I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2238

To amend laws relating to Federal procurement, to authorize functions and

activities under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act

of 1949, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 1993

Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. DELLUMS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on Government Operations

and Armed Services

A BILL

To amend laws relating to Federal procurement, to authorize

functions and activities under the Federal Property and

Administrative Services Act of 1949, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Acquisition

5 Improvement Act of 1993’’.
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1 TITLE I—ENHANCEMENT OF

2 COMPETITION IN CONTRACTING

3 Subtitle A—Acquisition of

4 Commercial Items

5 SEC. 111. PREFERENCE FOR ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL

6 ITEMS.

7 Section 16 of the Office of Federal Procurement Pol8 icy Act (41 U.S.C. 414) is amended by redesignating para9 graphs (2), (3), and (4) in order as paragraphs (3), (4),

10 and (5), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (1)

11 the following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(2) implement a preference for the acquisition

13 of commercial items by—

14 ‘‘(A) whenever practicable, stating speci15 fications in solicitation for bids and proposals in

16 terms such that bidders and offerors are en17 abled and encouraged to offer to supply com18 mercial items in response to agency solicita19 tions;

20 ‘‘(B) reducing impediments to the acquisi21 tion of commercial items in agency procurement

22 policies, practices, and procedures not required

23 by law; and

24 ‘‘(C) requiring training of appropriate per25 sonnel in the acquisition of commercial items;’’.
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1 SEC. 112. ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

2 Section 28 of the Office of Federal Procurement Pol3 icy Act (41 U.S.C. 424) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 28. ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

5 ‘‘(a) MARKET RESEARCH.—Before soliciting bids or

6 proposals for a contract for property or services, an execu7 tive agency shall conduct market research, appropriate to

8 the circumstances, to determine whether the needs of the

9 agency can be met by the acquisition of commercial items.

10 ‘‘(b) ADVOCATE FOR ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL

11 ITEMS.—

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

13 the Office of Federal Procurement Policy the posi14 tion of Advocate for the Acquisition of Commercial

15 Items (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as

16 the ‘Advocate’).

17 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Advocate shall—

18 ‘‘(A) monitor compliance by executive

19 agencies with the preference required under sec20 tion 16(2) for the acquisition of commercial

21 items;

22 ‘‘(B) make recommendations and proposals

23 to the Administrator regarding the reform of

24 procurement statutes and regulations to imple25 ment that preference; and
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1 ‘‘(C) report to the Administrator on the

2 prospective effect of proposed statutes and reg3 ulations on the acquisition of commercial

4 items.’’.

5 SEC. 113. REGULATIONS AND SIMPLIFIED FORM CON6 TRACTS.

7 (a) REVISION OF FAR.—Unless otherwise specifically

8 provided in this title, not later than 180 days after the

9 date of the enactment of this title, the Federal Acquisition

10 Regulation issued under section 25(c) of the Office of Fed11 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 421(c)) shall be

12 revised to implement the amendments made by this sub13 title.

14 (b) SIMPLIFIED UNIFORM CONTRACT.—(1)(A) The

15 revision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation under sub16 section (a) shall include issuance of one or more simplified

17 uniform contracts for the acquisition of commercial items

18 by Federal agencies and shall require that such simplified

19 uniform contract or contracts be used for the acquisition

20 of commercial items to the maximum extent practicable.

21 The uniform contract or contracts shall include only—

22 (i) those contract clauses that are required to

23 implement provisions of law applicable to such an

24 acquisition;
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1 (ii) those contract clauses that are essential for

2 the protection of the Federal Government’s interest

3 in such an acquisition; and

4 (iii) those contract clauses that are determined

5 to be consistent with standard commercial practice

6 and appropriate for inclusion in such contracts.

7 (B) In addition to the clauses described under sub8 paragraph (A), contracts for the acquisition of commercial

9 items may include such clauses as are essential for the

10 protection of the Federal Government’s interest in—

11 (i) a particular contract, as determined in writ12 ing by the contracting officer for such contract; or

13 (ii) a class of contracts, as determined by the

14 agency head, in consultation with the Administrator

15 for Federal Procurement Policy.

16 (C) Contracts for the acquisition of commercial items

17 may not include any clause other than those clauses au18 thorized under subparagraph (A) or (B).

19 (2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a

20 prime contractor under a Federal agency contract for the

21 acquisition of commercial items may only be required to

22 include in subcontracts under such contract—

23 (i) those contract clauses that are required to

24 implement provisions of law applicable to such sub25 contracts; and
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1 (ii) those contract clauses that are essential for

2 the protection of the Federal Government’s interest

3 in such subcontracts.

4 (B) In addition to the clauses described under sub5 paragraph (A), a contractor under a Federal agency con6 tract for the acquisition of commercial items may be re7 quired to include in a subcontract under such contract

8 such clauses as are essential for the protection of the Fed9 eral Government’s interest in—

10 (i) a particular subcontract, as determined in

11 writing by the contracting officer for such contract;

12 or

13 (ii) a class of subcontracts, as determined by

14 the agency head, in consultation with the Adminis15 trator for Federal Procurement Policy.

16 (C) A Federal agency may not require a contractor

17 for the acquisition of commercial items to include in a sub18 contract for that acquisition any clause other than those

19 clauses authorized under subparagraph (A) or (B).

20 (3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of this

21 subsection, the Department of Defense may use uniform

22 contract clauses developed under paragraphs (2) and (3)

23 of section 824(b) of the National Defense Authorization

24 Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2325

25 note; Public Law 101–189) until September 30, 1995.
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1 (c) WARRANTIES.—The Federal Acquisition Regula2 tion shall require that, to the maximum extent practicable,

3 Federal agencies take advantage of warranties offered by

4 commercial contractors and use such warranties for the

5 repair and replacement of commercial items.

6 (d) MARKET ACCEPTANCE.—The Federal Acquisition

7 Regulation shall direct agencies to require, where appro8 priate and in accordance with criteria prescribed in the

9 regulations, offerors to demonstrate in their offers that

10 products being offered have—

11 (1)(A) achieved a level of commercial market

12 acceptance necessary to indicate that the products

13 are suitable for the agency’s use; or

14 (B) been satisfactorily supplied under current

15 or recent contracts for the same or similar require16 ments; and

17 (2) otherwise meet the product description,

18 specifications, or other criteria prescribed by the

19 public notice and solicitation.

