[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1015 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1015

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of 
    contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small 
          business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 20, 2015

Mr. Huelskamp introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of 
    contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small 
          business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.

    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 Business Opportunities 
for Veterans Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTS UNDER CONTRACTS WITH SMALL BUSINESS 
              CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection (m); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the following new 
        subsection (l):
    ``(l) Limitations on Subcontracting.--(1)(A) The requirements 
applicable to a covered small business concern under section 46 of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) shall apply with respect to a small 
business concern owned and controlled by a veteran with a service-
connected disability or a small business concern owned and controlled 
by a veteran that is awarded a contract that is counted for purposes of 
meeting the goals under subsection (a).
    ``(B) For purposes of applying the requirements of section 46 of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) pursuant to subparagraph (A), 
the term `similarly situated entity' used in such section 46 includes a 
subcontractor for a small business concern owned and controlled by a 
veteran with a service-connected disability or a small business concern 
owned and controlled by a veteran described in such subparagraph (A).
    ``(2) Before awarding a contract that is counted for purposes of 
meeting the goals under subsection (a), the Secretary shall obtain from 
an offeror a certification that the offeror will comply with the 
requirements described in paragraph (1)(A) if awarded the contract. 
Such certification shall--
            ``(A) specify the exact performance requirements applicable 
        under such paragraph; and
            ``(B) explicitly acknowledge that the certification is 
        subject to section 1001 of title 18.
    ``(3) If the Secretary determines that a small business concern 
that is awarded a contract that is counted for purposes of meeting the 
goals under subsection (a) did not act in good faith with respect to 
the requirements described in paragraph (1)(A), the small business 
concern shall be subject to the penalties specified in--
            ``(A) section 16(g)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        645(g)(1)); and
            ``(B) section 1001 of title 18.
    ``(4)(A) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
Utilization for the Department, established pursuant to section 15(k) 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)), and the Chief Acquisition 
Officer of the Department, established pursuant to section 1702 of 
title 41, shall jointly implement a process using the systems described 
in section 16(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(2)), or 
any other systems available, to monitor compliance with this 
subsection. The Director and the Chief Acquisition Officer shall 
jointly refer any violations of this subsection to the Inspector 
General of the Department.
    ``(B) Not later than November 30 of each year, the Inspector 
General shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
Senate and House of Representatives a report for the fiscal year 
preceding the fiscal year during which the report is submitted that 
includes, for the fiscal year covered by the report--
            ``(i) the number of referred violations received under 
        subparagraph (A); and
            ``(ii) the disposition of such referred violations, 
        including the number of small business concerns suspended or 
        debarred from Federal contracting or referred to the Attorney 
        General for prosecution.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Subsection (l) of section 8127 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a) shall apply with respect 
to a contract entered into after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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