[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4328-S4329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 373. Ms. DUCKWORTH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for 
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of 
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMERCIAL MARKET 
                   REPRESENTATIVES.

       Section 4(h) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633(h)) 
     is amended to read as follows:
       ``(h) Commercial Market Representatives.--

[[Page S4329]]

       ``(1) Duties.--The principal duties of a commercial market 
     representative employed by the Administrator and reporting to 
     the senior official appointed by the Administrator with 
     responsibilities under sections 8, 15, 31, and 36 (or the 
     designee of the official) shall be to advance the policies 
     established in section 8(d)(1) relating to subcontracting, 
     including--
       ``(A) helping prime contractors to find small business 
     concerns that are capable of performing subcontracts;
       ``(B) for contractors awarded contracts containing the 
     clause described in section 8(d)(3), providing--
       ``(i) counseling on the responsibility of the contractor to 
     maximize subcontracting opportunities for small business 
     concerns;
       ``(ii) instruction on methods and tools to identify 
     potential subcontractors that are small business concerns; 
     and
       ``(iii) assistance to increase awards to subcontractors 
     that are small business concerns through visits, training, 
     and reviews of past performance;
       ``(C) providing counseling on how a small business concern 
     may promote the capacity of the small business concern to 
     contractors awarded contracts containing the clause described 
     in section 8(d)(3); and
       ``(D) conducting periodic reviews of contractors awarded 
     contracts containing the clause described in section 8(d)(3) 
     to assess compliance with subcontracting plans required under 
     section 8(d)(6).
       ``(2) Certification requirements.--
       ``(A) In general.--Consistent with the requirements of 
     subparagraph (B), a commercial market representative referred 
     to in section 15(q)(3) shall have a Level I Federal 
     Acquisition Certification in Contracting (or any successor 
     certification) or the equivalent Department of Defense 
     certification.
       ``(B) Delay of certification requirement.--The 
     certification described in subparagraph (A) is not required--
       ``(i) for any person serving as a commercial market 
     representative on the date of enactment of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, until the 
     date that is 1 calendar year after the date on which the 
     person was appointed as a commercial market representative; 
     or
       ``(ii) for any person serving as a commercial market 
     representative on or before November 25, 2015, until November 
     25, 2020.
       ``(3) Job posting requirements.--The duties and 
     certification requirements described in this subsection shall 
     be included in any initial job posting for the position of a 
     commercial market representative.''.
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