[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 556 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 556

  To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to improve the 
                      procurement protest system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 10 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

   Mr. Glenn (for himself, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Cohen) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to improve the 
                      procurement protest system.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROCUREMENT PROTEST SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) GAO Recommendations on Protests.--Section 3554 of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b) by adding at the end thereof the 
        following new paragraph:
    ``(3) The head of the procuring activity responsible for the 
solicitation, proposed award, or award of a contract shall report to 
the Comptroller General if the Federal agency has not fully implemented 
recommendations of the Comptroller General under this subsection with 
respect to that contract within 60 days after receiving the 
recommendations, by no later than 5 working days after the end of that 
60-day period.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking out ``declare an 
        appropriate interested party to be entitled to'' and inserting 
        ``recommend that the Federal agency conducting the procurement 
        pay to an appropriate interested party'';
            (3) by amending subsection (c)(2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) If the Comptroller General recommends under paragraph 
        (1) that a Federal agency pay an amount of costs to an 
        interested party, the Federal agency shall--
                    ``(A) pay the amount promptly out of amounts 
                appropriated by section 1304 of this title for the 
                payment of judgments, and reimburse that appropriation 
                account out of available funds or by obtaining 
                additional appropriations for that purpose, or
                    ``(B) report to the Comptroller General promptly 
                why the recommendation will not be followed by the 
                agency.''.
            (4) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the following 
        new paragraph:
    ``(3) An interested party to which the Comptroller General has 
recommended that costs be paid under paragraph (1) and the Federal 
agency recommended to pay those costs shall attempt to reach agreement 
on the amount of the costs to be paid, but if they are unable to agree, 
a party may request that the Comptroller General recommend the amount 
of the costs to be paid.''; and
            (5) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
    ``(e)(1) The Comptroller General shall report promptly to the 
Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Governmental 
Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate any case in 
which a Federal agency fails to implement fully a recommendation of the 
Comptroller General under subsection (b) or (c). The report shall 
include--
            ``(A) a comprehensive review of the pertinent procurement, 
        including the circumstances of the failure of the Federal 
        agency to implement a recommendation of the Comptroller 
        General; and
            ``(B) a recommendation regarding whether, in order to 
        correct inequity or to preserve the integrity of the 
        procurement process, the Congress should consider--
                    ``(i) private relief legislation;
                    ``(ii) legislative rescission or cancellation of 
                funds;
                    ``(iii) further investigation by the Congress; or
                    ``(iv) other action.
    ``(2) No later than January 31 of each year, the Comptroller 
General shall transmit to the Congress a summary report describing each 
instance in which a Federal agency did not fully implement a 
recommendation of the Comptroller General under subsection (b) or (c) 
during the preceding year.''.
    (b) Ratification of Prior Awards.--Amounts to which the Comptroller 
General declared an interested party to be entitled under section 3554 
of title 31, United States Code, as in effect immediately before the 
enactment of this Act, shall, if not paid or otherwise satisfied by the 
Federal agency concerned before the date of the enactment of this Act, 
be paid promptly from the appropriation made by section 1304 of title 
31, United States Code, for the payment of judgments, and the Federal 
agency shall reimburse that appropriation account out of available 
funds or by obtaining additional appropriations for that purpose.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect at the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.

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