I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2177 
To require accountability for personnel performing private security functions 
under Federal contracts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2009 
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MILLER of North Caro-
lina, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. 
CAPPS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 
HALL of New York, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 
Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign 
Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require accountability for personnel performing private 
security functions under Federal contracts, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Transparency and Accountability in Security Contracting 
Act of 2009’’. 
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(B) A description of the process used to 
hire such persons, including the method by 
which and the extent to which background 
checks regarding such persons are conducted. 
(C) A description of how such persons are 
trained to carry out tasks specified under the 
contract relating to such functions. 
(D) A description of each category of activ-
ity relating to such functions required by the 
contract. 
(2) UPDATES OF INFORMATION.—The informa-
tion provided under paragraph (1) shall be updated 
by the contractor during contract performance as 
necessary. 
(3) SAFEGUARDING INFORMATION.—The head 
of each agency awarding a covered contract shall 
take such actions as are necessary to protect any in-
formation provided under paragraph (1) that is a 
trade secret, or commercial or financial information, 
from disclosure to persons outside the Government. 
This paragraph shall not be construed to prevent ac-
cess to such information in the course of an inves-
tigation into alleged misconduct committed during 
the performance of a covered contract. 
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(4) ACCOUNTING.—Each covered contract shall 
include the following requirements: 
(A) Upon award of the contract, the con-
tractor shall provide cost estimates of salary, 
benefits, insurance, materials, logistics, travel, 
administrative costs, and other costs of carrying 
out private security functions under the con-
tract. 
(B) Before contract closeout (other than 
closeout of a firm, fixed price contract), the 
contractor shall provide a report on— 
(i) the actual costs of carrying out 
private security functions under the con-
tract, in the same categories as provided 
under subparagraph (A); and 
(ii) any equipment or supplies issued 
or provided by the Federal Government for 
work under the contract. 
(5) OVERSIGHT.—Before a covered contract is 
awarded, the head of the agency awarding the con-
tract shall ensure that sufficient resources are avail-
able to enable contracting officers of the agency to 
perform oversight of the performance of the con-
tract, including oversight inspections of facilities and 
operations. 
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(6) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 
(A) WAIVER.—The head of the agency 
awarding a covered contract may waive a re-
quirement of this section with respect to a con-
tract in an emergency or exceptional situation, 
as determined by the head of the agency. Any 
such waiver shall be limited to the requirements 
that are impossible or impracticable to imple-
ment because of the emergency or exceptional 
situation. 
(B) REPORT.—In any case in which the 
head of an agency waives a requirement under 
this section with respect to a contract, the 
agency head shall prepare a report that— 
(i) describes the contract, the waiver, 
and the emergency or exceptional situation 
that justified the waiver; and 
(ii) contains a plan for bringing the 
contract into compliance with the waived 
requirements as soon as possible or an ex-
planation of why the waiver needs to be 
permanent. 
(C) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The report 
required by subparagraph (B) shall be sub-
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mitted, within 30 days after the date of the 
waiver, to— 
(i) the Committees on Appropriations, 
Armed Services, Oversight and Govern-
ment Reform, and Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(ii) the Committees on Appropria-
tions, Armed Services, Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs, and Foreign 
Relations of the Senate. 
(b) SECURITY CONTRACTING DATABASE.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH AND MAIN-
TAIN.—No later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, shall estab-
lish and maintain a comprehensive security con-
tracting database. 
(2) INFORMATION
TO
BE
INCLUDED.—The 
database required by paragraph (1) shall maintain 
up-to-date information on the following: 
(A) Information regarding each active cov-
ered contract, including— 
(i) a brief description of the contract; 
(ii) the total value of the contract; 
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(iii) an estimate of the number of per-
sonnel working under the contract; 
(iv) whether the contract was awarded 
competitively; and 
(v) a designation of whether the work 
under the contract is to be performed in 
support of a contingency operation or of an 
international military force. 
(B) For contracts awarded in support of or 
in relation to a contingency operation or an op-
eration of an international military force— 
(i) the total number and value of con-
tracts awarded since the beginning of the 
operation; and 
(ii) the total number of contractor 
personnel killed or wounded during the 
performance of such contracts since the be-
ginning of the operation. 
(C) A list of each individual who, while in 
performance of a contract awarded by the Fed-
eral Government, has been— 
(i) convicted for violation of United 
States law; or 
(ii) subjected to legal or disciplinary 
action for reliably attested involvement in 
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serious crime (including organized crime, 
violent crime, sexual offenses, violations of 
international humanitarian law, bribery, 
and corruption). 
(3) ACCESS.—Access to the database estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall be provided to Con-
gress and to the Government Accountability Office. 
