[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 675 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 675

To provide streamlined contracting and ordering practices for automated 
         data processing equipment and other commercial items.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 1995

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide streamlined contracting and ordering practices for automated 
         data processing equipment and other commercial items.

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

SECTION 1. AUTOMATION OF MULTIPLE AWARD SCHEDULE CONTRACTING.

    (a) Development and Implementation of System.--In order to provide 
for the economic and efficient procurement of automatic data processing 
equipment and other commercial items the Administrator of General 
Services shall establish a program for the development and 
implementation of a system to provide Governmentwide, on-line computer 
access to information on products and services that are available for 
ordering through multiple award schedules.
    (b) Required Capabilities.--The system required by subsection (a) 
shall be established as an element of the Federal acquisition computer 
network (FACNET) architecture and shall, at a minimum--
            (1) provide basic information on the prices, features, and 
        performance of all products and services available for ordering 
        through the multiple award schedules;
            (2) provide for updating that information to reflect 
        changes in prices, features, and performance as soon as 
        information on the changes becomes available;
            (3) enable users to make on-line computer comparisons of 
        the prices, features, and performance of similar products and 
        services offered by various vendors;
            (4) enable users to place, and vendors to receive, on-line 
        computer orders for products and services available for 
        ordering through the multiple award schedules (up to the 
        maximum order limitation of the applicable schedule contract);
            (5) enable ordering agencies to make payments to 
        contractors by bank card, electronic funds transfer, or other 
        automated methods in cases in which it is practicable and in 
        the interest of the Federal Government to do so; and
            (6) archive data relating to each order placed against 
        multiple award schedule contracts using such system, including, 
        at a minimum, data on--
                    (A) the agency or office placing the order;
                    (B) the vendor receiving the order;
                    (C) the products or services ordered; and
                    (D) the total price of the order.
    (c) Implementation.--
            (1) Deadline for implementation.--The system required by 
        subsection (a) shall be implemented not later than January 1, 
        1998. If the level of the implementation of the FACNET 
        architecture on that date is insufficient to accommodate full 
        implementation of the features of the system described in 
        paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (b), the system shall, as 
        of that date, incorporate those features to the maximum extent 
        practicable consistent with the level of implementation of the 
        FACNET architecture.
            (2) Certification of 90 percent implementation.--The 
        Administrator shall certify to Congress that the system 
        required by subsection (a) has been implemented at such time as 
        a system meeting the requirements of subsection (b) is in place 
        and accessible by at least 90 percent of the potential users in 
        the departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
    (d) Relationship to Implementation of FACNET Capability.--Orders 
placed against multiple award schedule contracts through the system 
required by subsection (a) may be considered for purposes of the 
determinations regarding implementation of a Governmentwide FACNET 
capability under subsection (b) of section 30A of the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 426a) and implementation of full 
FACNET capability under subsection (d) of such section.

 SEC. 2. STREAMLINED PROCEDURES; PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Contracting and Ordering Procedures.--
            (1) Required procedures.--In order to provide for 
        compliance with provisions of law requiring the use of 
        competitive procedures in Federal Government procurement, the 
        procedures established by the Administrator of General Services 
        for the multiple award schedule program shall include 
        requirements for--
                    (A) participation in multiple award schedule 
                contracts to be open to all responsible and responsive 
                sources; and
                    (B) orders to be placed using a process which 
                results in the lowest overall cost alternative to meet 
                the needs of the Government, except in a case in which 
                a written determination is made (in accordance with 
                such procedures) that a different alternative would 
                provide a substantially better overall value to the 
                Government.
            (2) Electronic ordering procedures.--The Administrator may 
        require offerors to agree to accept orders electronically 
        through the electronic exchange of procurement information in 
        order to be eligible for award of a multiple award schedule 
        contract.
            (3) Commercial items procurements.--Regulations on the 
        acquisition of commercial items issued pursuant to section 8002 
        of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law 
        103-355; 108 Stat. 3386; 41 U.S.C. 264 note) shall apply to 
        multiple award schedule contracts.
    (b) Pilot Program.--Within 90 days after the Administrator makes 
the certification referred to in section 1(c)(2), the Administrator 
shall establish a pilot program to test streamlined procedures for the 
procurement of products and services available for ordering through the 
multiple award schedules. The Administrator shall provide for the pilot 
program to be applicable to all multiple award schedule contracts for 
the purchase of automatic data processing equipment and to test the 
following procedures:
            (1) A procedure under which negotiation of the terms and 
        conditions for a covered multiple award schedule contract is 
        limited to terms and conditions other than price.
            (2) A procedure under which the vendor establishes the 
        prices under a covered multiple award schedule contract and may 
        adjust those prices at any time in the discretion of the 
        vendor.
            (3) A procedure under which a covered multiple award 
        schedule contract is awarded to any responsible and responsive 
        offeror that--
                    (A) has a suitable record of past performance on 
                Federal Government contracts, including multiple award 
                schedule contracts;
                    (B) agrees to terms and conditions that the 
                Administrator determines as being required by law or as 
                being appropriate for the purchase of commercial items; 
                and
                    (C) agrees to establish and update prices and to 
                accept orders electronically through the automated 
                system established pursuant to section 1.
    (c) GAO Report.--
            (1) Report required.--Not later than three years after the 
        date on which the pilot program is established, the Comptroller 
        General of the United States shall review the pilot program and 
        report to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
        and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the 
        House of Representatives on the results of the pilot program.
            (2) Content of report.--The report shall include the 
        following:
                    (A) An evaluation of the extent of the competition 
                for the orders placed under the pilot program.
                    (B) The effect of the pilot program on prices 
                charged under multiple award schedule contracts.
                    (C) The effect of the pilot program on paperwork 
                requirements for multiple award schedule contracts and 
                orders.
                    (D) The impact of the pilot program on small 
                businesses and socially and economically disadvantaged 
                small businesses.
    (d) Termination of Pilot Program.--Unless reauthorized by Congress, 
the authority of the Administrator to award contracts under the pilot 
program shall expire four years after the date on which the pilot 
program is established. Contracts entered into before the authority 
expires shall remain in effect in accordance with their terms 
notwithstanding the expiration of the authority to enter new contracts 
under the pilot program.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Automatic data processing equipment.--The term 
        ``automatic data processing equipment'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 111(a) of the Federal Property and 
        Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759(a)).
            (2) Commercial item.--The term ``commercial item'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4(12) of the Office of 
        Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(12)).
            (3) FACNET architecture.--The term ``FACNET architecture'' 
        refers to the Federal acquisition computer network architecture 
        developed and implemented pursuant to section 30 of the Office 
        of Federal Procurement Policy Act (40 U.S.C. 426) and has the 
        meaning given the term ``architecture'' in subsection (d) of 
        such section.
            (4) Competitive procedures.--The term ``competitive 
        procedures'' has the meaning given the term in section 309(b) 
        of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 
        (41 U.S.C. 259(b)).
                                 <all>