16 value of the contract, task or delivery order, or 

17 subcontract. 

18 (C) A list of completed audits performed 

19 by such agency or department issued during the 

20 applicable quarter that identify material defi21 ciencies in the performance of any contractor or 

22 in any business system of any contractor under 

23 any contract, task or delivery order, or sub24 contract. 


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1 (2) The report described in paragraph (1) shall 

2 be submitted to— 

3 (A) the Committee on Oversight and Gov4 ernment Reform of the House of Representa5 tives; 

6 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committees on Appropriations of 

9 the House of Representatives and the Senate; 

10 (D) in the case of reports from the Depart11 ment of Defense or the Department of Energy, 

12 the Committees on Armed Services of the Sen13 ate and the House of Representatives; and 

14 (E) the committees of primary jurisdiction 

15 over the agency or department submitting the 

16 report. 

17 (3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an agency 

18 or department with respect to a calendar quarter if 

19 no audits described in paragraph (1) were issued 

20 during that quarter. 

21 (b) SUBMISSION OF INDIVIDUAL AUDITS.— 

22 (1) The head of each Federal agency or depart23 ment shall provide, within 14 days after a request in 

24 writing by the chairman or ranking member of any 

25 committee listed in paragraph (2), a full and 


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1 unredacted copy of any audit described in subsection 

2 (a)(1). Such copy shall include an identification of 

3 information in the audit exempt from public disclo4 sure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (2) The committees listed in this paragraph are 

7 the following: 

8 (A) The Committee on Oversight and Gov9 ernment Reform of the House of Representa10 tives. 

11 (B) The Committee on Homeland Security 

12 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

13 (C) The Committees on Appropriations of 

14 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

15 (D) In the case of the Department of De16 fense or the Department of Energy, the Com17 mittees on Armed Services of the Senate and 

18 House of Representatives. 

19 (E) The committees of primary jurisdiction 

20 over the agency or department to which the re21 quest is made. 

22 SEC. 203. STUDY OF ACQUISITION WORKFORCE. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY.—The Administrator 

24 for Federal Procurement Policy shall conduct a study of 

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1 wide acquisition workforce and develop a comprehensive 

2 definition of, and method of measuring the size of, such 

3 workforce. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub6 mit to the relevant congressional committees a report on 

7 the results of the study required by subsection (a), with 

8 such findings and recommendations as the Administrator 

9 determines appropriate. 

10 SEC. 204. REPEAL OF SUNSET OF TRAINING FUND. 

11 Subparagraph (H) of section 37(h)(3) of the Office 

12 of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 433(h)(3)) 

13 is repealed. 

14 SEC. 205. NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF NONCOMPETITIVE 

15 CONTRACTS AWARDED TO FOREIGN-OWNED 

16 COMPANIES IN COUNTRIES SPONSORING 

17 TERRORISM. 

18 (a) NOTICE TO CONGRESS REQUIRED.—If a contract 

19 is expected to be awarded by a department or agency of 

20 the Federal Government without the use of competitive 

21 procedures to a foreign-owned company that is based or 

22 has majority operations in a country described in sub23 section (b), the department or agency shall notify the ap24 propriate congressional committees at least 30 days before 

25 awarding the contract, for purposes of providing Congress 


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1 time to review the proposed contract and provide com2 ments to the department or agency. 

3 (b) FOREIGN COUNTRIES DESCRIBED.—A country 

4 described in this subsection is a country the government 

5 of which the Secretary of State has determined, for pur6 poses of section 6(j) of Export Administration Act of 

7 1979, section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 

8 section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, or any other 

9 provision of law, is a government that has repeatedly pro10 vided support for acts of international terrorism. 

11 SEC. 206. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTS TO EDUCATIONAL 

12 INSTITUTIONS NOT SUPPORTING U.S. DE13 FENSE EFFORTS. 

14 An executive agency may not award a contract to an 

15 institution of higher education (including any subelement 

16 of such institution) if that institution (or any subelement 

17 of that institution) has a policy or practice (regardless of 

18 when implemented) that either prohibits, or in effect pre19 vents, the Secretary of a military department or the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security from gaining access to cam21 puses of the institution, or access to students (who are 

22 17 years of age or older) on campuses, for purposes of 

23 military recruiting, in a manner that is at least equal in 

24 quality and scope to the access to campuses and to stu25 dents that is provided to any other employer. For purposes 


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1 of this section, the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

2 has the meaning provided in section 101 of the Higher 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). The prohibition 

4 in this section shall not apply to an institution of higher 

5 education (or any subelement of that institution) if the 

6 Secretary of Defense determines that the institution of 

7 higher education involved has a longstanding policy of 

8 pacifism based on historical religious affiliation. 

