IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4727 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 10, 2019 
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, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home-
land Security Mentor-Prote´ge´ Program Act of 2019’’. 
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-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
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) Attestation 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 
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), 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization shall notify applicants of ap-
proval or, in the case of disapproval, the process for 
resubmitting an application for reconsideration. 
‘‘(3) RESCISSION.—The head of the Office of 
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may 
rescind the approval of an application under this 
subsection if it determines that such action is in the 
best interest of the Department. 
‘‘(d) PROGRAM DURATION.—A mentor firm and 
prote´ge´ firm approved under subsection (c) shall enter into 
an agreement to participate in the Program for a period 
of not less than 36 months. 
‘‘(e) PROGRAM BENEFITS.—A mentor firm and 
prote´ge´ firm that enter into an agreement under sub-
section (d) may receive the following Program benefits: 
‘‘(1) With respect to an award of a contract 
that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 
may receive evaluation credit for participating in the 
Program. 
‘‘(2) With respect to an award of a contract 
that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 
may receive credit for a prote´ge´ firm performing as 
a first tier subcontractor or a subcontractor at any 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
tier in an amount equal to the total dollar value of 
any subcontracts awarded to such prote´ge´ firm. 
‘‘(3) A prote´ge´ firm may receive technical, man-
agerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon 
benefit from a mentor firm, including a subcontract 
award. 
‘‘(4) Any other benefits identified by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Busi-
ness Utilization shall submit to the Committees on Home-
land Security and Small Business of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report that— 
‘‘(1) identifies each agreement between a men-
tor firm and a prote´ge´ firm entered into under this 
section, including number of prote´ge´ firm partici-
pants that are— 
‘‘(A) small business concerns; 
‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 
controlled by veterans; 
‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 
controlled by service-disabled veterans; 
‘‘(D) qualified HUBZone small business 
concerns; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 
controlled by socially and economically dis-
advantaged individuals; 
‘‘(F) women-owned small business con-
cerns; 
‘‘(G) historically Black colleges and univer-
sities; and 
‘‘(H) minority institutions of higher edu-
cation; 
‘‘(2) describes the type of assistance provided 
by mentor firms to prote´ge´ firms; 
‘‘(3) identifies contracts within the Department 
in which a mentor firm serving as the prime con-
tractor provided subcontracts to a prote´ge´ firm 
under the Program; and 
‘‘(4) assesses the degree to which there has 
been— 
‘‘(A) an increase in the technical capabili-
ties of prote´ge´ firms; and 
‘‘(B) an increase in the quantity and esti-
mated value of prime contract and subcontract 
awards to prote´ge´ firms for the period covered 
by the report. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI-
VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 
university’ means any of the historically Black col-
leges and universities referred to in section 2323 of 
title 10, United States Code, as in effect on March 
1, 2018. 
‘‘(2) MENTOR FIRM.—The term ‘mentor firm’ 
means a for-profit business concern that is not a 
small business concern that— 
‘‘(A) has the ability to assist and commits 
to assisting a prote´ge´ to compete for Federal 
prime contracts and subcontracts; and 
‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im-
posed by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) MINORITY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION.—The term ‘minority institution of higher 
education’ means an institution of higher education 
with a student body that reflects the composition 
specified in section 312(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(b)). 
‘‘(4) PROTE´GE´ FIRM.—The term ‘prote´ge´ firm’ 
means a small business concern, a historically Black 
college or university, or a minority institution of 
higher education that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
‘‘(A) is eligible to enter into a prime con-
tract or subcontract with the Department; and 
‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im-
posed by the Secretary. 
‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 
terms ‘small business concern’, ‘small business con-
cern owned and controlled by veterans’, ‘small busi-
ness concern owned and controlled by service-dis-
abled veterans’, ‘qualified HUBZone small business 
concern’, and ‘small business concern owned and 
controlled by women’ have the meaning given such 
terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). The term ‘small busi-
ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 
economically disadvantaged individuals’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
HR 4727 RFS
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
890A the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 890B. Mentor-prote´ge´ program.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 9, 
2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:41 Dec 10, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4727.RFS
H4727
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS