1.This Act may be cited as
the Keeping Politics Out of Federal
Contracting Act of 2011
.
2.Prohibition on certain
uses of political information
(a)Chapter 47 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
4712.Prohibition
on certain uses of political information
(a)Prohibition on
requiring submission of political informationThe head of an executive agency may not
require a contractor to submit political information related to the contractor
or a subcontractor at any tier, or any partner, officer, director, or employee
of the contractor or subcontractor—
(1)as part of a
solicitation, request for bid, request for proposal, or any other form of
communication designed to solicit offers in connection with the award of a
contract for procurement of property or services;
(2)during the course
of contract performance as part of the process associated with modifying a
contract or exercising a contract option; or
(3)any time prior to
contract completion and final contract closeout.
(b)Prohibition on
use of political informationThe head of an executive agency may
not use political information, whether obtained from a contractor or
prospective contractor or from an independent public or nonpublic source, as a
factor or consideration in the source selection process used to award a
competitive or non-competitive contract at any value or in making any decision
associated with the modification of a contract or the exercise of a contract
option.
(c)Prohibition on
inclusion of political information in contracting databases
(1)Except as provided under paragraph (2), an executive
agency may not include political information in the contracting past
performance database or any database designed to provide information to a
contracting officer for purposes of supporting the responsibility determination
by such officer.
(2)Exception for
disclosure of certain violations
(A)Data
required as of the date of the enactment of the Keeping Politics Out of Federal
Contracting Act of 2011 to be included in the database maintained under section
2313 of this title are not subject to the prohibition under paragraph
(1).
(B)Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), this paragraph
shall not be construed as authorizing the inclusion of political information
pursuant to subsection (c)(6) of such section.
(d)The
prohibitions under this section apply to the procurement of commercial items,
the procurement of commercial-off-the-shelf-items, and the non-commercial
procurement of supplies, property, services, and manufactured items,
irrespective of contract vehicle, including contracts, purchase orders, task or
deliver orders under indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts, blanket
purchase agreements, and basic ordering agreements.
(e)Nothing in this section shall be
construed as waiving, superseding,
restricting, or limiting the application of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) or preventing Federal regulatory or law
enforcement agencies from collecting or receiving information authorized by
law.construed
as—
(1)waiving, superseding,
restricting, or limiting the application of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) or preventing Federal regulatory or law
enforcement agencies from collecting or receiving information authorized by
law; or
(2)precluding the Defense
Contract Audit Agency or other auditor from accessing and reviewing certain
information, including political information, for the purpose of identifying
unallowable costs and administering cost principles established pursuant to
chapter 43 of this title.
(f)In
this section:
(1)The
term acquisition has the meaning given the term in section 131 of
this title.
(2)The
term contractor includes contractors, bidders, and offerors, and
individuals and legal entities who would reasonably be expected to submit
offers or bids for Federal Government contracts.
(3)The term executive agency has the meaning
given the term in section 133 of this title.
(4)The term political information means
information relating to political spending, including any payment consisting of
a contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an
electioneering communication that is made by the contractor, any of its
partners, officers, directors or employees, or any of its affiliates or
subsidiaries to a candidate or on behalf of a candidate for election for
Federal office, to a political committee, to a political party, to a third
party entity with the intention or reasonable expectation that it would use the
payment to make independent expenditures or electioneering communications, or
that is otherwise made with respect to any election for Federal office, party
affiliation, and voting history. Each of the terms contribution,
expenditure, independent expenditure,
candidate, election, electioneering
communication, and Federal office has the meaning given the
term in the Federal Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et
seq.).
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 47 of
title 41, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 4711 the following new item:
4712. Prohibition on
Certain Uses of Political Information.
.
December 19, 2012
Reported with an amendment