20 (e) PAST PERFORMANCE.—The Federal Acquisition

21 Regulation shall provide guidance to Federal agencies on

22 the use of past performance of products and sources as

23 a factor in award decisions.
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1 Subtitle B—Miscellaneous

2 SEC. 121. TRUTH IN NEGOTIATIONS ACT.

3 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 304(d)(4) of the Federal

4 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

5 U.S.C. 254(d)(4)) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE COST OR PRICING

7 DATA.—When cost or pricing data need not be re8 quired to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (5),

9 such data shall not be required to be submitted un10 less the head of the agency determines that such

11 data are necessary for the evaluation by the agency

12 of the reasonableness of the price of the contract or

13 subcontract. In any case in which the head of the

14 agency requires such data to be submitted under

15 this paragraph, the head of the agency shall docu16 ment in writing the reasons for such requirement.’’.

17 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR REVISED REGULATIONS.—

18 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of

19 this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued under

20 section 25(c) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy

21 Act (41 U.S.C. 421(c)) shall be revised to implement sec22 tion 304(d)(4) of the Federal Property and Administrative

23 Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254(d)) and section

24 2306a(b) of title 10, United States Code, as amended by

25 subsection (a) and section 302.
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1 (c) PROVISIONS TO BE INCLUDED.—(1) In the case

2 of contracts other than cost-reimbursement research and

3 development contracts, the revised regulations promul4 gated under subsection (b) shall provide that cost or pric5 ing data may not be requested from a contractor when

6 it is likely that circumstances will exist in which an excep7 tion to the requirement to provide such data is authorized

8 by section 304(d)(5) of the Federal Property and Adminis9 trative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254(d)) or section

10 2306a(b) of title 10, United States Code, unless the head

11 of the agency determines in writing that such data are

12 necessary for the evaluation by the agency of the reason13 ableness of the price of the contract or subcontract.

14 (2) The regulations also shall provide clear standards

15 for determining whether the exceptions authorized by such

16 sections apply. In the case of the exception provided under

17 section 304(d)(5)(A)(i) of such Act and section

18 2306a(b)(1)(A) of such title (relating to adequate price

19 competition), the regulations shall specify the criteria that

20 will be used to determine whether adequate price competi21 tion exists. In the case of the exception provided under

22 section 304(d)(5)(A)(ii) of such Act and section

23 2306a(b)(1)(B) of such title (relating to established cata24 log or market prices of commercial items sold in substan25 tial quantities to the general public), the regulations shall
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1 preclude the consideration of sales to the government, in2 cluding the percentage of an item’s overall sales that are

3 made to the Government, when determining whether the

4 item has been sold in substantial quantities to the public.

5 (3) The regulations also shall establish reasonable

6 limitations on requests for sales data relating to commer7 cial items.

8 SEC. 122. DEFINITIONS.

9 (a) OFPP ACT.—Section 4 of the Office of Federal

10 Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403) is amended by—

11 (1) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

12 (10);

13 (2) striking the period at the end of paragraph

14 (11) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (3) adding at the end the following new para16 graph:

17 ‘‘(12) the term ‘commercial items’ means items

18 regularly used in the course of normal business oper19 ations for other than Government purposes, that—

20 ‘‘(A) have been sold, leased, or licensed to

21 the general public;

22 ‘‘(B) have been offered for sale, lease, or

23 license to the general public;

24 ‘‘(C) are not yet available in the commer25 cial marketplace, but will be available in time to
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1 satisfy the delivery requirements under a Gov2 ernment solicitation; or

3 ‘‘(D) are items that, but for minor modi4 fications made to meet Government require5 ments, would satisfy the criteria set forth in

6 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).’’.

7 (b) FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE

8 SERVICES ACT OF 1949.—Section 309(c) of the Federal

9 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40

10 U.S.C. 259(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘ ‘commercial

11 items’,’’ immediately after ‘‘ ‘item of supply’,’’.

12 (c) COMMERCIAL ITEM DEFINED.—In this title, the

13 term ‘‘commercial items’’ has the meaning given that term

14 in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy

15 Act (41 U.S.C. 403), as amended by subsection (a).

16 SEC. 123. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 Unless otherwise specifically provided in this title, the

18 amendments made by this title shall be effective 180 days

19 after the date of the enactment of this title.

20 SEC. 124. PROVISIONS NOT AFFECTED.

21 Nothing in this title shall be construed as amending,

22 modifying, or superseding, or is intended to impair or re23 strict authorities or responsibilities under—

24 (1) section 111 of the Federal Property and

25 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.
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1 759), commonly referred to as the ‘‘Brooks Auto2 matic Data Processing Act’’;

3 (2) title IX of the Federal Property and Admin4 istrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 541 et

5 seq.), commonly referred to as the ‘‘Brooks Archi6 tect-Engineers Act’’;

7 (3) the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et

8 seq.), including section 8(a) of that Act (15 U.S.C.

9 637(a)); or

10 (4) the Act of June 25, 1938 (41 U.S.C. 46–

11 48c), commonly referred to as the ‘‘Javits-Wagner12 O’Day Act’’.

13 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO FED14 ERAL PROPERTY AND ADMIN15 ISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF

16 1949

17 SEC. 201. AWARD OF MULTIPLE CONTRACTS.

18 Section 303B of the Federal Property and Adminis19 trative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended

20 by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(g) AWARD OF MULTIPLE CONTRACTS.—In procur22 ing any supply or service using competitive procedures, an

23 executive agency may award more than one contract for

24 the same supply or service in any case in which the head

25 of the agency determines that it is in the best interests
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1 of the Government to award those contracts for the pur2 pose of maintaining a continuous source for the supply

3 or service.’’.

4 SEC. 202. SOLICITATION EVALUATION AND AWARD.

5 (a) SOLICITATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 303A

6 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act

7 of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253a) is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘and significant

10 subfactors’’ after ‘‘all significant factors’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘(including price)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘(including cost or price, cost- or price13 related factors, and noncost- or nonprice-related

14 factors)’’;

15 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B) by inserting ‘‘and

16 subfactors’’ after ‘‘factors’’;

17 (3) in subsection (b)(2)(B) by amending clause

18 (i) to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(i) a statement that the proposals

20 are intended to be evaluated with, and

21 award made after, discussions with the

22 offerors, or that the proposals are intended

23 to be evaluated, and award made, without

24 discussions with the offerors (other than

25 discussions conducted for the purpose of
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1 minor clarification), unless discussions are

2 determined to be necessary; and’’; and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section:

5 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHING IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS.—(1)

6 In prescribing the evaluation factors to be included in each

7 solicitation for competitive proposals, the head of an agen8 cy—

9 ‘‘(A) shall clearly establish the relative impor10 tance assigned to the evaluation factors and

11 subfactors, including the quality of the product or

12 services to be provided (including technical capabil13 ity, management capability, and prior experience of

14 the offeror); and

15 ‘‘(B) shall include cost or price to the Govern16 ment as an evaluation factor that must be consid17 ered in the evaluation of proposals; and

18 ‘‘(C) shall, at a minimum, disclose to offerors

19 whether all evaluation factors other than price or

20 cost, when combined, are—

21 ‘‘(i) significantly more important than

22 price or cost,

23 ‘‘(ii) approximately equal in importance to

24 price or cost, or
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1 ‘‘(iii) significantly less important than

2 price or cost.

