IIB 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 408 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 22, 2021 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 
a mentor-prote´ge´ program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home-
land Security Mentor-Prote´ge´ Program Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MENTOR- 
PROTE´ GE´ PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 890B. MENTOR-PROTE´ GE´ PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Department a mentor-prote´ge´ program (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Program’) under which a mentor firm 
enters into an agreement with a prote´ge´ firm for the pur-
pose of assisting the prote´ge´ firm to compete for prime 
contracts and subcontracts of the Department. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish cri-
teria for mentor firms and prote´ge´ firms to be eligible to 
participate in the Program, including a requirement that 
a firm is not included on any list maintained by the Fed-
eral Government of contractors that have been suspended 
or debarred. 
‘‘(c) PROGRAM APPLICATION AND APPROVAL.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The 
Secretary, 
acting 
through the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization of the Department, shall estab-
lish a process for submission of an application joint-
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ly by a mentor firm and the prote´ge´ firm selected by 
the mentor firm. The application shall include each 
of the following: 
‘‘(A) A description of the assistance to be 
provided by the mentor firm, including, to the 
extent available, the number and a brief de-
scription of each anticipated subcontract to be 
awarded to the prote´ge´ firm. 
‘‘(B) A schedule with milestones for 
achieving the assistance to be provided over the 
period of participation in the Program. 
‘‘(C) An estimate of the costs to be in-
curred by the mentor firm for providing assist-
ance under the Program. 
‘‘(D) Attestations that Program partici-
pants will submit to the Secretary reports at 
times specified by the Secretary to assist the 
Secretary in evaluating the prote´ge´ firm’s devel-
opmental progress. 
‘‘(E) Attestations that Program partici-
pants will inform the Secretary in the event of 
a change in eligibility or voluntary withdrawal 
from the Program. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
receipt of an application pursuant to paragraph (1), 
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