[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2694 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2694

    To establish a program to transfer surplus computers of Federal 
     agencies to schools and nonprofit community-based educational 
                 organizations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2003

 Mr. Ferguson (for himself, Mr. Towns, and Mr. Souder) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government 
                                 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a program to transfer surplus computers of Federal 
     agencies to schools and nonprofit community-based educational 
                 organizations, 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 ``Profiting from Access to Computer 
Technology (PACT) Act'' or the ``Child PACT Act''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF EDUCATIONALLY USEFUL FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

    Each Federal agency shall, to the extent practicable, protect and 
safeguard educationally useful Federal equipment that has been 
determined to be surplus, so that such equipment may be transferred 
under this Act.

SEC. 3. EFFICIENT TRANSFER OF EDUCATIONALLY USEFUL FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

    (a) Transfer of Equipment to GSA.--Each Federal agency, to the 
extent permitted by law and where appropriate, shall--
            (1) identify educationally useful Federal equipment that it 
        no longer needs or such equipment that has been declared 
        surplus in accordance with section 549 of title 40, United 
        States Code;
            (2) erase any hard drive, before transfer under paragraph 
        (3), in accordance with standards in effect under the 
        Department of Defense Industrial Security Program (Directive 
        5220.22 or successor authority); and
            (3)(A) transfer the equipment to the Administrator of 
        General Services for conveyance to educational recipients; or
            (B) transfer the equipment directly to--
                    (i) an educational recipient, through an 
                arrangement made by the Administrator of General 
                Services under subsection (b); or
                    (ii) a nonprofit refurbisher under subsection (d).
    (b) Advance Reporting of Equipment to GSA.--Each Federal agency 
shall report to the Administrator of General Services the anticipated 
availability of educationally useful Federal equipment as far as 
possible in advance of the date the equipment is to become surplus, so 
that the Administrator may attempt to arrange for the direct transfer 
from the donating agency to educational recipients.
    (c) Preference.--In carrying out conveyances to educational 
recipients under this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall, 
to the extent practicable, give particular preference to educational 
recipients located in an enterprise community, empowerment zone, or 
renewal community designated under section 1391, 1400, or 1400E of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
    (d) Refurbishment of Non-Classroom-Usable Equipment.--At the 
request of an educational recipient, educationally useful Federal 
equipment that is not classroom-usable shall be conveyed initially to a 
nonprofit refurbisher for upgrade before transfer to the educational 
recipient.
    (e) Lowest Cost.--All transfers to educational recipients shall be 
made at the lowest cost to the recipient permitted by law.
    (f) Notice of Availability of Equipment.--The Administrator of 
General Services shall provide notice of the anticipated availability 
of educationally useful Federal equipment (including non-classroom-
usable equipment) to educational recipients by all practicable means, 
including the Internet, newspapers, and community announcements.
    (g) Facilitation by Regional Federal Executive Boards.--The 
regional Federal Executive Boards (as that term is used in part 960 of 
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations) shall help facilitate the 
transfer of educationally useful Federal equipment from the agencies 
they represent to recipients eligible under this Act.

SEC. 4. AGENCY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    Each Federal agency with employees who have computer expertise 
shall, to the extent permitted by law and in accordance with any 
guidelines prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel 
Management, encourage those employees--
            (1) to help connect classrooms in schools to the Nation's 
        information infrastructure;
            (2) to assist teachers in schools in learning to use 
        computers to teach; and
            (3) to assist in providing ongoing maintenance of, and 
        technical support for, educationally useful Federal equipment 
        transferred to educational recipients under this Act.

SEC. 5. RULEMAKING.

    The Administrator of General Services shall prescribe rules and 
procedures to carry out this Act.

SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

    This Act supersedes Executive Order No. 12999 of April 17, 1996.

SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    This Act may not be construed to create any right or benefit, 
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the 
United States, its agencies, officers, or employees.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Federal agency'' means an Executive 
        department or an Executive agency (as such terms are defined in 
        chapter 1 of title 5, United States Code).
            (2) The term ``educational recipient'' means a school or a 
        community-based educational organization.
            (3) The term ``school'' includes a prekindergarten program 
        (as that term is used in the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965), an elementary school, a secondary school, and a 
        local educational agency (as those terms are defined in section 
        9101 of that Act).
            (4) The term ``community-based educational organization'' 
        means a nonprofit entity that--
                    (A) is engaged in collaborative projects with 
                schools or the primary focus of which is education; and
                    (B) qualifies as a nonprofit educational 
                institution or organization for purposes of section 
                549(c)(3) of title 40, United States Code.
            (5) The term ``educationally useful Federal equipment'' 
        means computers and related peripheral tools (such as computer 
        printers, modems, routers, and servers), including 
        telecommunications and research equipment, that are appropriate 
        for use by an educational recipient. The term also includes 
        computer software, where the transfer of a license is 
        permitted.
            (6) The term ``classroom-usable'', with respect to 
        educationally useful Federal equipment, means such equipment 
        that does not require an upgrade of hardware or software in 
        order to be used by an educational recipient without being 
        first transferred under section 3(d) to a nonprofit refurbisher 
        for such an upgrade.
            (7) The term ``nonprofit refurbisher'' means an 
        organization that--
                    (A) is exempt from income taxes under section 
                501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
                    (B) upgrades educationally useful Federal equipment 
                that is not classroom-usable at no cost or low cost to 
                the ultimate recipient school or community-based 
                educational organization.
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