[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6320 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6320

To amend the Small Business Act to ensure the application of the ``Rule 
       of Two'' to certain acquisitions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 8, 2023

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Small Business Act to ensure the application of the ``Rule 
       of Two'' to certain acquisitions, 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 ``Increase Small Business Utilization 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE ``RULE OF TWO'' TO CERTAIN ACQUISITIONS.

    Section 15(r) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(r)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(r) Multiple Award Contracts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided by paragraph (2), the 
        head of a Federal agency shall--
                    ``(A) set aside part or parts of a multiple award 
                contract for small business concerns, including the 
                subcategories of small business concerns identified in 
                subsection (g)(2), unless a contracting officer for the 
                Federal agency is unable to obtain offers from two or 
                more small business concerns that are competitive with 
                market prices and are competitive with regard to the 
                quality and delivery of the goods or services being 
                purchased;
                    ``(B) notwithstanding the fair opportunity 
                requirements under section 3406(c) of title 10 and 
                section 4106(c) of title 41, United States Code, set 
                aside orders placed against multiple award contracts 
                for small business concerns, including the 
                subcategories of small business concerns identified in 
                subsection (g)(2), unless a contracting officer for the 
                Federal agency is unable to obtain offers from two or 
                more small business concerns that are competitive with 
                market prices and are competitive with regard to the 
                quality and delivery of the goods or services being 
                purchased; and
                    ``(C) reserve 1 or more contract awards for small 
                business concerns under full and open multiple award 
                procurements, including the subcategories of small 
                business concerns identified in subsection (g)(2).
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply with 
        respect to--
                    ``(A) contracts (including orders) awarded under 
                subpart 8.4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (or 
                any successor regulation); or
                    ``(B) any multiple award contract or order placed 
                against a multiple award contract with a value less 
                than the micro-purchase threshold.''.
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