I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 731 
To amend the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 
1991 to allow the Department of State to use a best-value contracting 
method in awarding local guard or protective service contracts in high 
risk areas abroad under the diplomatic security program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 14, 2013 
Mr. RADEL (for himself, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 
COTTON, and Mr. MESSER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
Years 1990 and 1991 to allow the Department of State 
to use a best-value contracting method in awarding local 
guard or protective service contracts in high risk areas 
abroad under the diplomatic security program. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Americans 
Abroad Act’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:47 Feb 26, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H731.IH
H731
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. DIPLOMATIC SECURITY PROGRAM CONTRACTING. 
Section 136 of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 4864) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘With respect’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex-
cept as provided in subsection (d), with re-
spect’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (e)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), 
and (g) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respec-
tively; 
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(d) AWARD OF LOCAL GUARD AND PROTECTIVE 
SERVICE CONTRACTS IN HIGH RISK AREAS.—With re-
spect to any local guard contract for a Foreign Service 
building located in a high risk area that is entered into 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Sec-
retary of State— 
‘‘(1) shall comply with paragraphs (1), (2), (4), 
(5), and (6) of subsection (c) in the award of the 
contract; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:47 Feb 26, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H731.IH
H731
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) after evaluating proposals for the contract, 
may award the contract to the firm representing the 
best value to the Government in accordance with the 
best value tradeoff process described in subpart 15.1 
of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 
15.101–1); and 
‘‘(3) shall ensure that contractor personnel 
under the contract providing local guard or protec-
tive services are classified— 
‘‘(A) as employees of the contractor; 
‘‘(B) if the contractor is a joint venture, as 
employees of one of the persons or parties con-
stituting the joint venture; or 
‘‘(C) as employees of a subcontractor to 
the contractor, and not as independent contrac-
tors to the contractor or any other entity per-
forming under such contracts.’’; and 
(4) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para-
graph (2) of this section— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:47 Feb 26, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H731.IH
H731
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS