[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 178 (Thursday, November 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6484-S6485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FEDERAL ADVANCE CONTRACTS ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 188, S. 979.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 979) to amend the Post-Katrina Emergency 
     Management Reform Act of 2006 to incorporate the 
     recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office 
     relating to advance contracts, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, with amendments; as follows:
  (The parts of the bill intended to be stricken are shown in boldface 
brackets and the parts of the bill intended to be inserted are shown in 
italics.)

                                 S. 979

       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 ``Federal Advance Contracts 
     Enhancement Act'' or the ``FACE Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the Post-Katrina Emergency Management and Reform Act of 
     2006 (Public Law 109-925; 120 Stat. 1394) required the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish advance 
     contracts, which are established prior to disasters and are 
     typically needed to quickly provide life-sustaining goods and 
     services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster;
       (2) the catastrophic hurricanes and wildfires in the United 
     States in 2017 highlighted the importance of these advance 
     contracts in disaster response;
       (3) in a report issued by the Government Accountability 
     Office entitled ``2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to 
     Better Ensure More Effective Use and Management of Advance 
     Contracts'', the Government Accountability Office identified 
     a number of challenges with advance contracts and recommended 
     actions to improve management by the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency of these contracts for future disasters; 
     and
       (4) section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
     Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) should be amended to 
     incorporate the recommendations made by the report described 
     in paragraph (3) to ensure more effective use and management 
     of advance contracts.

     SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ADVANCE 
                   CONTRACTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
     Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Updated Report.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
     submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an updated 
     report that contains--
       ``(1) the information required in the initial report under 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (a)(1); and
       ``(2) an updated strategy described in subsection (a)(1)(C) 
     that clearly defines--
       ``(A) the objectives of advance contracts;
       ``(B) how advance contracts contribute to disaster response 
     operations of the Agency; [and]
       ``(C) how to maximize the award of advance contracts to 
     small business concerns, as defined in section 3 of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and
       ``[C](D) whether and how advance contracts should be 
     prioritized in relation to new post-disaster contract awards.
       ``(f) Additional Duties of the Administrator.--
       ``(1) Head of contracting.--The Administrator shall ensure 
     that the head of contracting activity of the Agency--
       ``(A) not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 
     of this subsection, updates the Disaster Contracting Desk 
     Guide of the Agency to provide specific guidance--
       ``(i) on whether and under what circumstances contracting 
     officers should consider using existing advance contracts 
     entered into in accordance with this section prior to making 
     new post-disaster contract awards, and include this guidance 
     in existing semi-annual training given to contracting 
     officers; and
       ``(ii) for contracting officers to perform outreach to 
     State and local governments on the potential benefits of 
     establishing their own pre-negotiated advance contracts;
       ``(B) adheres to hard copy contract file management 
     requirements in effect to ensure that the files relating to 
     advance contracts entered into in accordance with this 
     section are complete and up to date, whether the files will 
     be transferred into the Electronic Contract Filing System of 
     the Agency or remain in hard copy format;
       ``(C) notifies contracting officers of the 3-day time frame 
     requirement for entering completed award documentation into 
     the contract writing system of the Agency when executing 
     notice to proceed documentation;
       ``(D) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this subsection, revises the reporting methodology of the 
     Agency to ensure that all disaster contracts are included in 
     each quarterly report submitted to the appropriate 
     congressional committees under this section on disaster 
     contract actions;
       ``(E) identifies a single centralized resource listing 
     advance contracts entered into under this section and ensures 
     that source is current and up to date and includes all 
     available advance contracts; and
       ``(F) communicates complete and up-to-date information on 
     available advance contracts to State and local governments to 
     inform their advance contracting efforts.
       ``(2) Master acquisition planning schedule.--Not later than 
     180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
     Administrator shall update and implement guidance for program 
     office and acquisition personnel of the Agency to--
       ``(A) identify acquisition planning time frames and 
     considerations across the entire acquisition planning process 
     of the Agency; and
       ``(B) clearly communicate the purpose and use of a master 
     acquisition planning schedule.''.
       (b) Report.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency shall regularly update the appropriate 
     committees of Congress (as defined in section 602 of the 
     Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 
     U.S.C. 701)) on the progress of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency in implementing the recommendations of the 
     Government Accountability Office in the report entitled 
     ``2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to Better Ensure 
     More Effective Use and Management of Advance Contracts'', as 
     required under section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
     Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791), as amended by 
     subsection (a).
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a 
third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider made laid upon 
the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendments were agreed to.
  The bill (S. 979), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed as follows:

