Directing legislative branch support offices to take certain actions to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and for other purposes.

Bill: 118-hconres-123
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Crockett, Jasmine [D-TX-30]
Introduced: 2024-08-02
Policy area: Congress
Latest action: action_date: 2024-08-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Summaries:

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 123 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 2, 2024 Ms. Crockett (for herself, Mr. Molinaro , Mr. Loudermilk , and Mr. Thompson of California ) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Directing legislative branch support offices to take certain actions to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act), and for other purposes.

Whereas in 1971, Congress passed the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act to advance employment opportunities for Americans who are blind or who have significant disabilities by requiring the Federal Government, including legislative entities, when seeking to procure a product or service, to first assess whether their needs can be met by products or services provided by Ability One Participating Agencies and included on the AbilityOne Procurement List maintained by the AbilityOne Commission; and Whereas, as a result of the AbilityOne Program, tens of thousands of Americans who are blind or who have significant disabilities, including a large and growing number of returning veterans, are employed at competitive wages providing products and services to the Federal Government, greatly enhancing their self-sufficiency and providing critical career skills: Now, therefore, be it

1. Appointment of AbilityOne Representative (a) Designation of position Not later than 30 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, the head of each Legislative Branch Support Office shall designate an employee in the Office to serve in a position to be known as the AbilityOne Representative . (b) Duties The employee serving as the AbilityOne Representative of a Legislative Branch Support Office shall carry out the following duties: (1) Promoting the purchase and use of AbilityOne products and services within the office. (2) Providing the data required for preparing the annual report required under section 2. (3) Ensuring compliance with AbilityOne Commission regulations, as applicable. (4) Serving as a liaison to Members of Congress, AbilityOne Participating Agencies, the AbilityOne Commission, and the Commission’s designated central nonprofit agencies on matters in the Office which relate to the AbilityOne program. (5) Developing and monitoring the implementation of a written strategic plan for increasing procurement by the Office from the AbilityOne program. 2. Annual report Not later than January 1 of each calendar year, beginning with 2025, the head of each Legislative Branch Support Office shall submit to Congress a report on— (1) the total amount spent on the procurement of products and services by the office during the previous fiscal year; (2) of the amount described in paragraph (1), the total amount spent on AbilityOne products and services; (3) of the products and services described in paragraph (1), a description of the products or services which were purchased from the AbilityOne program and which were not; (4) for each product and service described in paragraph (3) which was not purchased from the AbilityOne program, an explanation of why the product or service was procured from a source outside of the AbilityOne program; (5) qualitative information on efforts to increase procurement through the AbilityOne program; and (6) qualitative information on any obstacles faced in increasing procurement from the AbilityOne program. 3. Definitions In this resolution, the following definitions apply: (1) The term AbilityOne Commission means the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled established under section 8502 of title 41, United States Code. (2) The term AbilityOne Participating Agency means a nonprofit agency for the blind or a nonprofit agency employing persons with significant disabilities which is authorized by the AbilityOne Commission to provide products or services pursuant to chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act), and associated regulations. (3) The term AbilityOne Procurement List means the list of products and services determined by the AbilityOne Commission to be suitable to be procured by the Federal Government from AbilityOne Participating Agencies pursuant to section 8503 of title 41, United States Code. (4) The term AbilityOne program means the program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act). (5) The term Legislative Branch Support Office means an office for which appropriations for salaries and expenses for a fiscal year are provided by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for such fiscal year, except that such term does not include any office of the House of Representatives or Senate.