I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5292
To improve Federal agency oversight of contracts and assistance and to
strengthen accountability of the governmentwide debarment and suspen-
sion system.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 26, 2002
Mrs. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. HORN, and Mr. TURNER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Govern-
ment Reform
A BILL
To improve Federal agency oversight of contracts and assist-
ance and to strengthen accountability of the government-
wide debarment and suspension system.
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 ‘‘Contractors Account-
ability Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) NEED FOR DATABASE.—(A) By spending
over $215,000,000,000 a year on procurement and
nonprocurement awards for goods and services, the
Federal Government is the largest consumer in the
world.
(B) It is in the best interest of the Federal
Government and its taxpayers to award contract and
assistance to entities that are responsible and have
a suitable record of integrity and business ethics.
(C) There is no centralized, comprehensive
database on judicial actions, consent decrees, admin-
istrative agreements, terminations, or settlements
with respect to potential Federal contractors or as-
sistance participants.
(D) Federal officials do not have the resources
necessary to assemble such information for each
Federal procurement award.
(E) The lack of this information compromises
the Federal Government’s ability to safeguard the
integrity of the Federal procurement and assistance
activities.
(F) It is in the best business interests of the
Federal Government to have all information possible
regarding potential contractors’ and assistance par-
ticipants’ performance and integrity records to as-
sure that persons with which the Government does
business are presently responsible.
(2) REALITY
OF
DEBARMENTS
AND
SUSPEN-
SIONS OF TOP 43 FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Since
1990—
(A) of the top 43 Federal contractors
based on total contract dollars received—
(i) 16 have a total of 28 criminal con-
victions; and
(ii) 4 of the top ten have at least 2
criminal convictions;
(B) such 43 contractors have paid a total
of $3,400,000,000 in fines, penalties, restitu-
tion, settlements, and clean-up costs under the
Superfund program; and
(C) despite such fines and criminal convic-
tions, only one of the 43 contractors has been
debarred or suspended from contracting with
the Federal Government, for only 5 days.
(3) NEED FOR DATABASE NOT FULFILLED.—
(A) There is no centralized listing of crimi-
nal or civil indictments, convictions, fines, pen-
alties, restitution, and settlement assessments
relating to contractors or assistance partici-
pants.
(B) Potential Federal contractors or assist-
ance participants are not required to disclose all
relevant criminal, civil, or administrative rulings
or resolutions during the Federal procurement
award process.
(C) Without such a database or disclosure,
Federal award officials and debarment officials
lack important information relevant to present
responsibility.
SEC. 3. DATABASE FOR FEDERAL DEBARMENT OFFICIALS
AND CONTRACTING OFFICERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of General
Services shall establish and maintain a database of infor-
mation regarding integrity and performance of Federal
contracts and assistance recipients for use by Federal pro-
curement award officials and Federal officials having au-
thority to debar or suspend persons from Federal con-
tracts or assistance.
(b) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The database—
(1) shall consist of information regarding judi-
cial and administrative proceedings initiated or con-
cluded by the Federal Government and State govern-
ments against Federal contractors or assistance re-
cipients; and
(2) shall include with respect to each entity
awarded a Federal contract or assistance—
(A) information regarding all proceedings
referred to in paragraph (1) against that person
in at least the most recent 5-year period;
(B) with respect to each proceeding—
(i) a brief description of the pro-
ceeding; and
(ii) any amount paid by the person to
the Federal Government or a State govern-
ment;
(C) all Federal contracts and assistance
awarded to the person that were terminated in
such period due to default;
(D) all Federal debarments and suspen-
sions of the person in that period; and
(E) all Federal suspension and debarment
or administrative agreements signed with such
person in that period.
(c) INPUT OF DATA.—The Administrator shall design
and maintain the database in a manner that allows the
appropriate officials of each Federal agency to directly
input and update in the database information relating to
actions it has taken with regard to contractors or assist-
ance recipients.
(d) AVAILABILITY.—The Administrator shall make
the database available to all Federal agencies and to the
public in accordance with section 552 of title 5, United
States Code, popularly known as the Freedom of Informa-
tion Act.
SEC. 4. SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT PRESUMPTION FOR
REPEAT 
VIOLATORS 
AND 
POOR 
PER-
FORMERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Federal agency suspension and
debarment regulations shall be amended by no later than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act to
provide that an entity shall be presumed nonresponsible
with respect to award of a Federal contract or assistance
if the entity has rendered against it twice within any 3-
year period a judgment or conviction for the same offense,
or similar offenses, if each conviction constitutes a cause
for debarment under the Governmentwide debarment sys-
tem.
(b) REBUTTAL.—The presumption under subsection
(a) shall be rebutted only if the entity demonstrates, by
clear and convincing evidence, that the entity is presently
responsible and has corrected the conditions that gave rise
to the violations.
(c) REPEAT VIOLATIONS.—An agency suspending of-
ficial may deem evidence of repeat violations under sub-
section (a) as sufficient reason to find that immediate ac-
tion is necessary to suspend an entity under the regula-
tions until the entity fulfills the requirements of subsection
(b).
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE IN APPLICATIONS.
Federal regulations shall be amended by no later than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act to
require that in applying for any Federal contract or assist-
ance, whether by submission of a proposal, any solicita-
tion, bid, or other offer, an entity shall disclose in
writing—
(1) all Federal or State debarments or suspen-
sions of the entity from contracts or assistance in
the 5-year period preceding the date of submission
of the application;
(2) all judicial and administrative proceedings
against the entity by the Federal Government or any
State that occurred in the 5-year period preceding
the date of the application; and
(3) all administrative agreements with respect
to Federal contracts or assistance that the entity is
implementing to avoid suspension or debarment
within 5 years of the date of the submission of the
application.
SEC. 6. ROLE OF INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.
The Interagency Committee on Debarment and Sus-
pension shall—
(1) resolve issues regarding which of several
Federal agencies is the lead agency having responsi-
bility to initiate suspension or debarment pro-
ceedings;
(2) coordinate actions among interested agen-
cies with respect to such action;
(3) encourage and assist Federal agencies in
entering into cooperative efforts to pool resources
and achieve operational efficiencies in the Govern-
mentwide suspension and debarment system;
(4) recommend to the Office of Management
and Budget changes to Government debarment and
suspension system and its rules, if such rec-
ommendations are approved by a majority of the
Interagency Committee;
(5) authorize the Office of Management and
Budget to issue guidelines that implement those rec-
ommendations;
(6) authorize the chair of the Committee to es-
tablish subcommittees as appropriate to best enable
the Interagency Committee to carry out its func-
tions; and
(7) submit to the Congress an annual report
on—
(A) the progress and efforts to improve the
suspension and debarment system;
(B) member agencies’ active participation
in the committee’s work; and
(C) a summary of each agency’s activities
and accomplishments in the Governmentwide
debarment system.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCIES.
Any agency, commission, or organization of the Fed-
eral Government to which Executive Order 12549 does not
apply is authorized to participate in the Governmentwide
suspension and debarment system and may recognize the
suspension or debarment issued by an executive branch
agency in its own procurement or assistance activities.
SEC. 8. USE OF PAYMENTS UNDER ADMINISTRATIVE
AGREEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency may—
(1) retain amounts described in subsection (b);
and
(2) use those amounts solely—
(A) to administer, review, or oversee com-
pliance with suspension or debarment adminis-
trative agreements; and
(B) for costs associated with establishing
and maintaining the database under section 3,