Union Calendar No. 45
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1272
[Report No. 105–62]
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998
and 1999 for the United States Fire Administra-
tion, and for other purposes.
APRIL 21, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commit-
tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 45
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1272
[Report No. 105–62]
To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the United
States Fire Administration, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 10, 1997
Mr. SCHIFF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Science
APRIL 21, 1997
Additional sponsors: Mr. BROWN of California, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas,
Mr. BARCIA, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr.
EHLERS
APRIL 21, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 10, 1997]
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999
for the United States Fire Administration, and for other
purposes.
(2) in section 29(a)(2), by inserting ‘‘or any suc-
cessor standards thereto,’’ after ‘‘whichever is appro-
priate,’’;
(3) in section 29(b)(2), by inserting ‘‘, or any
successor standards thereto’’ after ‘‘Association Stand-
ard 13 or 13–R’’;
(4) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(i), by inserting ‘‘or
any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Life Safety
Code),’’; and
(5) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or
any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Association
Standard 101,’’.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OR PRIVATIZATION OF FUNCTIONS.
The Administrator of the United States Fire Adminis-
tration shall transmit to Congress a report providing notice
at least 60 days in advance of the termination or transfer
to a private sector entity of any significant function of the
United States Fire Administration.
SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS.
(a) PROHIBITION OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES.—None of
the funds authorized by the amendments made by this Act
shall be available for any activity whose purpose is to influ-
ence legislation pending before the Congress, except that this
subsection shall not prevent officers or employees of the
United States or of its departments or agencies from com-
municating to Members of Congress on the request of any
Member or to Congress, through the proper channels, re-
quests for legislation or appropriations which they deem
necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business.
(b) LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.—No sums are
authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the
United States Fire Administration for fiscal years 1998
and 1999 for the activities for which sums are authorized
by the amendments made by this Act, unless such sums are
specifically authorized to be appropriated by the amend-
ments made by this Act.
(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator of the
United States Fire Administration shall exclude from
consideration for grant agreements made by the Ad-
ministration after fiscal year 1997 any person who
received funds, other than those described in para-
graph (2), appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal
year 1997, under a grant agreement from any Fed-
eral funding source for a project that was not sub-
jected to a competitive, merit-based award process.
Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to this
subsection shall be effective for a period of 5 years
after the person receives such Federal funds.
(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply
to the receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the
membership of that person in a class specified by law
for which assistance is awarded to members of the
class according to a formula provided by law.
(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal in-
strument whose principal purpose is to transfer a
thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public
purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a
law of the United States, and does not include the ac-
quisition (by purchase, lease, or barter) of property or
services for the direct benefit or use of the United
States Government. Such term does not include a co-
operative agreement (as such term is used in section
6305 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative
research and development agreement (as such term is
defined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.
3710a(d)(1))).
SEC. 6. NOTICE.
(a) NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds au-
thorized by the amendments made by this Act are subject
to a reprogramming action that requires notice to be pro-
vided to the Appropriations Committees of the House of
Representatives and the Senate, notice of such action shall
concurrently be provided to the Committee on Science of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(b) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Administrator
of the United States Fire Administration shall provide no-
tice to the Committees on Science and Appropriations of
the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation and Appropriations of
the Senate, not later than 15 days before any major reorga-
nization of any program, project, or activity of the United
States Fire Administration.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.
With the year 2000 fast approaching, it is the sense
of Congress that the United States Fire Administration
should—
(1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit
date-related problems in its computer systems to en-
sure that those systems continue to operate effectively
in the year 2000 and beyond;
(2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to
the operations of the United States Fire Administra-
tion posed by the problems referred to in paragraph
(1), and plan and budget for achieving Year 2000
compliance for all of its mission-critical systems; and
(3) develop contingency plans for those systems
that the United States Fire Administration is unable
to correct in time.
SEC. 8. BUY AMERICAN.
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.—No
funds appropriated pursuant to the amendments made by
this Act may be expended by an entity unless the entity
agrees that in expending the assistance the entity will com-
ply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933
(41 U.S.C. 10a-10c, popularly known as the ‘‘Buy Amer-
ican Act’’).
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—In the case of any equip-
ment or products that may be authorized to be purchased
with financial assistance provided under the amendments
made by this Act, it is the sense of Congress that entities
receiving such assistance should, in expending the assist-
ance, purchase only American-made equipment and prod-
ucts.
(c) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In pro-
viding financial assistance under the amendments made by
this Act, the Administrator of the United States Fire Ad-
ministration shall provide to each recipient of the assist-
ance a notice describing the statement made in subsection
(a) by the Congress.