3 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subsection prohibits an agency

4 from—

5 ‘‘(A) providing additional information in a solic6 itation, including numeric weights for all evaluation

7 factors; or

8 ‘‘(B) stating in a solicitation that award will be

9 made to the offeror that meets the solicitation’s

10 mandatory requirements at the lowest price or

11 cost.’’.

12 (b) EVALUATION AND AWARD.—Section 303B of the

13 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949

14 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended—

15 (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ‘‘and award a

16 contract’’ after ‘‘competitive proposals’’;

17 (2) in subsection (c) in the second sentence by

18 inserting ‘‘in accordance with subsection (a)’’ after

19 ‘‘shall evaluate the bids’’;

20 (3) in subsection (d) by amending paragraph

21 (1) to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(1) The executive agency shall evaluate competitive

23 proposals in accordance with subsection (a) and may

24 award a contract—
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1 ‘‘(A) after discussions with the offerors, if writ2 ten or oral discussions have been conducted with all

3 responsible offerors who submit proposals within the

4 competitive range; or

5 ‘‘(B) without discussions with the offerors

6 (other than discussions conducted for the purpose of

7 minor clarification), if the solicitation included a

8 statement that proposals are intended to be evalu9 ated, and award made, without discussions, unless

10 discussions are determined to be necessary.’’; and

11 (4) in subsection (d) by striking paragraphs (2)

12 and (3) and by redesignating paragraph (4) as para13 graph (2).

14 (c) APPLICATION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

17 shall apply to—

18 (A) solicitations for sealed bids or competi19 tive proposals issued after the end of the 180-

20 day period beginning on the date of the enact21 ment of this Act; and

22 (B) contracts awarded pursuant to those

23 solicitations.

24 (2) EARLIER APPLICATION.—The head of an

25 agency may apply the amendments made by this sec-
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1 tion to solicitations issued before the end of the pe2 riod referred to in paragraph (1). The head of the

3 agency shall publish in the Federal Register notice

4 of any such earlier date of application before the be5 ginning of the 10-day period ending on that date.

6 SEC. 203. CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA THRESHOLD.

7 (a) CERTIFYING DATA.—

8 (1) AFFECTED CONTRACTS.—Section 304(d) of

9 the Federal Property and Administrative Services

10 Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254(d)) is amended—

11 (A) by striking out ‘‘$100,000’’ each place

12 it appears and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the

13 cost or pricing data threshold’’; and

14 (B) by adding at the end the following new

15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(6) For the purposes of this subsection, the

17 term ‘the cost or pricing data threshold’ means

18 $500,000, or, after December 31, 1995, $100,000.’’.

19 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by

20 this subsection shall apply to—

21 (A) prime contracts, or subcontracts (with22 out regard to the date on which the associated

23 prime contract was awarded), entered into after

24 the date on which the Federal Acquisition Reg-
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1 ulation is promulgated pursuant to section 204;

2 and

3 (B) changes or modifications to prime con4 tracts or subcontracts when those changes or

5 modifications are entered into after the date on

6 which a final revision of the Federal Acquisition

7 Regulation is issued pursuant to section 204.

8 (3) MODIFICATION.—Upon the request of a

9 contractor, the head of an agency may modify a con10 tract to reflect the dollar thresholds set forth in the

11 revision to the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued

12 pursuant to section 204. Any such modification shall

13 be made without requiring consideration.

14 (b) REGULATIONS FOR BELOW-THRESHOLD PRO15 CUREMENTS.—

16 (1) TYPE OF PROCUREMENTS.—The Adminis17 trator of General Services, in consultation with the

18 Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, shall

19 prescribe regulations identifying the type of procure20 ments for which contracting officers should consider

21 requiring the submission of certified cost or pricing

22 data under section 304(d) of the Federal Property

23 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C

24 254).
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1 (2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.—The Adminis2 trator of General Services, in consultation with the

3 Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, shall

4 prescribe regulations concerning the types of infor5 mation that offerors may be required to submit for

6 a contracting officer to consider in determining

7 whether the price of a procurement to the Govern8 ment is fair and reasonable when certified cost or

9 pricing data are not required to be submitted under

10 section 304(d) of such Act because the price of the

11 procurement to the United States is not expected to

12 exceed $500,000. Such information, at a minimum,

13 shall include appropriate information on the prices

14 at which such offeror has previously sold the same

15 or similar products.

16 (3) DEADLINE.—The regulations required

17 under this subsection shall be prescribed no later

18 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

19 this Act.

20 (c) REPEAL OF COMMERCIAL PRICING REQUIRE21 MENTS.—

22 (1) REPEAL.—Section 303E of the Federal

23 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949

24 (41 U.S.C. 253e) is repealed.
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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The first section

2 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services

3 Act of 1949 is amended in the table of contents by

4 striking the item relating to section 303E.

5 (d) REVIEW OF AMENDMENTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—After the amendments made

7 by subsections (a) and (c) have been in effect for 1

8 year, the Comptroller General shall conduct a review

9 of the effects of the amendments. The Comptroller

10 General shall coordinate that review, insofar as pos11 sible, with the review conducted by the Inspector

12 General of the Department of Defense pursuant to

13 section 803(b) of the National Defense Authoriza14 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101–

15 510).

16 (2) FACTORS CONSIDERED.—The review con17 ducted under paragraph (1) shall address whether

18 the amendments made by subsections (a) and (c)

19 have improved the acquisition process in terms of re20 duced paperwork, financial or other savings to the

21 Government, an increase in the number of contrac22 tors participating in the contracting process, and the

23 adequacy of information available to contracting offi24 cers in cases in which certified cost or pricing data

25 are not required.
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1 (3) REPORT.—Not later than the date on which

2 the President submits the budget for fiscal year

3 1996 to the Congress pursuant to section 1105 of

4 title 31, United States Code, the Comptroller Gen5 eral shall submit to the Congress a report on the re6 view conducted under paragraph (1). The report

7 shall include the comments of the Administrator for

8 Federal Procurement Policy and the Administrator

9 of General Services.

10 SEC. 204. REVISION OF FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULA11 TION; EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 (a) REVISION OF FAR.—Unless otherwise specifically

13 provided in this title, not later than 180 days after the

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition

15 Regulation issued under section 25(c) of the Office of Fed16 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 421(c)) shall be

17 revised to reflect the amendments made by sections 201,

18 202, 203(a) and (c), and 301.

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Unless otherwise specifically

20 provided in this title, the amendments made by this title

21 and section 301 shall be effective 180 days after the date

22 of the enactment of this Act.

23 (c) STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR COST AND

24 PRICE AS EVALUATION FACTORS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Acquisition

2 Regulation, as revised pursuant to subsection (a),

3 shall establish standards and requirements for the

4 consideration of cost and price to the Government as

5 evaluation factors under the amendments made by

6 sections 202(a)(4) and 301.

7 (2) STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS.—Stand8 ards and requirements established under paragraph

9 (1) shall be adequate to ensure that, to the maxi10 mum extent practicable consistent with the needs of

11 the Federal Government in conducting procure12 ments—

13 (A) cost or price is an evaluation factor of

14 sufficient weight to affect each source selection

15 decision; and

16 (B) competition among competing offerors

17 is affected by cost or price.

18 TITLE III—AMENDMENTS RELAT19 ING TO TITLE 10, UNITED

20 STATES CODE

21 SEC. 301. SOURCE SELECTION FACTORS.

22 Paragraph 2305(a)(3) of title 10, United States

23 Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(3)(A) In prescribing the evaluation factors to

2 be included in each solicitation for competitive pro3 posals, the head of an agency—

4 ‘‘(i) shall clearly establish the relative im5 portance assigned to the evaluation factors and

6 subfactors, including the quality of the product

7 or services to be provided (including technical

8 capability, management capability, and prior ex9 perience of the offeror);

10 ‘‘(ii) shall include cost or price to the Gov11 ernment as an evaluation factor that must be

12 considered in the evaluation of proposals; and

13 ‘‘(iii) shall, at a minimum, disclose to

14 offerors whether all evaluation factors other

15 than price or cost, when combined, are—

16 ‘‘(I) significantly more important than

17 price or cost,

18 ‘‘(II) approximately equal in impor19 tance to price or cost, or

20 ‘‘(III) significantly less important

21 than price or cost.

22 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph prohibits an

23 agency from—
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1 ‘‘(i) providing additional information in a

2 solicitation, including numeric weights for all

3 evaluation factors; or

4 ‘‘(ii) stating in a solicitation that award

5 will be made to the offeror that meets the solici6 tation’s mandatory requirements at the lowest

7 price or cost.’’.

8 SEC. 302. TRUTH IN NEGOTIATIONS.

9 Section 2306a(c) of title 10, United States Code, is

10 amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE COST OR PRICING

12 DATA.—When cost or pricing data need not be required

13 to be submitted pursuant to subsection (b), such data shall

14 not be required to be submitted unless the head of the

15 agency determines that such data are necessary for the

16 evaluation by the agency of the reasonableness of the price

17 of the contract or subcontract. In any case in which the

18 head of the agency requires such data to be submitted

19 under this subsection, the head of the agency shall docu20 ment in writing the reasons for such requirement.’’.
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1 TITLE IV—BROOKS ACT

2 AMENDMENTS

3 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLES OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF FED4 ERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE

5 SERVICES ACT OF 1949.

6 (a) AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT

7 PROVISIONS.—Section 111 of the Federal Property and

8 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759) is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(i) This section may be cited as the ‘Brooks Auto12 matic Data Processing Act’.’’.

13 (b) ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SERVICES

14 PROVISIONS.—Title IX of the Federal Property and Ad15 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 541–544)

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 905. SHORT TITLE.

18 ‘‘This title may be cited as the ‘Brooks Architect-En19 gineers Act’.’’.

20 SEC. 402. DISMISSAL; AWARD OF COSTS.

21 Section 111(f)(4) of the Federal Property and Ad22 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759(f)(4))

23 is amended by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting

24 the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) The board may dismiss a protest that the board

2 determines—

3 ‘‘(i) is frivolous,

4 ‘‘(ii) has been brought in bad faith, or

5 ‘‘(iii) on its face does not state a valid basis for

6 protest.

7 ‘‘(D) If a party violates or fails to comply in good

8 faith with, or causes a violation of or failure to comply

9 in good faith with, an order or decision of the board, the

10 board may require that party to pay to any other party

11 the amount of any reasonable costs, including attorney’s

12 fees, incurred by the other party in seeking compliance

13 with such order or decision.’’.

14 SEC. 403. OVERSIGHT OF ACQUISITION OF AUTOMATIC

15 DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT BY FEDERAL

16 AGENCIES.

17 Section 111 of the Federal Property and Administra18 tive Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759), as amended

19 by this Act, is further amended by inserting after sub20 section (g) the following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(h)(1) The Administrator shall collect and compile

22 data from Federal agencies regarding the procurement of

23 automatic data processing equipment under this section.

24 That data shall include, at a minimum, with regard to
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1 those procurements specified by the Administrator in reg2 ulation—

3 ‘‘(A) the procuring agency,

4 ‘‘(B) the contractor,

5 ‘‘(C) the automatic data processing equipment

6 and services procured,

7 ‘‘(D) the manufacturer of the equipment pro8 cured,

9 ‘‘(E) the amount of the contract,

10 ‘‘(F) the type of contract used,

11 ‘‘(G) the extent of competition for award,

12 ‘‘(H) compatibility restrictions, and

13 ‘‘(I) significant modifications of the contract.

14 ‘‘(2) The head of each Federal agency shall report

15 to the Administrator in accordance with regulations issued

16 by the Administrator all information required to be com17 piled by the Administrator under paragraph (1).

18 ‘‘(3) The Administrator—

19 ‘‘(A) shall carry out a systematic review and

20 conduct periodic audits of information received

21 under this subsection;

22 ‘‘(B) shall use such information as appropriate

23 to determine the compliance of Federal agencies

24 with the requirements of this section; and
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1 ‘‘(C) may suspend the delegation to an agency

2 of authority to lease and purchase automatic data

3 processing equipment upon any substantial failure

4 by the head of the agency to report to the Adminis5 trator in accordance with this subsection.

6 ‘‘(4) The Administrator shall, upon receipt of infor7 mation that a Federal agency has failed to comply with

8 the terms of any delegation of authority to lease or pur9 chase automatic data processing equipment or has failed

10 to comply with any applicable law or regulation, take ap11 propriate corrective action.

12 ‘‘(5) Data collected pursuant to this section shall be

13 drawn from existing Federal agency information re14 sources, and no new or additional information reporting

15 requirements may be imposed on offerors or contractors

16 for that purpose.’’.

17 SEC. 404. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 The amendments made by this title shall take effect

19 on the date which is 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this title.
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1 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 501. PROCUREMENT PROTEST SYSTEM IMPROVE4 MENTS.

