H. R. 1107—120 
(c) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN CONTRACTS.—This section does 
not apply to a contract for an amount that is not greater than 
the simplified acquisition threshold. 
(d) INAPPLICABILITY WHEN GOVERNMENT TREATED SIMILARLY TO 
OTHER PURCHASERS.—An agreement between the contractor in a 
contract for the acquisition of commercial items and a subcontractor 
under the contract that restricts sales by the subcontractor directly 
to persons other than the contractor may not be considered to 
unreasonably restrict sales by that subcontractor to the Federal 
Government in violation of the provision included in the contract 
pursuant to subsection (a) if the agreement does not result in 
the Federal Government being treated differently with regard to 
the restriction than any other prospective purchaser of the commer-
cial items from that subcontractor. 
§ 4705. Protection of contractor employees from reprisal for 
disclosure of certain information 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘contract’’ means a contract 
awarded by the head of an executive agency. 
(2) CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘contractor’’ means a person 
awarded a contract with an executive agency. 
(3) INSPECTOR
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspector General’’ 
means an Inspector General appointed under the Inspector 
General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 
(b) PROHIBITION OF REPRISALS.—An employee of a contractor may 
not be discharged, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against 
as a reprisal for disclosing to a Member of Congress or an authorized 
official of an executive agency or the Department of Justice informa-
tion relating to a substantial violation of law related to a contract 
(including the competition for, or negotiation of, a contract). 
(c) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—An individual who believes 
that the individual has been subjected to a reprisal prohibited 
by subsection (b) may submit a complaint to the Inspector General 
of the executive agency. Unless the Inspector General determines 
that the complaint is frivolous, the Inspector General shall inves-
tigate the complaint and, on completion of the investigation, submit 
a report of the findings of the investigation to the individual, 
the contractor concerned, and the head of the agency. If the execu-
tive agency does not have an Inspector General, the duties of 
the Inspector General under this section shall be performed by 
an official designated by the head of the executive agency. 
(d) REMEDY AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.— 
(1) ACTIONS CONTRACTOR MAY BE ORDERED TO TAKE.—If the 
head of an executive agency determines that a contractor has 
subjected an individual to a reprisal prohibited by subsection 
(b), the head of the executive agency may take one or more 
of the following actions: 
(A) ABATEMENT.—Order the contractor to take affirma-
tive action to abate the reprisal. 
(B) REINSTATEMENT.—Order the contractor to reinstate 
the individual to the position that the individual held before 
the reprisal, together with the compensation (including 
back pay), employment benefits, and other terms and condi-
tions of employment that would apply to the individual 
in that position if the reprisal had not been taken. 
(C) PAYMENT.—Order the contractor to pay the complain-
ant an amount equal to the aggregate amount of all costs
H. R. 1107—121 
and expenses (including attorneys’ fees and expert wit-
nesses’ fees) that the complainant reasonably incurred for, 
or in connection with, bringing the complaint regarding 
the reprisal, as determined by the head of the executive 
agency. 
(2) ENFORCEMENT ORDER.—When a contractor fails to comply 
with an order issued under paragraph (1), the head of the 
executive agency shall file an action for enforcement of the 
order in the United States district court for a district in which 
the reprisal was found to have occurred. In an action brought 
under this paragraph, the court may grant appropriate relief, 
including injunctive relief and compensatory and exemplary 
damages. 
(3) REVIEW OF ENFORCEMENT ORDER.—A person adversely 
affected or aggrieved by an order issued under paragraph (1) 
may obtain review of the order’s conformance with this sub-
section, and regulations issued to carry out this section, in 
the United States court of appeals for a circuit in which the 
reprisal is alleged in the order to have occurred. A petition 
seeking review must be filed no more than 60 days after the 
head of the agency issues the order. Review shall conform 
to chapter 7 of title 5. 
