I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1982
To amend title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 
Act of 1949 to provide to contracting officers of the civilian agencies 
the same authorities available to Department of Defense contracting 
officers to competitively evaluate products offered by Federal Prison 
Industries, Inc., to assure that such products represent the best value 
for the taxpayer dollars being expended, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 6, 2003
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself and Mr. SOUDER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend title III of the Federal Property and Administra-
tive Services Act of 1949 to provide to contracting offi-
cers of the civilian agencies the same authorities available 
to Department of Defense contracting officers to com-
petitively evaluate products offered by Federal Prison 
Industries, Inc., to assure that such products represent 
the best value for the taxpayer dollars being expended, 
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. PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CIVILIAN 
AGENCIES RELATING TO PRODUCTS OF FED-
ERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES. 
Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 318. PRODUCTS OF FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES: 
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) MARKET
RESEARCH.—Before purchasing a 
product listed in the latest edition of the Federal Prison 
Industries catalog under section 4124(d) of title 18, 
United States Code, the head of an executive agency shall 
conduct market research to determine whether the Federal 
Prison Industries product is comparable to products avail-
able from the private sector that best meet the executive 
agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of deliv-
ery. 
‘‘(b) COMPETITION REQUIREMENT.—If the head of 
the executive agency determines that a Federal Prison In-
dustries product is not comparable in price, quality, or 
time of delivery to products available from the private sec-
tor that best meet the executive agency’s needs in terms 
of price, quality, and time of delivery, the agency head 
shall use competitive procedures for the procurement of 
the product or shall make an individual purchase under 
a multiple award contract. In conducting such a competi-
tion or making such a purchase, the agency head shall 
consider a timely offer from Federal Prison Industries. 
‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION
BY HEAD
OF EXECUTIVE 
AGENCY.—The head of an executive agency shall ensure 
that—
‘‘(1) the executive agency does not purchase a 
Federal Prison Industries product or service unless 
a contracting officer of the agency determines that 
the product or service is comparable to products or 
services available from the private sector that best 
meet the agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, 
and time of delivery; and 
‘‘(2) Federal Prison Industries performs its 
contractual obligations to the same extent as any 
other contractor for the executive agency. 
‘‘(d) MARKET
RESEARCH
DETERMINATION
NOT 
SUBJECT TO REVIEW.—A determination by a contracting 
officer regarding whether a product or service offered by 
Federal Prison Industries is comparable to products or 
services available from the private sector that best meet 
an executive agency’s needs in terms of price, quality, and 
time of delivery shall not be subject to review pursuant 
to section 4124(b) of title 18. 
‘‘(e) PERFORMANCE AS A SUBCONTRACTOR.—(1) A 
contractor or potential contractor of an executive agency
may not be required to use Federal Prison Industries as 
a subcontractor or supplier of products or provider of serv-
ices for the performance of a contract of the executive 
agency by any means, including means such as—
‘‘(A) a contract solicitation provision requiring 
a contractor to offer to make use of products or 
services of Federal Prison Industries in the perform-
ance of the contract; 
‘‘(B) a contract specification requiring the con-
tractor to use specific products or services (or class-
es of products or services) offered by Federal Prison 
Industries in the performance of the contract; or 
‘‘(C) any contract modification directing the use 
of products or services of Federal Prison Industries 
in the performance of the contract. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘‘contractor’’, with 
respect to a contract, includes a subcontractor at any tier 
under the contract. 
‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED AND SENSITIVE 
INFORMATION.—The head of an executive agency may not 
enter into any contract with Federal Prison Industries 
under which an inmate worker would have access to—
‘‘(1) any data that is classified; 
‘‘(2) any geographic data regarding the location 
of—
‘‘(A) surface and subsurface infrastructure 
providing communications or water or electrical 
power distribution; 
‘‘(B) pipelines for the distribution of nat-
ural gas, bulk petroleum products, or other 
commodities; or 
‘‘(C) other utilities; or 
‘‘(3) any personal or financial information 
about any individual private citizen, including infor-
mation relating to such person’s real property how-
ever described, without the prior consent of the indi-
vidual. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘competitive procedures’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 4(5) of the Of-
fice of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
403(5)). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘market research’ means obtain-
ing specific information about the price, quality, and 
time of delivery of products available in the private 
sector through a variety of means, which may in-
clude—
‘‘(A) contacting knowledgeable individuals 
in government and industry;
‘‘(B) interactive communication among in-
dustry, acquisition personnel, and customers; 
and 
‘‘(C) interchange meetings or pre-solicita-
tion conferences with potential offerors.’’.
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