[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 146 (Monday, September 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S5125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 873. Mrs. ERNST (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Ms. Hirono) 
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. __. REPORT ON UTILIZATION OF SMALL BUSINESSES FOR 
                   FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) since the passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011 
     (Public Law 112-25; 125 Stat. 240), many Federal agencies 
     have started favoring longer-term Federal contracts, 
     including multiple award contracts, over direct individual 
     awards;
       (2) these multiple award contracts have grown to more than 
     one-fifth of Federal contract spending, with the fastest 
     growing multiple award contracts surpassing $100,000,000 in 
     obligations for the first time between 2013 and 2014;
       (3) in fiscal year 2017, 17 of the 20 largest Federal 
     contract opportunities are multiple award contracts;
       (4) while Federal agencies may choose to use any or all of 
     the various socio-economic groups on a multiple award 
     contract, the Small Business Administration only examines 
     socio-economic performance through the small business 
     procurement scorecard and does not examine potential 
     opportunities by those groups; and
       (5) Congress and the Department of Justice have been clear 
     that no individual socio-economic group shall be given 
     preference over another.
       (b) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
     the Small Business Administration;
       (2) the term ``covered small business concerns'' means--
       (A) HUBZone small business concerns;
       (B) small business concerns owned and controlled by 
     service-disabled veterans;
       (C) small business concerns owned and controlled by women; 
     and
       (D) socially and economically disadvantaged small business 
     concerns, as defined in section 8(a)(4)(A) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(4)(A)), receiving assistance 
     under such section 8(a); and
       (3) the terms ``HUBZone small business concern'', ``small 
     business concern'', ``small business concern owned and 
     controlled by service-disabled veterans'', and ``small 
     business concern owned and controlled by women'' have the 
     meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Small Business 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
       (c) Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the 
     Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
     Representatives a report that includes--
       (A) a determination as to whether small business concerns 
     and each category of covered small business concerns 
     described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection 
     (b)(2) are being utilized in a significant portion of the 
     Federal market on multiple award contracts, including--
       (i) whether awards are being reserved for 1 or more of 
     those categories; and
       (ii) whether each such category is being given the 
     opportunity to perform on multiple award contracts;
       (B) a determination as to whether performance requirements 
     for multiple award contracts, as in effect on the day before 
     the date of enactment of this Act, are feasible and 
     appropriate for small business concerns; and
       (C) any additional information as the Administrator may 
     determine necessary.
       (2) Requirement.--In making the determinations required 
     under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall use information 
     from multiple award contracts--
       (A) with varied assigned North American Industry 
     Classification System codes; and
       (B) that were awarded by not less than 8 Federal agencies.
                                 ______