5 (a) GAO RECOMMENDATIONS ON PROTESTS.—Sec6 tion 3554 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (b) by adding at the end the

8 following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(3) The head of the procuring activity responsible

10 for the solicitation, proposed award, or award of a contract

11 shall report to the Comptroller General if the Federal

12 agency has not fully implemented recommendations of the

13 Comptroller General under this subsection with respect to

14 that contract within 60 days after receiving the rec15 ommendations, by not later than the end of that 60-day

16 period.’’;

17 (2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘declare an

18 appropriate interested party to be entitled to’’ and

19 inserting ‘‘recommend that the Federal agency con20 ducting the procurement pay to an appropriate in21 terested party’’;

22 (3) by amending subsection (c)(2) to read as

23 follows:

24 ‘‘(2) If the Comptroller General recommends

25 under paragraph (1) that a Federal agency pay an
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1 amount of costs to an interested party, the Federal

2 agency shall—

3 ‘‘(A) pay the amount promptly out of

4 amounts appropriated by section 1304 of this

5 title for the payment of judgments, and reim6 burse that appropriation account out of avail7 able funds or by obtaining additional appropria8 tions for that purpose, or

9 ‘‘(B) report to the Comptroller General

10 promptly why the recommendation will not be

11 followed by the agency.’’.

12 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the

13 following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(3) An interested party to which the Comptroller

15 General has recommended that costs be paid under para16 graph (1) and the Federal agency recommended to pay

17 those costs shall attempt to reach agreement on the

18 amount of the costs to be paid, but if they are unable to

19 agree, a party may request that the Comptroller General

20 recommend the amount of the costs to be paid.’’; and

21 (5) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol22 lows:

23 ‘‘(e)(1) The Comptroller General shall report prompt24 ly to the Committee on Government Operations and the

25 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa-
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1 tives and to the Committee on Governmental Affairs and

2 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate in any

3 case in which a Federal agency fails to implement fully

4 a recommendation of the Comptroller General under sub5 section (b) or (c). The report shall include—

6 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive review of the pertinent

7 procurement, including the circumstances of the fail8 ure of the Federal agency to implement a rec9 ommendation of the Comptroller General, and

10 ‘‘(B) a recommendation regarding whether, in

11 order to correct inequity or to preserve the integrity

12 of the procurement process, the Congress should

13 consider—

14 ‘‘(i) private relief legislation;

15 ‘‘(ii) legislative rescission or cancellation of

16 funds;

17 ‘‘(iii) further investigation by the Congress;

18 or

19 ‘‘(iv) other action.

20 ‘‘(2) Not later than January 31 of each year, the

21 Comptroller General shall transmit to the Congress a sum22 mary report describing each instance in which a Federal

23 agency did not fully implement a recommendation of the

24 Comptroller General under subsection (b) or (c) during

25 the preceding year.’’.
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1 (b) RATIFICATION OF PRIOR AWARDS.—Amounts to

2 which the Comptroller General declared an interested

3 party to be entitled under section 3554 of title 31, United

4 States Code, as in effect immediately before the enactment

5 of this Act, shall, if not paid or otherwise satisfied by the

6 Federal agency concerned before the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, be paid promptly from the appropriation

8 made by section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, for

9 the payment of judgments, and the Federal agency shall

10 reimburse that appropriation account out of available

11 funds or by obtaining additional appropriations for that

12 purpose.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

14 subsection (a) shall take effect at the end of the 45-day

15 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 SEC. 502. POST-AWARD DEBRIEFINGS.

17 (a) AMENDMENT TO OFFICE OF FEDERAL PROCURE18 MENT POLICY ACT.—The Office of Federal Procurement

19 Policy Act (41 U.S.C. et seq.) is amended by adding at

20 the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘SEC. 29. POST-AWARD DEBRIEFINGS.

22 ‘‘(a) DEBRIEFING GUIDELINES.—The Federal Acqui23 sition Regulation shall be revised to include guidelines for

24 the debriefing of unsuccessful offerors for any contract for

25 an amount in excess of the small purchase threshold which
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1 was awarded on a basis other than price alone. Such

2 guidelines shall provide that such debriefings shall occur

3 upon the written request of an unsuccessful offeror and

4 in a timely manner. Such guidelines shall require, to the

5 maximum extent practicable, such debriefings to include

6 at least the following:

7 ‘‘(1) A detailed review of the offeror’s proposal

8 in relation to the evaluation factors and subfactors

9 specified in the solicitation for the contract, includ10 ing identification of any weaknesses and strengths of

11 the proposal, results of any past performance analy12 ses, and cost realism assessment.

13 ‘‘(2) A description of the rationale for the

14 award of the contract.

15 ‘‘(3) The overall evaluated cost and combined

16 technical and cost scores of the awardee and the de17 briefed offeror, and the technical point scores of the

18 awardee and the debriefed offeror.

19 ‘‘(4) The overall ranking of all offerors.

20 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION NOT PROVIDED.—A debriefing

21 under subsection (a) shall not make point-by-point com22 parisons with other offerors’ proposals and shall not dis23 close any information that is not subject to disclosure

24 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, including

25 information relating to—
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•HR 2238 IH

1 ‘‘(1) trade secrets;

2 ‘‘(2) privileged or confidential manufacturing

3 processes and techniques; and

4 ‘‘(3) commercial and financial information that

5 is privileged or confidential, including cost break6 downs, profit, indirect cost rates, and similar infor7 mation.

8 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF DISCLOSURE.—Each solicita9 tion for contracts subject to subsection (a) shall notify

10 participating offerors that the categories of information

11 described in subsection (a) may be disclosed by the

12 Government in post-award debriefings.’’.

13 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Acquisition Regu14 latory Council shall issue a final revision of the Federal

15 Acquisition Regulation implementing section 29 of the Of16 fice of Federal Procurement Policy Act, as added by sub17 section (a), not later than 180 days after the date of the

18 enactment of this Act.

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 29 of the Office of

20 Federal Procurement Policy Act, as added by subsection

21 (a), shall apply with respect to solicitations for contracts

22 issued after the expiration of the 180-day period beginning

23 on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 503. INCREASE IN THE SMALL PURCHASE THRESH2 OLD; IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC

3 DATA INTERCHANGE SYSTEMS FOR PRO4 CUREMENT INFORMATION.

5 (a) INCREASE.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(11) of the Office

7 of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403)

8 is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(11) the term ‘small purchase threshold’

10 means—

11 ‘‘(A) $50,000, adjusted on October 1 of

12 each year divisible by 5 to the amount equal to

13 $50,000 in constant fiscal year 1990 dollars

14 (rounded to the nearest $1,000); or

15 ‘‘(B) an amount that is equal to twice the

16 amount described in subparagraph (A), in the

17 case of any procurement in which solicitation of

18 bids or proposals, placement of an order, award

19 of a contract, provision of notice of award of a

20 contract, and all other similar actions necessary

21 for the acquisition of property or services by an

22 executive agency are performed through an elec23 tronic data interchange system for procurement

24 information that is approved and certified by

25 the Administrator under section 30(f);’’.
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1 (2) INTERIM RULE.—Notwithstanding para2 graph (1), during the 5-year period beginning on the

3 issuance of final form of revisions to the Federal Ac4 quisition Regulation under subsection (b), buying ac5 tivities shall continue to report, pursuant to section

6 19(d) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy

7 Act (41 U.S.C. 417(d)), procurement awards with a

8 dollar value of at least $25,000, but less than

9 $100,000, in conformity with the procedures for the

10 reporting of a contract award in excess of $25,000

11 which were in effect on May 24, 1993.

