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Union Calendar No. 86 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2109 
[Report No. 116–117] 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs, in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, 
to give a preference to offerors that employ veterans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2019 
Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Mr. COOK) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
JUNE 18, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HECK, Mr. CISNEROS, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mrs. LEE 
of Nevada, and Mr. FITZPATRICK 
JUNE 18, 2019 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
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HR 2109 RH1S 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in awarding a contract 
for the procurement of goods or services, to give a pref-
erence to offerors that employ veterans. 
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HR 2109 RH1S 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Boosting Rates of 
American Veteran Employment Act’’ or the ‘‘BRAVE 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PREFERENCE FOR OFFERORS EMPLOYING VET-
ERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 81 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding after 
section 8128 the following new section: 
‘‘§ 8129. Preference for offerors employing veterans 
‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—In awarding a contract for the 
procurement of goods or services, the Secretary may give 
a preference to offerors that employ veterans on a full- 
time basis. The Secretary shall determine such preference 
based on the percentage of the full-time employees of the 
offeror who are veterans. 
‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT PENALTIES FOR MISREPRESEN-
TATION.—(1) Any offeror that is determined by the Sec-
retary to have willfully and intentionally misrepresented 
the veteran status of the employees of the offeror for pur-
poses of subsection (a) may be debarred from contracting 
with the Department for a period of not less than five 
years. 
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HR 2109 RH1S 
‘‘(2) If the Secretary carries out a debarment under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall commence debarment 
action against the offeror by not later than 30 days after 
determining that the offeror willfully and intentionally 
misrepresented the veteran status of the employees of the 
offeror as described in paragraph (1) and shall complete 
debarment actions against such offeror by not later than 
90 days after such determination. 
‘‘(3) The debarment of an offeror under paragraph 
(1) includes the debarment of all principals in the offeror 
for a period of not less than five years.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 8128 the following new 
item: 
‘‘8129. Preference for offerors employing veterans.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 86 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2109 
[Report No. 116–117] 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to author-
ize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in award-
ing a contract for the procurement of goods or 
services, to give a preference to offerors that em-
ploy veterans. 
JUNE 18, 2019 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:15 Jun 19, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6651
Sfmt 6651
E:\BILLS\H2109.RH
H2109
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS