[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3033 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. R. 3033
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 24, 2008
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To improve Federal agency awards and oversight of contracts and
assistance and to strengthen accountability of the Government-wide
suspension and debarment system.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Contractors and Federal Spending
Accountability Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. DATABASE FOR CONTRACTING OFFICERS AND SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT
OFFICIALS.
(a) In General.--Subject to the authority, direction, and control
of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the
Administrator of General Services shall establish and maintain a
database of information regarding integrity and performance of persons
awarded Federal contracts and grants for use by Federal officials
having authority over contracts and grants.
(b) Persons Covered.--The database shall cover any person awarded a
Federal contract or grant if any information described in subsection
(c) exists with respect to such person.
(c) Information Included.--With respect to a person awarded a
Federal contract or grant, the database shall include information (in
the form of a brief description) for at least the most recent 5-year
period regarding--
(1) any civil or criminal proceeding, or any administrative
proceeding to the extent that such proceeding results in both a
finding of fault on the part of the person and the payment of
restitution to a government of $5,000 or more, concluded by the
Federal Government or any State government against the person,
and any amount paid by the person to the Federal Government or
a State government;
(2) all Federal contracts and grants awarded to the person
that were terminated in such period due to default;
(3) all Federal suspensions and debarments of the person in
that period;
(4) all Federal administrative agreements entered into by
the person and the Federal Government in that period to resolve
a suspension or debarment proceeding and, to the maximum extent
practicable, agreements involving a suspension or debarment
proceeding entered into by the person and a State government in
that period; and
(5) all final findings by a Federal official in that period
that the person has been determined not to be a responsible
source under either subparagraph (C) or (D) of section 4(7) of
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C.
403(7)).
(d) Requirements Relating to Information in Database.--
(1) Direct input and update.--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 grant recipients.
(2) Timeliness and accuracy.--The Administrator shall
develop policies to require--
(A) the timely and accurate input of information
into the database;
(B) notification of any covered person when
information relevant to the person is entered into the
database; and
(C) an opportunity for any covered person to append
comments to information about such person in the
database.
(e) Availability.--
(1) Availability to all federal agencies.--The
Administrator shall make the database available to all Federal
agencies.
(2) Availability to the public.--The Administrator shall
make the database available to the public by posting the
database on the General Services Administration website.
(3) Limitation.--This subsection does not require the
public availability of information that is exempt from public
disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF DATABASE.
(a) Requirement to Review Database.--Prior to the award of a
contract or grant, an official responsible for awarding a contract or
grant shall review the database established under section 2.
(b) Requirement to Document Present Responsibility.--In the case of
a prospective awardee of a contract or grant against which a judgment
or conviction has been rendered more than once within any 3-year period
for the same or similar offences, if each judgment or conviction is a
cause for debarment, the official responsible for awarding the contract
or grant shall document why the prospective awardee is considered
presently responsible.
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE IN APPLICATIONS.
(a) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, Federal regulations shall be amended to require
that in applying for any Federal grant or submitting a proposal or bid
for any Federal contract a person shall disclose in writing information
described in section 2(c).
(b) Covered Contracts and Grants.--This section shall apply only to
contracts and grants in an amount greater than the simplified
acquisition threshold, as defined in section 4(11) of the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401(11)).
SEC. 5. ROLE OF INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.
(a) Requirement.--The Interagency Committee on Debarment and
Suspension shall--
(1) resolve issues regarding which of several Federal
agencies is the lead agency having responsibility to initiate
suspension or debarment proceedings;
(2) coordinate actions among interested agencies 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 Governmentwide suspension and debarment
system;
(4) recommend to the Office of Management and Budget
changes to Government suspension and debarment system and its
rules, if such recommendations are approved by a majority of
the Interagency Committee;
(5) authorize the Office of Management and Budget to issue
guidelines that implement those recommendations;
(6) authorize the chair of the Committee to establish
subcommittees as appropriate to best enable the Interagency
Committee to carry out its functions; 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.
(b) Definition.--The term ``Interagency Committee on Debarment and
Suspension'' means such committee constituted under sections 4 and 5
and of Executive Order 12549.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCIES.
Any agency, commission, or organization of the Federal 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. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of
General Services such funds as may be necessary to establish the
database described in section 2.
SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall
submit to Congress a report.
(b) Contents of Report.--The report shall contain the following:
(1) A list of all databases that include information about
Federal contracting and Federal grants.
(2) Recommendations for further legislation or
administrative action that the Administrator considers
appropriate to create a centralized, comprehensive Federal
contracting and Federal grant database.
Passed the House of Representatives April 23, 2008.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.