12 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

13 by paragraph (1) shall take effect upon, and apply

14 to solicitations made and orders placed after the ef15 fective date of the revisions to the Federal Acquisi16 tion Regulation under subsection (b).

17 (b) IMPROVED NOTICE OF SMALL PURCHASE CON18 TRACTING OPPORTUNITIES.—The Federal Acquisition

19 Regulation shall be revised to—

20 (1) provide prospective offerors, especially small

21 business concerns (including small business concerns

22 owned and controlled by socially and economically

23 disadvantaged individuals), with improved access to

24 information regarding small purchase procurement

25 opportunities meeting the standards of section 18 of
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1 the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41

2 U.S.C. 416) through the use of techniques appro3 priate for each buying activity (or class of buying ac4 tivities), including to the extent practicable providing

5 remote access to such information through electronic

6 data interchange; and

7 (2) to ensure that—

8 (A) agencies comply with the requirements

9 of section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15

10 U.S.C. 637(a)) and section 2323 of title 10,

11 United States Code, in awarding any contract

12 with a price exceeding $25,000; and

13 (B) the authority under part 13.106(a)(1)

14 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48

15 C.F.R. 13.106(a)(1)), as in effect on May 19,

16 1993, to make purchases without securing com17 petitive quotations shall not apply to any pur18 chases with a price exceeding $2,500.

19 (c) PERFORMANCE TEST AND REPORT.—

20 (1) PERFORMANCE TEST.—The Comptroller

21 General of the United States shall monitor and col22 lect data on the results of the increase in the small

23 purchase threshold made by the amendment made

24 by subsection (a), to ascertain its effects on the par25 ticipation of small business concerns (including small
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•HR 2238 IH

1 business concerns owned and controlled by socially

2 and economically disadvantaged individuals) in pro3 curement awards of less than $100,000 and the ben4 efits and detriments, if any, to the buying activities

5 of the various Executive agencies.

6 (2) DATA TO BE COLLECTED.—Data collected

7 under paragraph (1) shall include data regarding

8 whether the amendment made by subsection (a) has

9 improved the acquisition process in terms of reduced

10 paperwork, financial or other savings to the Govern11 ment, and any increase in the number of contractors

12 participating in the contracting process.

13 (3) PERIOD.—Data shall be collected for pur14 poses of paragraph (1) during the period beginning

15 with the first full fiscal year quarter after the effec16 tive date of the amendment made by subsection (a)

17 and ending September 30, 1995.

18 (4) REPORT.—By March 1, 1996, the Comp19 troller General of the United States shall report to

20 the Committee on Government Operations of the

21 House of Representatives, the Committee on Govern22 mental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committees on

23 Small Business of the House of Representatives and

24 the Senate on the effects of the increase in the small
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1 purchase threshold made by the amendment made

2 by subsection (a).

3 (d) FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATOR FOR FEDERAL

4 PROCUREMENT POLICY.—Section 6(d) of the Office of

5 Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405(d)) is

6 amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ after

8 the semicolon at the end; and

9 (2) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para10 graph (10) and inserting after paragraph (7) the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(8) developing policies, in consultation with

13 the Administrator of the Small Business Administra14 tion, that ensure that small businesses and small

15 businesses owned and controlled by socially and eco16 nomically disadvantaged persons are provided with

17 the maximum practicable opportunities to partici18 pate in procurements that are conducted below the

19 small purchase threshold; and

20 ‘‘(9) developing policies that will promote

21 achievement of goals for participation by small busi22 nesses and small businesses owned and controlled by

23 socially and economically disadvantaged individ24 uals.’’.
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1 (e) IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC DATA INTER2 CHANGE SYSTEMS FOR PROCUREMENT INFORMATION.—

3 The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C.

4 401 et seq.) is further amended by adding after section

5 29 (as added by section 502) the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 30. ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE SYSTEMS FOR

7 PROCUREMENT INFORMATION.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab9 lish a program for, and provide overall direction of policy

10 and leadership in, the development, coordination, installa11 tion, and completion of implementation by executive agen12 cies, by not later than 5 years after the effective date of

13 this section, of electronic data interchange systems for

14 procurement information (in this section referred to as

15 ‘systems’).

16 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL

17 SERVICES.—The Administrator of General Services

18 shall—

19 ‘‘(1) establish acquisition and support programs

20 to facilitate efficient and widespread implementation

21 of systems by executive agencies;

22 ‘‘(2) assist the Director of the National Insti23 tute of Standards and Technology in the develop24 ment of standards for those systems;
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1 ‘‘(3) ensure compliance with section 111 of the

2 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of

3 1949 in the establishment of systems by executive

4 agencies, including by limiting the scope of delega5 tions under subsection (a) of that section;

6 ‘‘(4) submit to the Congress, on the date that

7 is one year after the effective date of this section

8 and on that date in each of the 5 years thereafter,

9 a report on the overall progress by the executive

10 branch and by each executive agency in establishing

11 systems; and

12 ‘‘(5) coordinate with the Administrator to facili13 tate the efficient and widespread implementation of

14 systems by executive agencies.

15 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEMS BY EXECUTIVE

16 AGENCIES.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each executive

18 agency shall cooperate with the Administrator and

19 the Administrator of General Services to establish a

20 system for the agency.

21 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM MANAGER.—

22 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The head of each ex23 ecutive agency shall designate a program man24 ager to establish a system for the agency and

25 otherwise implement this section.
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1 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONS.—A program manager

2 designated under this paragraph for an execu3 tive agency shall—

4 ‘‘(i) report directly to the senior pro5 curement executive designated for the

6 agency under section 16(3);

7 ‘‘(ii) be responsible for the timely and

8 cost-effective establishment of a system for

9 the agency that is responsive to the pro10 curement needs of the agency, national

11 business needs, and the public’s interest in

12 open government; and

13 ‘‘(iii) in carrying out this section,

14 comply with guidelines issued by the Ad15 ministrator under this section and program

16 directives issued by the Administrator of

17 General Services under section 111 of the

18 Federal Property and Administrative Serv19 ices Act of 1949.

20 ‘‘(d) FUNCTIONS OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

21 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—The Director of the Na22 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall—

23 ‘‘(1) issue standards for systems established

24 under this section, including for the approval and

25 certification of systems under subsection (f); and
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1 ‘‘(2) establish tests to facilitate the aims of this

2 section and support policies established by the Ad3 ministrator under this section.

4 ‘‘(e) FUNCTIONS OF SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA5 TION.—The Administrator of the Small Business Adminis6 tration shall be principally responsible for—

7 ‘‘(1) promotion of the use by small businesses

8 of systems established by executive agencies; and

9 ‘‘(2) informing and providing training for small

10 businesses with respect to those systems.

11 ‘‘(f) APPROVAL AND CERTIFICATION OF SYSTEMS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es13 tablish standards and procedures for the submittal

14 by executive agencies, and the review, approval, and

15 certification by the Administrator for purposes of

16 section 4(11)(B) within 90 days after the date of

17 that submittal, of systems established by executive

18 agencies.

19 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL AND CER20 TIFICATION.—The Administrator may not approve

21 and certify a system established by an executive

22 agency unless the Administrator determines that the

23 system—

24 ‘‘(A) provides widespread public notice of

25 solicitations for bids and proposals issued by
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1 the agency and of orders to be made by the

2 agency below the small purchase threshold; and

3 ‘‘(B) allows private users of the system to

4 electronically—

5 ‘‘(i) selectively access and review so6 licitations and orders;

7 ‘‘(ii) respond to solicitations and no8 tices of orders issued by the agency;

9 ‘‘(iii) receive orders from the agency;

10 ‘‘(iv) access information on awards of

11 contracts; and

12 ‘‘(v) receive prompt bank card or elec13 tronic funds transfer payment.’’.

14 (f) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 18(d) of the

15 Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416)

16 is amended by striking ‘‘(e)’’ in the first sentence and

17 inserting ‘‘(a)’’.

18 SEC. 504. TEST PROGRAM.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator for Federal

20 Procurement Policy (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Ad21 ministrator’’) may conduct a program of tests of alter22 native and innovative procurement procedures. To the ex23 tent consistent with this section, such program shall be

24 conducted consistent with section 15 of the Office of Fed-
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1 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 413). No more

2 than 6 such tests shall be conducted under this authority.

3 (b) DESIGNATION OF AGENCIES.—Each test con4 ducted pursuant to subsection (a) shall be limited to not

5 more than 2 specific contracting activities in an agency

6 designated by the Administrator. Each agency so des7 ignated shall select the contracting activities participating

8 in the test with the approval of the Administrator and

9 shall designate a procurement testing official who shall be

10 responsible for the conduct and evaluation of tests within

11 that agency.

12 (c) TEST REQUIREMENTS.—Tests conducted under

13 subsection (a)—

14 (1) shall be developed and structured by the

15 Administrator, in coordination with agency senior

16 procurement executives designated pursuant to sec17 tion 16(e) of the Office of Federal Procurement Pol18 icy Act (41 U.S.C. 414(3));

19 (2) shall be for a period of not greater than 4

20 years;

21 (3) shall be limited to specific programs of

22 agencies or specific acquisitions;

23 (4) may not include any test with a total esti24 mated life-cycle cost to the Government greater than

25 $100,000,000;
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1 (5) shall include—

2 (A) a test of simplified procurement proce3 dures for acquisitions with an estimated annual

4 total obligation of funds of $500,000 or less by

5 the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis6 tration;

7 (B) a test of streamlined procedures for

8 competition among interested sources partici9 pating in the tailoring of a solicitation for the

10 purchase of commercial products by at least one

11 agency; and

12 (C) a test of commercial item acquisition

13 procedures in which all evaluation factors and

14 subfactors on which a contract award will be

15 based are disclosed in the solicitation, identify16 ing both the absolute and relative weight for

17 each factor and each subfactor; and

18 (6) shall not include any procurement the cost

19 of which is expected to exceed $5,000,000 (including

20 options).

21 (d) LIMITATION ON TOTAL VALUE OF CONTRACTS

22 UNDER PROGRAM.—

23 (1) LIMITATION.—The Administrator shall en24 sure that the total amount obligated under contracts
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1 awarded pursuant to the program under this section

2 does not exceed $600,000,000.

3 (2) MONITORING.—The Administrator shall

4 monitor the value of contracts awarded pursuant to

5 the program under this section.

6 (3) PROHIBITION ON AWARDS IN EXCESS OF

7 LIMIT.—No contract may be awarded under the pro8 gram under this section if the award of the contract

9 would result in obligation of more than

10 $600,000,000 under contracts under this section.

11 (e) PROCEDURES AUTHORIZED.—Tests conducted

12 under this section may include tests of any of the following

13 procedures:

14 (1) Publication of agency needs prior to draft15 ing of a solicitation.

16 (2) Screening of sources and competition

17 among capable vendors.

18 (3) Issuance of draft solicitations for comment.

19 (4) Streamlined solicitations, with a minimized

20 number of evaluation factors and information re21 quired from vendors, abbreviated periods for submis22 sion of offers, and page limitations on offers.

23 (5) Limitation of source selection factors to—

24 (A) cost to the Government;

25 (B) past experience; and
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1 (C) quality of the contents of the offer.

2 (6) Evaluation of proposals by small teams of

3 highly qualified people, limited to 30 days.

4 (7) Competition among sources of preevaluated

5 products.

6 (8) Alternative notice and publication require7 ments.

8 (9) In not more than one of the tests, a process

9 in which—

10 (A) the competitive process is initiated by

11 a notice in the Commerce Business Daily syn12 opsizing the needs of the executive agency con13 ducting the test, in functional and performance

14 terms, with other specifications provided for

15 guidance only;

16 (B) the notice invites interested sources to

17 submit information or samples showing their

18 product’s suitability for those needs (with price

19 quotations) or, if appropriate, showing the

20 sources’ technical capability, past performance,

21 product supportability, or other qualifications

22 (with appropriate consideration to rates and

23 other cost-related factors);

24 (C) contracting officials develop a request

25 for proposals (including appropriate specifica-
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1 tions and evaluation criteria) after reviewing

2 the submittals made by interested sources and,

3 if the officials determine necessary, after con4 sultation with those sources; and

5 (D) the contract is awarded after a

6 streamlined competition limited to all sources

7 that timely provided product information in re8 sponse to the notice or, if appropriate, to those

9 sources determined most capable based on those

10 qualification-based factors included in an invita11 tion to submit information pursuant to sub12 paragraph (B).