The Secretary of Defense shall endeavor to make in-
formation within the database publicly available to 
the extent such information is not classified or sen-
sitive to United States national security interests. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPROVING COORDINATION 
BETWEEN 
THE 
UNITED 
STATES 
ARMED 
FORCES AND CONTRACTORS PERFORMING 
PRIVATE SECURITY FUNCTIONS. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE APPROPRIATE USE OF 
SECURITY CONTRACTORS.— 
(1) PROHIBITION.—No agency shall award a 
covered contract for performance of activities that 
require or involve— 
(A) direct participation by contractor per-
sonnel in hostilities with an enemy combatant 
or force; or 
(B) interrogation by contractor personnel 
of an individual who is a detainee or prisoner 
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in the custody or under the effective control of 
the United States Government. 
(2) REGULATION.—(A) Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Ad-
ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, and the Administrator of 
General Services shall each prescribe regulations to 
ensure that no covered contract is awarded in viola-
tion of paragraph (1). 
(B) The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be 
revised to ensure compliance with paragraph (1). 
(3) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO LANGUAGE IN-
TERPRETATION.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall not be 
construed to include the performance of work related 
to language interpretation, so long as the work is 
strictly limited to language interpretation and occurs 
under the direct supervision of Federal Government 
personnel. 
(b) RULES FOR USE OF FORCE.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT TO ISSUE.—Not later than 
15 days after the initiation of a contingency oper-
ation, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
shall issue rules regarding the circumstances under 
which force may be used by contract personnel per-
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forming private security functions within the area 
covered by the contingency operation and the types 
of force authorized. Each covered contract shall re-
quire contract personnel to adhere to the rules for 
the use of force issued under this subsection. 
(2) NOTIFICATION.—The commander of the 
combatant command whose area of responsibility in-
cludes the contingency operation shall communicate 
the rules for the use of force to contract personnel 
in accordance with subsection (c). 
(3) EXCEPTIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—As ap-
propriate, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
may provide exceptions or special rules in the rules 
for the use of force for specific contractors. 
(c) HIRING, TRAINING, AND EQUIPMENT STANDARDS 
RELATING TO PRIVATE SECURITY CONTRACTORS.— 
(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days 
after the initiation of a contingency operation, the 
head of each agency awarding a covered contract 
shall prescribe in regulations minimum standards 
(appropriate for the agency) for contract personnel, 
including minimum hiring, screening, training, and 
certification standards. The standards may vary 
based on the duties of personnel, shall, at a min-
imum— 
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(A) require training of all contractor per-
sonnel, in advance of the performance of work 
under a covered contract, on— 
(i) applicable rules for the use of force 
and firearms; 
(ii) international humanitarian law 
and international human rights law; 
(iii) 
measures 
against 
corruption, 
bribery, and related crimes; 
(iv) relevant religious, gender, and 
cultural issues in the host nation; and 
(v) proper reporting and investigation 
of incidents involving the use of force or 
firearms by contractor personnel; 
(B) prohibit the employment by a con-
tractor performing a covered contract of an in-
dividual who— 
(i) is listed in a database under sec-
tion 2(b)(2)(C); 
(ii) has a reliably attested record of 
involvement in serious crime (including or-
ganized crime, violent crime, sexual of-
fenses, violations of international humani-
tarian law, bribery, and corruption); or 
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(iii) has been dishonorably discharged 
from armed or security forces; 
(C) include guidance on identifiability of 
contractor personnel and vehicles during per-
formance of security contracts; and 
(D) address security clearance require-
ments and other issues that the head of the 
agency determines may lead to security or per-
formance concerns. 
(2) GUIDANCE FOR EQUIPMENT.—The head of 
each agency awarding a covered contract shall issue 
guidance (appropriate for the agency) on equipment 
used for private security functions under covered 
contracts with the agency, including appropriate uni-
forms and levels of body armor and equipment 
armor, and a recommended list of re-armorers and 
weapons and armor manufacturers for complying 
with such guidelines. 
(3) CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY OF DE-
FENSE.—The head of each agency shall consult with 
the Secretary of Defense in developing regulations 
and guidance under this subsection. 
(d) IMPROVED COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION 
BETWEEN UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND CON-
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TRACTORS
PERFORMING
PRIVATE
SECURITY
FUNC-
TIONS.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF A THEATER SECURITY 
CONTRACT COORDINATING OFFICER.—For each con-
tingency operation with respect to which one or more 
covered contracts are awarded for performance of 
work, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
shall designate a Theater Security Contract Coordi-
nating Officer. 
(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THEATER SECURITY 
CONTRACT COORDINATING OFFICER.—The Theater 
Security Contract Coordinating Officer shall— 
(A) issue guidance providing for reliable 
lines of communications between contract per-
sonnel and United States Armed Forces; 
(B) communicate the rules for the use of 
force, established under subsection (b), to con-
tractors and contract personnel; 
(C) communicate other critical informa-
tion, including guidance on Department of De-
fense responsibilities for force protection of con-
tract personnel and guidance on equipment, to 
contractors and contract personnel; and 
(D) as appropriate, communicate up-to- 
date information about the security environ-
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