[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 124 (Monday, July 24, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H6174-H6175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             VA PROCUREMENT EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2006) to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2006

       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 ``VA Procurement Efficiency 
     and Transparency Act''.

     SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON COST OR PRICE SAVINGS FROM 
                   COMPETITION.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 81 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting after section 8128 the 
     following new section:

     ``Sec. 8129. Information on cost or price savings from 
       competition

       ``(a) Recording of Information.--With respect to any 
     contract awarded by the Secretary that is reported in the 
     Federal Procurement Data System described in section 
     1122(a)(4)(A) of title 41, United States Code, or any 
     successor system, the Secretary shall record information on 
     the amount of any cost or price savings realized by using 
     competitive procedures in awarding such contract.
       ``(b) Placement of Records.--The Secretary shall place 
     recorded information under subsection (a) as follows:
       ``(1) With respect to contracts recorded in the Electronic 
     Contract Management System, or any successor system, in such 
     system.
       ``(2) With respect to contracts not covered by paragraph 
     (1), in a location determined appropriate by the Secretary.
       ``(c) Calculation of Cost Savings.--(1) In carrying out 
     subsection (a), the Secretary shall calculate the amount of 
     cost or price savings realized by using competitive 
     procedures in awarding a contract by--
       ``(A) subtracting the total value of the selected offer or 
     quote from the average of the total values of all offers or 
     quotes evaluated; or
       ``(B) subtracting the total value of the selected offer or 
     quote from the total value of the median offer or quote 
     evaluated.
       ``(2) If the difference calculated pursuant to paragraph 
     (1) is negative, the Secretary shall record such difference 
     as zero.
       ``(3) The Secretary shall make calculations under paragraph 
     (1) with respect to a contract--
       ``(A) at the time at which the Secretary obligates amounts 
     under such contract; or
       ``(B) if such contract contains options, at the time at 
     which the option is exercised.''.

[[Page H6175]]

       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
     item relating to section 8128 the following new item:

``8129. Information on cost or price savings from competition.''.

     SEC. 3. USE OF STANDARDIZED PROCUREMENT TEMPLATES.

       To the extent practicable, the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs shall make available and use on a Department-wide 
     basis the standardized procurement templates used by the 
     Central Office of the Department, the Veterans Health 
     Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the 
     National Cemetery Administration. In carrying out this 
     section, the Secretary may customize such templates to 
     address particular procurement situations.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2005, the VA Procurement 
Efficiency and Transparency Act.
  H.R. 2006 is commonsense contracting, transparency, and efficiency 
legislation sponsored by my friend, Representative Mike Coffman, an 
esteemed member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
  This bill will make clear how much money the VA is saving by 
competing contracts and direct the VA to organize its contracting 
documents. Procurement difficulties seem to happen year after year, and 
I thank Representative Coffman and other Members with reform bills 
under consideration today for their work on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2006, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I feel so strongly about this, I am going to support it 
again today. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2006, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), a senior member of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, a veteran of both the Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, and a 
great friend.
  Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, one of the VA's top procurement goals is to 
achieve savings through competition. However, there is no uniformity in 
how the savings are calculated or if they are recorded at all.
  This is why I introduced H.R. 2006, the VA Procurement Efficiency and 
Transparency Act. My bill will create a consistent method for the VA to 
measure and record the cost savings generated by competing contracts 
from its $20 billion procurement budget.
  H.R. 2006 also directs the VA to organize its document templates, 
which are the building blocks for every contract, and make them 
accessible in a central place.
  Mr. Speaker, too often, the VA reports flawed or incomplete data to 
Congress and to the public. While the VA's current leadership is 
working to correct years of transparency problems, the legislation 
gives that effort a much-needed push in the right direction.
  Mr. Speaker, the VA's contracting will benefit by adopting these best 
practices, and I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense 
measure.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this piece of legislation, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support 
this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2006.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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