[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 803 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 803
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance the procurement-
related activities of the Department of Homeland Security, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 5, 2007
Mr. Carney (for himself, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Shays, Ms. Harman,
Mr. Souder, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. McCaul of Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas,
Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Cuellar, and Mr. Al
Green of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance the procurement-
related activities of the Department of Homeland Security, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Department of Homeland Security
Procurement Improvement Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. HOMELAND SECURITY PROCUREMENT TRAINING.
(a) In General.--Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 836. HOMELAND SECURITY PROCUREMENT TRAINING.
``(a) Establishment.--The Chief Procurement Officer shall provide
homeland security procurement training to acquisition employees.
``(b) Responsibilities of Chief Procurement Officer.--The Chief
Procurement Officer shall carry out the following responsibilities:
``(1) Establish objectives to achieve the efficient and
effective use of available acquisition resources by
coordinating the acquisition education and training programs of
the Department and tailoring them to support the careers of
acquisition employees.
``(2) Develop, in consultation with the Council on
Procurement Training established under subsection (d), the
curriculum of the homeland security procurement training to be
provided.
``(3) Establish, in consultation with the Council on
Procurement Training, training standards, requirements, and
courses to be required for acquisition employees.
``(4) Establish an appropriate centralized mechanism to
control the allocation of resources for conducting such
required courses and other training and education.
``(5) Select course providers and certify courses to ensure
that the procurement training curriculum supports a coherent
framework for the educational development of acquisition
employees, including the provision of basic, intermediate, and
advanced courses, as well as training on the SAFETY Act (6
U.S.C. 441).
``(6) Publish an annual catalog that includes a list of the
acquisition education and training courses.
``(7) Develop a system of maintaining records of student
enrollment, and other data related to students and courses
conducted pursuant to this section.
``(c) Provision of Instruction.--The Chief Procurement Officer
shall provide procurement training to acquisition employees of any
agency under subsection (d)(3). The appropriate member of the Council
on Procurement Training may direct such an employee to receive
procurement training.
``(d) Council on Procurement Training.--
``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a
Council on Procurement Training to advise and make policy and
curriculum recommendations to the Chief Procurement Officer.
``(2) Chair of council.--The chair of the Council on
Procurement Training shall be the Deputy Chief Procurement
Officer.
``(3) Members.--The members of the Council on Procurement
Training are the chief procurement officers of each of the
following:
``(A) United States Customs and Border Protection.
``(B) The Transportation Security Administration.
``(C) The Office of Procurement Operations.
``(D) The Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
``(E) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(F) The Coast Guard.
``(G) The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
``(H) The United States Secret Service.
``(I) Such other entity as the Secretary determines
is appropriate.
``(e) Acquisition Employee Defined.--For purposes of this section,
the term `acquisition employee' means an employee serving under a
career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service or
appointment of equivalent tenure in the excepted service of the Federal
Government, at least 50 percent of whose assigned duties include
acquisitions, procurement-related program management, or procurement-
related oversight functions.
``(f) Report Required.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the
Chief Procurement Officer shall submit to the Secretary a report on the
procurement training provided under this section, which shall include
information about student enrollment, students who enroll but do not
attend courses, graduates, certifications, and other relevant
information.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such
subtitle the following:
``Sec. 836. Homeland security procurement training.''.
SEC. 3. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Such subtitle is further amended by adding at the
end the following:
``SEC. 837. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.
``(a) Attestation Required.--The Secretary shall require any
offeror for any contract to provide goods or services to the Department
to submit as part of the offeror's bid for such contract an attestation
that affirmatively discloses any substantial role the offeror, the
employees of the offeror, or any corporate parent or subsidiary of the
offeror may have played in creating a solicitation, request for
proposal, statement of work, or statement of objectives (as those terms
are defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation) for the Department.
``(b) Additional Requirements for Certain Offerors.--If an offeror
submits an attestation under subparagraph (a) that discloses that the
offeror, the employees of the offeror, or any corporate parent or
subsidiary of the offeror played a substantial role in creating a
solicitation, request for proposal, statement of work, or statement of
objectives for the Department, the Secretary shall require the offeror
to submit to the Secretary a description of the safeguards used to
ensure that precautions were in place to prevent the offeror from
receiving information through such role that could be used to provide
the offeror an undue advantage in submitting an offer for a contract.
``(c) Certification Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall require any offeror
for any contract to provide goods or services to the Department
to submit to the Secretary as part of the offeror's bid for
such contract a certification in writing whether, as of the
date on which the certification is submitted, the offeror--
``(A) is in default on any payment of any tax to
the Federal Government; or
``(B) owes the Federal Government for any payment
of any delinquent tax.
``(2) Failure of certification.--Nothing in this section
shall prevent the Department from awarding a contract to an
offeror based solely on the offeror's certification.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
such Act is further amended by adding at the end of the items relating
to such subtitle the following:
``Sec. 837. Contracting requirements.''.
SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS TO REVIEW PAST PERFORMANCE OF
CONTRACTORS.
(a) In General.--Such subtitle is further amended by adding at the
end the following new section:
``SEC. 838. REVIEW OF CONTRACTOR PAST PERFORMANCE.
``(a) Consideration of Contractor Past Performance.--In awarding a
contract to a contractor, the Secretary shall consider the past
performance of that contractor based on the review conducted under
subsection (b).
``(b) Review Required.--Before awarding to a contractor (including
a contractor that has previously provided goods or services to the
Department) a contract to provide goods or services to the Department,
the Secretary, acting through the appropriate contracting officer of
the Department, shall require the contractor to submit information
regarding the contractor's performance of Federal, State, and local
government and private sector contracts.
``(c) Contact of Relevant Officials.--As part of any review of a
contractor conducted under subsection (b), the Secretary, acting
through an appropriate contracting officer of the Department, shall
contact the relevant official who administered or oversaw each contract
performed by that contractor during the five-year period preceding the
date on which the review begins.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such
subtitle the following:
``Sec. 838. Review of contractor past performance.''.
SEC. 5. PURCHASE CARDS.
(a) Review Required.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
(1) review and strengthen the policy governing the use of
purchase cards that the Department provides to employees of the
Department for use in conducting official business; and
(2) issue Department-wide guidance on such policy.
(b) Distribution of Policy.--The Secretary shall distribute the
policy or guidance developed under subsection (a) to each employee who
possesses or is entitled to possess a purchase card provided by the
Department.
(c) Requirement to Inform Employees.--Upon distribution of the
policy or guidance under subsection (b), the Secretary shall ensure
that all employees of the Department who are entitled to possess a
purchase card issued by the Department have reviewed the policy or
guidance.
SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
CONTRACTING.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the
contracting processes of the Department of Homeland Security. The
report shall contain the findings of the Comptroller General with
respect to any improvements in such processes that could be made
through the use of new technologies.
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