Combating Obstructive National Security Underreporting of Legitimate Threats (CONSULT) Act of 2022

To require the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to develop governmentwide procurement policy and guidance to mitigate organizational conflict of interests relating to national security and foreign policy, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Combating Obstructive National Security Underreporting of Legitimate Threats (CONSULT) Act of 2022 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Federal Government’s reliance on contractors for mission support services can create potential organizational conflicts of interest related to national security due to competing interests as a result of business relationships with foreign adversarial nations and entities. (2) It is imperative that contractors providing mission support services to the Federal Government related to the national security are not providing mission support services for foreign adversaries with regards to efforts that are counter to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, including for crimes against humanity declared by the Secretary of State. (3) Protecting against organizational conflicts of interest related to foreign adversarial nations and entities in Federal mission support services is essential to the national security and economic security of the United States. 3. Governmentwide procurement policy and guidance to mitigate organizational conflicts of interest relating to national security and foreign policy (a) Policy and guidance (1) In general Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in coordination with the heads of relevant agencies, including the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of National Intelligence, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State, shall develop governmentwide procurement policy and guidance to mitigate and eliminate organizational conflict of interests relating to contracts involving national security matters or foreign policy interests. (2) Elements The procurement policy and guidance developed under paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: (A) Updating guidance relating to organizational conflicts of interest with foreign entities and governments that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. (B) Providing a definition of consulting contract advisory and assistance services professional and consultant services (C) Providing executive agencies with solicitation provisions and contract clauses that require offerors and contractors for Federal consulting contracts— (i) when submitting an offer, to disclose any beneficial ownership, active contracts, contracts held within the last five years, or any other information relevant to potential organizational conflicts of interest with respect to contracts described in paragraph (3); and (ii) while performing the resulting contract, to disclose information relevant to potential organizational conflicts of interest and to limit future work as necessary to address potential conflicts with respect to contracts described in paragraph (3). (D) Providing that organizational conflicts of interest found to be contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States may be grounds for denial of a contract, and failure to disclose such a potential conflict may be grounds for termination for cause, suspension, or debarment of a contractor. (3) Contracts described Contracts described in this paragraph are the following: (A) Contracts with any of the following entities: (i) The Government of the People's Republic of China. (ii) The Chinese Communist Party. (iii) Any Chinese state-owned entity. (iv) The People’s Liberation Army. (v) Any entity on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS–CMIC–List) maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury. (vi) Any Chinese military company identified by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to section 1237(b) of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 ( Public Law 105–261 50 U.S.C. 1701 (vii) The Government of the Russian Federation, any Russian state-owned entity, or any entity sanctioned by the Secretary of the Treasury under Executive Order 13662 ( Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine (viii) The government or any state-owned entity of any country determined by the Secretary of State to be a state sponsor of terrorism under section 1754(c) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( 50 U.S.C. 4813(c) 22 U.S.C. 2779A 22 U.S.C. 2371 (ix) Any entity included on any of the following lists maintained by the Department of Commerce: (I) The Entity List set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations under subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. (II) The Denied Persons List as described in section 764.3(a)(2) of the Export Administration Regulations. (III) The Unverified List set forth in Supplement No. 6 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations. (IV) The Military End User List set forth in Supplement No. 7 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations. (x) An entity determined to pose a risk to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States, as determined by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in coordination with the heads of relevant agencies listed in subsection (a)(1). (B) Contracts for consulting services relating to any crimes against humanity as determined by the Secretary of State. (b) Revision of Federal Acquisition Regulation Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement the requirements of this section.

Summary: Combating Obstructive National Security Underreporting of Legitimate Threats (CONSULT) Act of 2022 This bill directs the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to develop governmentwide procurement policy and guidance to mitigate and eliminate organizational conflicts of interest relating to contracts involving national security or foreign policy. Specifically, contracts with China and Russia, and for consulting services relating to crimes against humanity, are highlighted as being of particular concern.