S.Amdt. 512

SA 512. Ms. SNOWE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 1268, making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, to establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 231, between lines 3 and 4, insert the following:

direct payments to subcontractors

Sec. 6047. (a) Section 8(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)) amended by adding at the end the following:

“(12) Timely payment to small business subcontractors.--

“(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the failure of a civilian agency prime contractor, as defined in subparagraph (D), to make a timely payment, as determined by the contract with the subcontractor, to a subcontractor that is a small business concern shall be a material breach of the contract with the Federal agency.

“(B) Consideration of performance.--Before making a determination under subparagraph (A), the contracting officer shall consider all reasonable issues regarding the circumstances surrounding the failure to make the timely payment described in subparagraph (A).

“(C) Withholding of payments.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which a material breach under subparagraph (A) is determined by the contracting officer, the Federal agency may withhold any amounts due and owing the subcontractor from payments due to the prime contractor and pay such amounts directly to the subcontractor.

“(D) Defined term.--As used in this paragraph, the term ‘civilian agency prime contractor' means a prime contractor that offers any combination of services or manufactured goods to Federal agencies other than the Department of Defense or agencies with responsibility for homeland security or national security.”.