9 TITLE III—PROMOTING 

10 INTEGRITY IN CONTRACTING 

11 SEC. 301. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PRO12 CUREMENT OFFICIALS. 

13 (a) ELIMINATION OF LOOPHOLES THAT ALLOW

14 FORMER FEDERAL OFFICIALS TO ACCEPT COMPENSA15 TION FROM CONTRACTORS OR RELATED ENTITIES.—Sec16 tion 27(d) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 

17 Act (41 U.S.C. 423(d)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘or consultant’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘consultant, lawyer, or lobbyist’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

22 ‘‘Federal agency—’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

23 agency or participated personally and substan24 tially at a senior personnel level in—’’; and 


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not prohibit a former offi4 cial of a Federal agency from accepting compensation 

5 from any division or affiliate of a contractor that does not 

6 produce the same or similar products or services as the 

7 entity of the contractor that is responsible for the contract 

8 referred to in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of such para9 graph if the agency’s designated ethics officer determines 

10 that the former official’s acceptance of compensation 

11 would not damage public confidence in the integrity of the 

12 procurement process.’’. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENT

14 OFFICERS TO DISCLOSE JOB OFFERS MADE ON BEHALF

15 OF RELATIVES.—Section 27(c)(1) of such Act (41 U.S.C. 

16 423(c)(1)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘that official’’ 

17 the following: ‘‘or for a relative of that official (as defined 

18 in section 3110 of title 5, United States Code)’’. 

19 (c) REQUIREMENT ON AWARD OF GOVERNMENT

20 CONTRACTS TO FORMER EMPLOYERS.—Section 27 of 

21 such Act (41 U.S.C. 423) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON INVOLVEMENT BY CERTAIN

24 FORMER CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES IN PROCURE25 MENTS.—An employee of the Federal Government who is 


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1 a former employee of a contractor with the Federal Gov2 ernment shall not be personally and substantially involved 

3 with any award of a contract to the employee’s former em4 ployer, or in the administration of such contract at a sen5 ior personnel level, for the one-year period beginning on 

6 the date on which the employee leaves the employment of 

7 the contractor unless the employee has received a waiver 

8 from the agency’s designated ethics officer. In determining 

9 whether to issue a waiver, the designated ethics officer 

10 shall take into account the agency’s need for the involve11 ment of the employee and the impact a waiver would have 

12 on public confidence in the integrity of the procurement 

13 process.’’. 

14 (d) REGULATIONS.—Section 27 of such Act (41 

15 U.S.C. 423) is further amended by adding at the end the 

16 following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator, in consulta18 tion with the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) promulgate regulations to carry out and 

21 ensure the enforcement of this section; and 

22 ‘‘(2) monitor and investigate individual and 

23 agency compliance with this section.’’. 


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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 302. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

5 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

7 of Government Ethics shall submit a report to Congress 

8 that contains the Director’s recommendations on requiring 

9 Government contractors that advise one or more Federal 

10 agencies on procurement policy, and requiring federally 

11 funded research and development centers, to comply with 

12 restrictions relating to personal financial interests, such 

13 as those that apply to Federal employees. 

14 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

15 (1) The term ‘‘Government contractor’’ means 

16 any person (other than a Federal agency) with 

17 which a Federal agency has entered into a contract 

18 to acquire goods or services. 

19 (2) The term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means— 

20 (A) any executive department or inde21 pendent establishment in the executive branch 

22 of the Government, including any wholly owned 

23 Government corporation; and 

24 (B) any establishment in the legislative or 

25 judicial branch of the Government (except the 


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1 Senate, the House of Representatives, and the 

2 Architect of the Capitol and any activities 

3 under the Architect’s direction). 

4 (3) The term ‘‘federally funded research and 

5 development center’’ means a federally funded re6 search and development center as identified by the 

7 National Science Foundation in accordance with the 

8 Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 15, 

2007. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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