(e) SCOPE OF SECTION.—This section does not— 
(1) authorize the discharge of, demotion of, or discrimination 
against an employee for a disclosure other than a disclosure 
protected by subsection (b); or 
(2) modify or derogate from a right or remedy otherwise 
available to the employee. 
§ 4706. Examination of facilities and records of contractor 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘records’’ includes 
books, documents, accounting procedures and practices, and other 
data, regardless of type and regardless of whether the items are 
in written form, in the form of computer data, or in any other 
form. 
(b) AGENCY AUTHORITY.— 
(1) INSPECTION OF PLANT AND AUDIT OF RECORDS.—The head 
of an executive agency, acting through an authorized represent-
ative, may inspect the plant and audit the records of— 
(A) a contractor performing a cost-reimbursement, incen-
tive, time-and-materials, labor-hour, or price-redeter-
minable contract, or any combination of those contracts, 
the executive agency makes under this division; and 
(B) a subcontractor performing a cost-reimbursement, 
incentive, time-and-materials, labor-hour, or price-redeter-
minable subcontract, or any combination of those sub-
contracts, under a contract referred to in subparagraph 
(A). 
(2) EXAMINATION
OF
RECORDS.—The head of an executive 
agency, acting through an authorized representative, may, for 
the purpose of evaluating the accuracy, completeness, and cur-
rency of certified cost or pricing data required to be submitted 
pursuant to chapter 35 of this title with respect to a contract 
or subcontract, examine all records of the contractor or subcon-
tractor related to— 
(A) the proposal for the contract or subcontract; 
(B) the discussions conducted on the proposal; 
(C) pricing of the contract or subcontract; or
H. R. 1107—122 
(D) performance of the contract or subcontract. 
(c) SUBPOENA POWER.— 
(1) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE THE PRODUCTION OF RECORDS.— 
The Inspector General of an executive agency appointed under 
section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
App.) or, on request of the head of an executive agency, the 
Director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (or any successor 
agency) of the Department of Defense or the Inspector General 
of the General Services Administration may require by sub-
poena the production of records of a contractor, access to which 
is provided for that executive agency by subsection (b). 
(2) ENFORCEMENT OF SUBPOENA.—A subpoena under para-
graph (1), in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, is 
enforceable by order of an appropriate United States district 
court. 
(3) AUTHORITY NOT DELEGABLE.—The authority provided by 
paragraph (1) may not be delegated. 
(4) REPORT.—In the year following a year in which authority 
provided in paragraph (1) is exercised for an executive agency, 
the head of the executive agency shall submit to the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
the House of Representatives a report on the exercise of the 
authority during the preceding year and the reasons why the 
authority was exercised in any instance. 
(d) AUTHORITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 
contract awarded after using procedures other than sealed bid 
procedures shall provide that the Comptroller General and 
representatives of the Comptroller General may examine 
records of the contractor, or any of its subcontractors, that 
directly pertain to, and involve transactions relating to, the 
contract or subcontract and to interview any current employee 
regarding the transactions. 
(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
FOREIGN
CONTRACTOR
OR
SUBCON-
TRACTOR.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to a contract or sub-
contract with a foreign contractor or foreign subcontractor if 
the executive agency concerned determines, with the concur-
rence of the Comptroller General or the designee of the Comp-
troller General, that applying paragraph (1) to the contract 
or subcontract would not be in the public interest. The concur-
rence of the Comptroller General or the designee is not required 
when— 
(A) the contractor or subcontractor is— 
(i) the government of a foreign country or an agency 
of that government; or 
(ii) precluded by the laws of the country involved 
from making its records available for examination; and 
(B) the executive agency determines, after taking into 
account the price and availability of the property and serv-
ices from United States sources, that the public interest 
would be best served by not applying paragraph (1). 
(3) ADDITIONAL RECORDS NOT REQUIRED.—Paragraph (1) does 
not require a contractor or subcontractor to create or maintain 
a record that the contractor or subcontractor does not maintain 
in the ordinary course of business or pursuant to another 
law.