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.
`(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.
END