13 (f) TEST PLAN.—Not later than 60 days before im14 plementing any test program under this section, the

15 Administrator shall—

16 (1) provide a detailed test plan, including lists

17 of any regulations that are to be waived, and any

18 written determination under subsection (f)(1)(B) to

19 the Committee on Government Operations of the

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on

21 Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

22 (2) provide a copy of the plan to the appro23 priate authorizing committees of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Senate; and
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1 (3) publish the plan in the Federal Register

2 and provide an opportunity for public comment.

3 (g) WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of a test con5 ducted under subsection (a), the Administrator may

6 waive—

7 (A) any provision of the Federal Acquisi8 tion Regulation that is not required by statute;

9 and

10 (B) any provision of the Federal Acquisi11 tion Regulation that is required by a provision

12 of law described in paragraph (2), the waiver of

13 which the Administrator determines in writing

14 to be necessary to conduct any test of any of

15 the 9 procedures described in subsection (e).

16 (2) PROVISIONS OF LAW DESCRIBED.—The pro17 visions of law referred to in paragraph (1) are the

18 following:

19 (A) Section 3709 of the Revised Statutes

20 (41 U.S.C. 5).

21 (B) Section 3710 of the Revised Statutes

22 (41 U.S.C. 8).

23 (C) Section 3735 of the Revised Statutes

24 (41 U.S.C. 13).
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1 (D) Section 310 of the Federal Property

2 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

3 U.S.C. 260).

4 (E) Section 303 of the Federal Property

5 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

6 U.S.C. 253).

7 (F) Section 2304 of title 10, United States

8 Code.

9 (G) Section 303A of the Federal Property

10 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

11 U.S.C. 253a).

12 (H) Section 303B of the Federal Property

13 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

14 U.S.C. 253b).

15 (I) Section 2305 of title 10, United States

16 Code.

17 (J) Section 303C of the Federal Property

18 and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41

19 U.S.C. 253c).

20 (K) Section 2319 of title 10, United States

21 Code.

22 (L) Section 4(6) of the Office of Federal

23 Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(6)).

24 (M) Section 18 of the Office of Federal

25 Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416).
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1 (N) Sections 8 (e), (f), and (g) of the

2 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 (e), (f), and

3 (g)).

4 (h) REPORTS AND REVIEWS.—

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administrator shall

6 report to the Congress on the results of each test

7 conducted under subsection (a).

8 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptrol9 ler General of the United States shall review each

10 test conducted under subsection (a) and report to

11 the Congress on each test and shall report annually

12 to the Congress on the conduct of and results of all

13 tests conducted under subsection (a).

14 (i) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority to

15 conduct tests under this section and to award contracts

16 under such tests shall expire on October 1, 1997. Con17 tracts entered prior to October 1, 1997, pursuant to a test

18 shall remain in effect, notwithstanding the expiration of

19 the authority to conduct the test under this section.

20 SEC. 505. SINGLE AUDIT UNDER BROOKS ARCHITECT-ENGI21 NEERS ACT.

22 Section 904 of the Federal Property and Administra23 tive Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 544) is amended by

24 adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(d) An agency may not perform any preaward audit

2 to evaluate proposed costs under any contract, sub3 contract, or modification awarded or made in accordance

4 with this title in any case in which the contracting officer

5 determines that the objectives of the audit reasonably can

6 be met by accepting the results of an audit conducted by

7 a Federal Government audit agency within the previous

8 year.’’.

9 SEC. 506. BUY AMERICAN REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL

10 AGENCIES.

11 (a) APPLICABILITY OF BUY AMERICAN REQUIRE12 MENTS.—The Administrator of General Services shall en13 sure that the requirements of the Buy American Act apply

14 to all procurements, consistent with international obliga15 tions, made with funds provided pursuant to the author16 ization contained in the amendment made by section 601.

17 (b) REPORTS ON PROCUREMENTS FROM FOREIGN

18 ENTITIES.—The Administrator of General Services shall

19 submit to the Congress a report on the amount of procure20 ments from foreign entities made in fiscal years 1994,

21 1995, and 1996 with funds provided pursuant to the au22 thorization contained in the amendment made by section

23 601. Such report shall separately indicate the dollar value

24 of items procured with such funds for which the Buy

25 American Act was waived pursuant to the Trade Agree-
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1 ment Act of 1979 or any international agreement to which

2 the United States is a party.

3 (c) PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS WITH PERSONS

4 FALSELY LABELING PRODUCTS AS MADE IN AMERICA.—

5 If the Administrator of General Services determines that

6 a person has been convicted of intentionally affixing a

7 label bearing a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription to any

8 product sold in or shipped to the United States that is

9 not made in America, the Administrator shall determine,

10 not later than 90 days after determining that the person

11 has been so convicted, whether the person should be

12 debarred from contracting with the General Services Ad13 ministration. If the Administrator determines that the

14 person should not be debarred, the Administrator shall

15 submit to Congress a report on such determination not

16 later than 30 days after the determination is made.

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

18 (1) the term ‘‘Buy American Act’’ means title

19 III of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making appropria20 tions for the Treasury and Post Office Departments

21 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1934, and for

22 other purposes’’, approved March 3, 1933 (41

23 U.S.C. 10a et seq.); and

24 (2) the term ‘‘debar’’ means to exclude, pursu25 ant to established administrative procedures, from
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1 Government contracting and subcontracting for a

2 specified period of time commensurate with the seri3 ousness of the failure or offense or the inadequacy

4 of performance.

5 TITLE VI—PROVISIONS RELAT6 ING TO GENERAL SERVICES

7 ADMINISTRATION

8 SEC. 601. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

9 UNDER THE FEDERAL PROPERTY AND AD10 MINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949.

11 Section 603(a) of the Federal Property and Adminis12 trative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 475) is amended

13 to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(a) There are authorized to be appropriated such

15 sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of

16 this Act for each fiscal year through the fiscal year ending

17 on September 30, 1996, including payment in advance,

18 when authorized by the Administrator, for library mem19 berships in societies whose publications are available to

20 members only, or to members at a price lower than that

21 charged to the general public. Nothing in this subsection

22 shall affect authorizations of appropriations or appropria23 tions set forth elsewhere in this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 602. REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENTS TO SENIOR

2 POSITIONS IN GENERAL SERVICES ADMINIS3 TRATION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of the Federal Prop5 erty and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.

6 751) is amended by redesignating subsection (f) as sub7 section (g) and by inserting after subsection (e) the follow8 ing new subsection:

9 ‘‘(f) A person appointed as the Deputy Administrator

10 of General Services or as the head of a principal organiza11 tional unit of the General Services Administration shall,

12 in addition to any other minimum qualifications, have sig13 nificant previous management experience in government

14 or the private sector in an area or areas directly related

15 to the functions and responsibilities of the position to

16 which that person is appointed.’’.

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 subsection (a) shall not apply to any person in a position

19 affected by such amendments on the date of the enactment

20 of this Act.

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