[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 215 (Friday, December 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H7268-H7270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FEDERAL ADVANCE CONTRACTS ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

[[Page H7269]]

  


                                 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;
       ``(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).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Rodney Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on S. 979.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 979, the Federal Advance 
Contracts Enhancement Act. This bipartisan and bicameral bill 
introduced in the Senate by Senators Rubio, Peters, Johnson, and 
Tillis, and in the House by Representatives Bennie Thompson,   Donald 
Payne, Jr.,   Mike Rogers, and Peter King addresses the findings of the 
Government Accountability Office's report titled ``2017 Disaster 
Contracting: Actions Needed to Better Ensure More Effective Use and 
Management of Advance Contracts.''
  In its report, GAO found several issues with the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency's handling of advance contracts, including 
limitations in the agency's use of some advance contracts, 
Congressional committees being provided with incomplete information in 
FEMA reports, and coordination with States and localities on the use of 
advance contracts.

                              {time}  1230

  GAO made final recommendations, including that FEMA update its 
strategy and guidance to clarify the use of advance contracts, improve 
the timeliness of its acquisition planning activities, revise its 
methodology for reporting disaster contracting actions to congressional 
committees, and provide more consistent guidance and information to 
contracting officers to coordinate with and encourage States and 
localities to establish advance contracts.
  FEMA concurred with all of GAO's recommendations.
  Following Hurricane Katrina, Congress required FEMA to establish 
advance contracts for goods and services to enable the Federal 
Government to quickly mobilize resources to affected areas in the 
aftermath of a disaster.
  This bill allows FEMA to ensure more effective use and management of 
its advance contracts process by incorporating GAO's recommendations to 
ensure that Federal preparedness actions are coordinated to prevent 
gaps in recovery efforts from occurring.
  The bill also requires FEMA to regularly update the appropriate 
committees of Congress on the progress of the agency's implementation 
of these recommendations.
  Given this year's unprecedented level of disaster activity, it is 
critical that Congress enact these reforms ahead of the start of the 
next disaster season in order to ensure that both FEMA and our States, 
Tribes, territories, and localities are well-prepared and equipped for 
future disasters.
  Madam Speaker, I support S. 979, and I urge my colleagues to do the 
same. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, S. 979, the Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement Act, 
or FACE Act, will improve disaster preparedness and ensure State and 
local governments receive more consistent guidance from the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency.
  Following Hurricane Katrina, Congress directed FEMA to establish 
advance contracts ahead of disasters to

[[Page H7270]]

rapidly provide goods and services following a disaster.
  Following the 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, the Government 
Accountability Office reviewed the use of advance contracts and 
identified a number of shortcomings, including unclear guidance and 
inconsistent information from FEMA on using these advance contracts.
  Ultimately, GAO issued nine recommendations, and FEMA has concurred 
with every single one of them.
  This bill would require FEMA to provide an updated report on advance 
contracts, updated its strategy, improve its guidance for FEMA 
personnel, and regularly report to Congress on progress in addressing 
GAO's recommendations.
  These reforms will help improve our disaster preparedness and provide 
clarity to States and local communities on how to better leverage these 
useful contracts.
  I am proud to stand with my colleague, Ms. Norton, to support this 
bill in a bipartisan way because, if there is one thing that the 
Federal Government should do right, it is to help communities recover 
from disasters they had nothing to do with.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, the gentleman has yielded, and I certainly 
concur with him. I am very pleased that this bill comes out now, in the 
season of climate change, where we have seen increased disasters in our 
country.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 979.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
will be postponed.

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