IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3544 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2022 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Administrator of General Services to transfer 

certain surplus computers and technology equipment to 

nonprofit computer refurbishers for repair, distribution, 

and return, and for other purposes. 

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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Computers for Vet3 erans and Students Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘COVS Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Access to computers and computer tech7 nology is indispensable for success in the 21st cen8 tury. Millions of Americans do not regularly use a 

9 computer and research shows that substantial dis10 parities remain in both internet use and the quality 

11 of access with the digital divide concentrated among 

12 older, less educated, less affluent populations, espe13 cially veterans, low-income students, and senior citi14 zens. 

15 (2) The COVID–19 pandemic has highlighted 

16 the gap between those with computer access and 

17 those without. Millions of students, their families, 

18 and workers from across the economy were unable to 

19 do schoolwork, work remotely from home, or connect 

20 to loved ones and their communities because of the 

21 digital divide. 

22 (3) Any Federal program that distributes sur23 plus Federal computers to a public school, an edu24 cational nonprofit, or a nonprofit computer refur25 bisher for repair and distribution would benefit from 


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1 a partnership with a nonprofit organization, whose 

2 mission is bridging the digital divide. 

3 SEC. 3. REFURBISHMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS 

4 COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT. 

5 (a) GSA TRANSFER.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 State agencies for surplus property have been given 

8 an opportunity to review surplus computer or tech9 nology equipment that has been determined to be re10 pairable, the Administrator shall transfer to partici11 pating nonprofit computer refurbishers such equip12 ment with full title to such equipment, for repair 

13 and distribution in accordance with subsection 

14 (c)(1). 

15 (2) INFORMATION ON EQUIPMENT REFUR16 BISHED.—A nonprofit computer refurbisher that re17 ceives surplus computer or technology equipment 

18 under this subsection shall provide the Adminis19 trator with any information the Administrator deter20 mines to be necessary for required reporting, includ21 ing information about the distribution of such equip22 ment. 

23 (b) PARTNERSHIP.—The Administrator may estab24 lish a partnership with non-governmental entities, at no 

25 cost, to— 


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1 (1) facilitate the identification of nonprofit com2 puter refurbishers and the distribution of surplus 

3 computer or technology equipment under this sec4 tion; and 

5 (2) facilitate the participation of nonprofit com6 puter refurbishers under this section. 

7 (c) REPAIR AND DISTRIBUTION.— 

8 (1) DISTRIBUTION TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DI9 VIDE.—A nonprofit computer refurbisher that re10 ceives equipment under subsection (a) shall repair 

11 and distribute such equipment to an educational in12 stitution, a veteran, an individual with a disability, 

13 a low-income individual, a student, or a senior in 

14 need that is residing or based in the United States. 

15 (2) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Any nonprofit com16 puter refurbisher that receives any equipment under 

17 subsection (a) shall offer training programs on the 

18 use of computers and technology equipment for any 

19 of the following: 

20 (A) Educational institutions. 

21 (B) Veterans. 

22 (C) Individuals with disabilities. 

23 (D) Low-income individuals. 

24 (E) Students. 

25 (F) Seniors. 


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1 (d) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 

3 years thereafter for the next 4 years, the Administrator 

4 shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the 

5 Administrator under this Act. 

6 (e) AGENCY REPORTS.—Not later than 5 years after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there8 after, the head of each Federal agency shall make a report 

9 available to the public on the number of repairable com10 puters that were sent to recycling, abandoned, or de11 stroyed. 

12 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion may be construed to supersede the requirements of 

14 the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 

15 (Public Law 96–480; 15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.). 

16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis18 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv19 ices. 

20 (2) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The term ‘‘digital di21 vide’’ means the gap between those who have an 

22 internet-connected computer and the skills to use the 

23 computer and those who do not. 

24 (3) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

25 ‘‘educational institution’’ means— 


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1 (A) any public or private child care center, 

2 preschool, elementary school, secondary school, 

3 accredited institution of vocational or profes4 sional education, or institution of higher edu5 cation; 

6 (B) in the case of an accredited institution 

7 of vocational or professional education or an in8 stitution of higher education composed of more 

9 than one school, college, or department that is 

10 administratively a separate unit, each such 

11 school, college, or department; and 

12 (C) a home school (whether treated as a 

13 home school or a private school for purposes of 

14 applicable State law). 

15 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

16 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘federal 

17 agency’’ in section 102 of title 40, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (5) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 

20 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Ameri21 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

22 12102). 

23 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

3 (7) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘low 

4 income individual’’ has the meaning given such term 

5 in section 351 of the Small Business Investment Act 

6 of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689). 

7 (8) NONPROFIT COMPUTER REFURBISHER.— 

8 The term ‘‘nonprofit computer refurbisher’’ means a 

9 nonprofit organization that primarily works to im10 prove access to information and communication 

11 technology in their mission to bridge the digital di12 vide. 

13 (9) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

14 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 

15 is described under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation 

17 under section 501(a) of such Code. 

18 (10) REPAIRABLE.—The term ‘‘repairable’’ 

19 means property that is unusable in its current state 

20 but can be economically repaired. 

21 (11) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec22 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 

23 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu24 cation Act of 1965. 


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1 (12) SENIOR.—The term ‘‘senior’’ means an in2 dividual who is 65 years of age or older. 

3 (13) SENIOR IN NEED.—The term ‘‘senior in 

4 need’’ means a senior who experiences cultural, so5 cial, or geographical isolation that— 

6 (A) restricts the ability of the senior to 

7 perform normal daily tasks; or 

8 (B) threatens the capacity of the senior to 

9 live independently. 

10 (14) STATE AGENCY FOR SURPLUS PROP11 ERTY.—The term ‘‘State agency for surplus prop12 erty’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘state agen13 cy’’ under section 549 of title 40, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (15) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means 

16 any individual enrolled in an educational institution, 

17 but not a public or private child care center. 

18 (16) SURPLUS COMPUTER OR TECHNOLOGY

19 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘surplus computer or tech20 nology equipment’’ means computer or technology 

21 equipment that is property described under section 

22 549(b)(2) of title 40, United States Code. 

23 (17) TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT.—The term 

24 ‘‘technology equipment’’ means any physical asset 

25 related to a computer or information technology, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jul 14, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3544.RFS H3544

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1 cluding any peripheral component, tablet, commu2 nication device (such as a router, server, or cell 

3 phone), printer, scanner, uninterruptible power 

4 source, cable, or connection. 

5 (18) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

6 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator may issue 

9 regulations that are necessary and appropriate to imple10 ment this section. 

11 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

12 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

13 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

14 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

15 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

16 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

17 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro18 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

19 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 12, 2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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