[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 731 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 731

To amend the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 
 1991 to allow the Department of State to use a best-value contracting 
method in awarding local guard or protective service contracts in high 
        risk areas abroad under the diplomatic security program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 2013

Mr. Radel (for himself, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. 
   Cotton, and Mr. Messer) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 
 1991 to allow the Department of State to use a best-value contracting 
method in awarding local guard or protective service contracts in high 
        risk areas abroad under the diplomatic security program.

    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 ``Protecting Americans Abroad Act''.

SEC. 2. DIPLOMATIC SECURITY PROGRAM CONTRACTING.

    Section 136 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 4864) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``With respect'' and inserting ``Except as 
                provided in subsection (d), with respect''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``subsection 
                (d)'' and inserting ``subsection (e)'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) as 
        subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d) Award of Local Guard and Protective Service Contracts in High 
Risk Areas.--With respect to any local guard contract for a Foreign 
Service building located in a high risk area that is entered into after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of State--
            ``(1) shall comply with paragraphs (1), (2), (4), (5), and 
        (6) of subsection (c) in the award of the contract;
            ``(2) after evaluating proposals for the contract, may 
        award the contract to the firm representing the best value to 
        the Government in accordance with the best value tradeoff 
        process described in subpart 15.1 of the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation (48 C.F.R. 15.101-1); and
            ``(3) shall ensure that contractor personnel under the 
        contract providing local guard or protective services are 
        classified--
                    ``(A) as employees of the contractor;
                    ``(B) if the contractor is a joint venture, as 
                employees of one of the persons or parties constituting 
                the joint venture; or
                    ``(C) as employees of a subcontractor to the 
                contractor, and not as independent contractors to the 
                contractor or any other entity performing under such 
                contracts.''; and
            (4) in subsection (e), as redesignated by paragraph (2) of 
        this section--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(5) the term `high risk area' means an area determined by 
        the Assistant Secretary of Diplomatic Security to present an 
        increased threat of serious damage or harm to United States 
        diplomatic facilities or personnel.''.
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