[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3033 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 369
110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3033

                          [Report No. 110-596]

    To improve Federal agency awards and oversight of contracts and 
  assistance and to strengthen accountability of the Government-wide 
                    suspension and debarment system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2007

  Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself and Mr. Towns) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                           Government Reform

                             April 18, 2008

 Additional sponsors: Mr. Wynn, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Filner, 
 Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Miller of North Carolina, and Mr. 
                                 Weiner

                             April 18, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 
                               12, 2007]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To improve Federal agency awards and oversight of contracts and 
  assistance and to strengthen accountability of the Government-wide 
                    suspension and debarment system.

    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 ``Contractors and Federal Spending 
Accountability Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. DATABASE FOR CONTRACTING OFFICERS AND SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT 
              OFFICIALS.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the authority, direction, and control 
of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the 
Administrator of General Services shall establish and maintain a 
database of information regarding integrity and performance of Federal 
contracts and grant recipients for use by Federal officials having 
authority over contracts and grants.
    (b) Information Included.--The database--
            (1) shall consist of information regarding civil, criminal, 
        and administrative proceedings concluded by the Federal 
        Government and State governments against Federal contractors or 
        grant recipients; and
            (2) shall include with respect to each person awarded a 
        Federal contract or grant--
                    (A) information regarding all proceedings referred 
                to in paragraph (1) against that person in at least the 
                most recent 5-year period;
                    (B) with respect to each proceeding--
                            (i) a brief description of the proceeding; 
                        and
                            (ii) any amount paid by the person to the 
                        Federal Government or a State government;
                    (C) all Federal contracts and grants awarded to the 
                person that were terminated in such period due to 
                default;
                    (D) all Federal suspensions and debarments of the 
                person in that period;
                    (E) all Federal administrative agreements entered 
                into by the person and the Federal Government in that 
                period to resolve a suspension or debarment proceeding 
                and, to the maximum extent practicable, such agreements 
                entered into by the person and a State government in 
                that period; and
                    (F) all final findings by a Federal official in 
                that period that the person is not a responsible source 
                as defined by section 4(7) of the Office of Federal 
                Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(7)).
    (c) Requirements Relating to Information in Database.--
            (1) Direct input and update.--The Administrator shall 
        design and maintain the database in a manner that allows the 
        appropriate officials of each Federal agency to directly input 
        and update in the database information relating to actions it 
        has taken with regard to contractors or grant recipients.
            (2) Timeliness and accuracy.--The Administrator shall 
        develop policies to require the timely and accurate input of 
        information into the database and to allow Federal contractors 
        and grant recipients to append comments to information in the 
        database.
    (d) Availability.--
            (1) Availability to all federal agencies.--The 
        Administrator shall make the database available to all Federal 
        agencies.
            (2) Availability to the public.--The Administrator shall 
        make the database available to the public by posting the 
        database on the General Services Administration website.
            (3) Limitation.--This subsection does not require the 
        public availability of information that is exempt from public 
        disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT PROCEDURE FOR REPEAT VIOLATORS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, Federal suspension and debarment regulations shall be amended to 
require issuance of a notice of proposed debarment to any contractor or 
grant recipient against whom is rendered, twice within any 3-year 
period, a judgment or conviction for the same offense, or similar 
offenses, if each judgment or conviction constitutes a cause for 
debarment.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE IN APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, Federal regulations shall be amended to require 
that in applying for any Federal grant or submitting a proposal or bid 
for any Federal contract a person shall disclose in writing information 
described in section 2(b).
    (b) Covered Contracts and Grants.--This section shall apply only to 
contracts and grants in an amount greater than the simplified 
acquisition threshold, as defined in section 4(11) of the Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401(11)).

SEC. 5. ROLE OF INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Requirement.--The Interagency Committee on Debarment and 
Suspension shall--
            (1) resolve issues regarding which of several Federal 
        agencies is the lead agency having responsibility to initiate 
        suspension or debarment proceedings;
            (2) coordinate actions among interested agencies with 
        respect to such action;
            (3) encourage and assist Federal agencies in entering into 
        cooperative efforts to pool resources and achieve operational 
        efficiencies in the governmentwide suspension and debarment 
        system;
            (4) recommend to the Office of Management and Budget 
        changes to Government suspension and debarment system and its 
        rules, if such recommendations are approved by a majority of 
        the Interagency Committee;
            (5) authorize the Office of Management and Budget to issue 
        guidelines that implement those recommendations;
            (6) authorize the chair of the Committee to establish 
        subcommittees as appropriate to best enable the Interagency 
        Committee to carry out its functions; and
            (7) submit to the Congress an annual report on--
                    (A) the progress and efforts to improve the 
                suspension and debarment system;
                    (B) member agencies' active participation in the 
                committee's work; and
                    (C) a summary of each agency's activities and 
                accomplishments in the governmentwide debarment system.
    (b) Definition.--The term ``Interagency Committee on Debarment and 
Suspension'' means such committee constituted under sections 4 and 5 
and of Executive Order 12549.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCIES.

    Any agency, commission, or organization of the Federal Government 
to which Executive Order 12549 does not apply is authorized to 
participate in the governmentwide suspension and debarment system and 
may recognize the suspension or debarment issued by an executive branch 
agency in its own procurement or assistance activities.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of 
General Services such funds as may be necessary to establish the 
database described in section 2.

SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall 
submit to Congress a report.
    (b) Contents of Report.--The report shall contain the following:
            (1) A list of all databases that include information about 
        Federal contracting and Federal grants.
            (2) Recommendations for further legislation or 
        administrative action that the Administrator considers 
        appropriate to create a centralized, comprehensive Federal 
        contracting and Federal grant database.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 369

110th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 3033

                          [Report No. 110-596]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To improve Federal agency awards and oversight of contracts and 
  assistance and to strengthen accountability of the Government-wide 
                    suspension and debarment system.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             April 18, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed