S.Amdt. 4635

SA 4635. Mr. BROWN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title VIII, add the following:

SEC. 829K. PREFERENCE FOR POTENTIAL DEFENSE CONTRACTORS THAT
CARRY OUT CERTAIN STEM-RELATED ACTIVITIES.

(a) In General.--In evaluating offers submitted in response
to a solicitation for contracts, the Secretary of Defense
shall provide a preference to any offeror that--
(1) establishes or enhances undergraduate, graduate, and
doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (in this section referred to as ``STEM''
disciplines);
(2) makes investments, such as programming and curriculum
development, in STEM programs within elementary and secondary
schools, including those that support the needs of military
children;
(3) encourages employees to volunteer in schools eligible
for assistance under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) in
order to enhance STEM education and programs;
(4) makes personnel available to advise and assist faculty
at colleges and universities in the performance of STEM
research and disciplines critical to the functions of the
Department of Defense;
(5) establishes partnerships between the offeror and
historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and
other minority-serving institutions for the purpose of
training students in scientific disciplines;
(6) awards scholarships and fellowships, and establishes
cooperative work-education programs in scientific
disciplines;
(7) attracts and retains faculty involved in scientific
disciplines critical to the functions of the Department of
Defense;
(8) conducts recruitment activities at universities and
community colleges, including HBCUs, or offers internships or
apprenticeships; or
(9) establishes programs and outreach efforts to strengthen
STEM.
(b) Consideration of Evaluation Factors and Effect on Small
Business Concerns.--In prescribing regulations to carry out
this section, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that all
award decisions are based on evaluation factors and
significant subfactors that are tailored to the acquisition,
and that small business concerns are not unduly adversely
affected.
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