[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1401 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1401

Directing the Committee on House Administration to take certain actions 
 to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne 
 program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code 
    (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2024

   Ms. Crockett (for herself, Mr. Molinaro, Mr. Loudermilk, and Mr. 
 Thompson of California) submitted the following resolution; which was 
           referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Directing the Committee on House Administration to take certain actions 
 to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne 
 program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code 
    (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas, in 1971, Congress passed the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act to advance 
        employment opportunities for Americans who are blind or who have 
        significant disabilities by requiring the Federal Government, including 
        legislative entities, when seeking to procure a product or service, to 
        first assess whether their needs can be met by products or services 
        provided by Ability One Participating Agencies and included on the 
        AbilityOne Procurement List maintained by the AbilityOne Commission; and
Whereas, as a result of the AbilityOne Program, tens of thousands of Americans 
        who are blind or who have significant disabilities, including a large 
        and growing number of returning veterans, are employed at competitive 
        wages providing products and services to the Federal Government, greatly 
        enhancing their self-sufficiency and providing critical career skills: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. PROMOTING PROCUREMENT OF ABILITYONE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 
              FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) Update to General Guidelines.--
            (1) Procurement by cao.--Not later than January 1, 2025, 
        the Committee on House Administration shall update the 
        Committee document entitled ``Guidelines for Procurement of 
        Goods and Services for the U.S. House of Representatives'' to 
        direct the Chief Administrative Officer to procure, to the 
        maximum extent practicable, products and services which are 
        included on the AbilityOne Procurement List from Participating 
        AbilityOne Agencies.
            (2) Applicability to all products and services procured.--
        Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to products and services 
        procured by the Chief Administrative Officer for the use of 
        Office of the Chief Administrative Officer or any other office 
        of the House, including products and services which are 
        procured by the Chief Administrative Officer and made available 
        to other offices of the House through the House Supply Store.
    (b) Special Requirements for House Supply Store.--Not later than 
January 1, 2025, the Committee on House Administration shall take the 
following actions with respect to the operation of the House Supply 
Store:
            (1) Ensuring that on the internal website of the House 
        Supply Store, AbilityOne products and services are ranked as 
        the first result in generic product filters and generic product 
        searches.
            (2) Including on the homepage of the internal website of 
        the House Supply Store a separate hyperlink through which users 
        may find all of the products and services of the Store which 
        are AbilityOne products and services.
            (3) The placement of permanent signage in prominent 
        locations in the Store which identifies AbilityOne products and 
        services.
    (c) New Member Orientation Program.--
            (1) Inclusion of information in program.--As part of the 
        orientation program for Members-elect, the Committee on House 
        Administration, in consultation with the Director of the 
        Congressional Research Service, shall develop programming and 
        other events to provide Members-elect with information on--
                    (A) an overview of the AbilityOne Program;
                    (B) the economic impact of such program nationally, 
                and to the best approximation, the economic impact of 
                the program on the State and congressional district of 
                each Member-elect; and
                    (C) maximizing an office's procurement from 
                AbilityOne Participating Agencies.
            (2) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect 
        to the orientation program for Members-elect to the One Hundred 
        Nineteenth Congress and each succeeding Congress.

SEC. 2. ABILITYONE REPRESENTATIVE.

    (a) Designation of Position.--
            (1) Office of the cao.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date of the adoption of this resolution, the Chief 
        Administrative Officer shall designate an employee in the 
        Office of the Chief Administrative Officer to serve in a 
        position to be known as the ``AbilityOne Representative''.
            (2) Duties.--The employee serving as the AbilityOne 
        Representative shall carry out the following duties:
                    (A) Promoting the purchase and use of AbilityOne 
                products and services within the Office of the Chief 
                Administrative Officer.
                    (B) Providing the data required for preparing the 
                annual report required under section 3.
                    (C) Ensuring compliance with AbilityOne Commission 
                regulations, as applicable.
                    (D) Serving as a liaison to Members of the House of 
                Representatives, AbilityOne Participating Agencies, the 
                AbilityOne Commission, and the Commission's central 
                nonprofit coordinating agencies on matters in the 
                Office which relate to the AbilityOne program.
                    (E) Developing and monitoring the implementation of 
                a written strategic plan for increasing procurement by 
                the Office from the AbilityOne program.
    (b) Application to Other Support Offices Upon Direction of 
Committee on House Administration.--The Committee on House 
Administration may direct a support office of the House to designate an 
employee of the office to serve in the position of AbilityOne 
Representative in the same manner and subject to the same terms and 
conditions which apply under subsection (a) to the Office of the Chief 
Administrative Officer.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Not later than January 1 of each calendar year, beginning with 
2025, the Chief Administrative Officer shall submit to the Committee on 
House Administration a report on--
            (1) the total amount spent on the procurement of products 
        and services by the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 
        during the previous fiscal year;
            (2) of the amount described in paragraph (1), the total 
        amount spent on AbilityOne products and services;
            (3) of the products and services described in paragraph 
        (1), a description of the products or services which were 
        purchased from the AbilityOne program and which were not;
            (4) for each product and service described in paragraph (3) 
        which was not purchased from the AbilityOne program, an 
        explanation of why the product or service was procured from a 
        source outside of the AbilityOne program;
            (5) qualitative information on efforts to increase 
        procurement through the AbilityOne program; and
            (6) qualitative information on any obstacles faced in 
        increasing procurement from the AbilityOne program.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this resolution, the following definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``AbilityOne Commission'' means the Committee 
        for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 
        established under section 8502 of title 41, United States Code.
            (2) The term ``AbilityOne Participating Agency'' means a 
        nonprofit agency for the blind or a nonprofit agency employing 
        persons with significant disabilities which is authorized by 
        the AbilityOne Commission to provide products or services 
        pursuant to chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code 
        (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and associated 
        regulations.
            (3) The term ``AbilityOne Procurement List'' means the list 
        of products and services determined by the AbilityOne 
        Commission to be suitable to be procured by the Federal 
        Government from AbilityOne Participating Agencies pursuant to 
        section 8503 of title 41, United States Code.
            (4) The term ``AbilityOne program'' means the program 
        established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code 
        (commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act).
            (5) The term ``Member of the House of Representatives'' 
        includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
            (6) The term ``support office of the House'' means an 
        office of the House other than the office of a Member of the 
        House of Representatives, the office of a committee (including 
        a select committee), or a House leadership office.
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