                                 S. 979

       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 ``Federal Advance Contracts 
     Enhancement Act'' or the ``FACE Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the Post-Katrina Emergency Management and Reform Act of 
     2006 (Public Law 109-925; 120 Stat. 1394) required the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish advance 
     contracts, which are established prior to disasters and are 
     typically needed to quickly provide life-sustaining goods and 
     services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster;
       (2) the catastrophic hurricanes and wildfires in the United 
     States in 2017 highlighted the importance of these advance 
     contracts in disaster response;
       (3) in a report issued by the Government Accountability 
     Office entitled ``2017 Disaster

[[Page S6485]]

     Contracting: Action Needed to Better Ensure More Effective 
     Use and Management of Advance Contracts'', the Government 
     Accountability Office identified a number of challenges with 
     advance contracts and recommended actions to improve 
     management by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of 
     these contracts for future disasters; and
       (4) section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
     Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) should be amended to 
     incorporate the recommendations made by the report described 
     in paragraph (3) to ensure more effective use and management 
     of advance contracts.

     SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ADVANCE 
                   CONTRACTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
     Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Updated Report.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
     submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an updated 
     report that contains--
       ``(1) the information required in the initial report under 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (a)(1); and
       ``(2) an updated strategy described in subsection (a)(1)(C) 
     that clearly defines--
       ``(A) the objectives of advance contracts;
       ``(B) how advance contracts contribute to disaster response 
     operations of the Agency;
       ``(C) how to maximize the award of advance contracts to 
     small business concerns, as defined in section 3 of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and
       ``(D) whether and how advance contracts should be 
     prioritized in relation to new post-disaster contract awards.
       ``(f) Additional Duties of the Administrator.--
       ``(1) Head of contracting.--The Administrator shall ensure 
     that the head of contracting activity of the Agency--
       ``(A) not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 
     of this subsection, updates the Disaster Contracting Desk 
     Guide of the Agency to provide specific guidance--
       ``(i) on whether and under what circumstances contracting 
     officers should consider using existing advance contracts 
     entered into in accordance with this section prior to making 
     new post-disaster contract awards, and include this guidance 
     in existing semi-annual training given to contracting 
     officers; and
       ``(ii) for contracting officers to perform outreach to 
     State and local governments on the potential benefits of 
     establishing their own pre-negotiated advance contracts;
       ``(B) adheres to hard copy contract file management 
     requirements in effect to ensure that the files relating to 
     advance contracts entered into in accordance with this 
     section are complete and up to date, whether the files will 
     be transferred into the Electronic Contract Filing System of 
     the Agency or remain in hard copy format;
       ``(C) notifies contracting officers of the 3-day time frame 
     requirement for entering completed award documentation into 
     the contract writing system of the Agency when executing 
     notice to proceed documentation;
       ``(D) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this subsection, revises the reporting methodology of the 
     Agency to ensure that all disaster contracts are included in 
     each quarterly report submitted to the appropriate 
     congressional committees under this section on disaster 
     contract actions;
       ``(E) identifies a single centralized resource listing 
     advance contracts entered into under this section and ensures 
     that source is current and up to date and includes all 
     available advance contracts; and
       ``(F) communicates complete and up-to-date information on 
     available advance contracts to State and local governments to 
     inform their advance contracting efforts.
       ``(2) Master acquisition planning schedule.--Not later than 
     180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
     Administrator shall update and implement guidance for program 
     office and acquisition personnel of the Agency to--
       ``(A) identify acquisition planning time frames and 
     considerations across the entire acquisition planning process 
     of the Agency; and
       ``(B) clearly communicate the purpose and use of a master 
     acquisition planning schedule.''.
       (b) Report.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency shall regularly update the appropriate 
     committees of Congress (as defined in section 602 of the 
     Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 
     U.S.C. 701)) on the progress of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency in implementing the recommendations of the 
     Government Accountability Office in the report entitled 
     ``2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to Better Ensure 
     More Effective Use and Management of Advance Contracts'', as 
     required under section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
     Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791), as amended by 
     subsection (a).

                          ____________________