[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1575 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1575

To change the competition requirements with respect to the purchase of 
   the products of the Federal Prison Industries by the Secretary of 
                                Defense.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 1999

   Mr. Frist introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To change the competition requirements with respect to the purchase of 
   the products of the Federal Prison Industries by the Secretary of 
                                Defense.

    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 ``Victims Restitution Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. APPLICABILITY OF COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS TO PURCHASES FROM A 
              REQUIRED SOURCE.

    (a) Conditions for Competition.--Chapter 141 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2410n. Products of Federal Prison Industries: procedural 
              requirements
    ``(a) Market Research.--Before purchasing a product listed in the 
latest edition of the Federal Prison Industries catalog under section 
4124(d) of title 18, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct market 
research to determine whether the Federal Prison Industries product is 
comparable in price, quality, and time of delivery to products 
available from the private sector.
    ``(b) Limited Competition Requirement.--If the Secretary determines 
that a Federal Prison Industries product is not comparable in price, 
quality, and time of delivery to products available from the private 
sector, the Secretary shall use competitive procedures for the 
procurement of the product. In conducting such a competition, the 
Secretary shall consider a timely offer from Federal Prison Industries 
for award in accordance with the specifications and evaluation factors 
specified in the solicitation.
    ``(c) Exemptions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary shall not be required--
            (1) to purchase from Federal Prison Industries any product 
        that is--
                    (A) integral to, or embedded in, a product that is 
                not available from Federal Prison Industries; or
                    (B) a national security system; or
            (2) to make a purchase from Federal Prison Industries in a 
        total amount that is less than the micropurchase threshold, as 
        defined in section 32(f) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
        Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 428(f)).
    ``(d) National Security System Defined.--In this section, the term 
`national security system' means any telecommunications or information 
system operated by the United States Government, the function, 
operation, or use of which--
            ``(1) involves intelligence activities;
            ``(2) involves cryptologic activities related to national 
        security;
            ``(3) involves command and control of military forces;
            ``(4) involves equipment that is an integral part of a 
        weapon or a weapon system; or
            ``(5) is critical to the direct fulfillment of military or 
        intelligence missions, except for a system that is to be used 
        for routine administrative and business applications (including 
        payroll, finance, logistics, and personnel management 
        applications).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following:

``2410n. Products of Federal Prison Industries: procedural 
                            requirements.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated from the Judgment Fund as established under section 1304 
of title 31, United States Code, such sums as are necessary to offset 
any losses resulting in the Crime Victims Fund as a result of the 
enactment of section 2410n of title 10, United States Code, added by 
subsection (a).
                                 <all>