[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5545-H5547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DHS CONTRACT REPORTING ACT OF 2021

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 4363) to establish a daily public reporting 
requirement for covered contract awards of the Department of Homeland 
Security, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4363

       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 ``DHS Contract Reporting Act 
     of 2021''.

     SEC. 2. DAILY PUBLIC REPORT OF COVERED CONTRACT AWARDS.

       (a) Daily Report.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall post, maintain, and 
     update in accordance with paragraph (2), on a publicly 
     available website of the Department, a daily report of all 
     covered contract awards. Each reported covered contract award 
     shall include information relating to--
       (A) the contract number, modification number, or delivery 
     order number;
       (B) the contract type;
       (C) the amount obligated for such award;
       (D) the total contract value for such award, including all 
     options;
       (E) the description of the purpose for such award;
       (F) the number of proposals or bids received;
       (G) the name and address of the vendor, and whether such 
     vendor is considered a small business;
       (H) the period and each place of performance for such 
     award;
       (I) whether such award is multiyear;
       (J) whether such award requires a small business 
     subcontracting plan; and
       (K) the contracting office and the point of contact for 
     such office.
       (2) Update.--Updates referred to in paragraph (1) shall 
     occur not later than two business days after the date on 
     which the covered contract is authorized or modified.
       (3) Subscribing to alerts.--The website referred to in 
     paragraph (1) shall provide the option to subscribe to an 
     automatic notification of the publication of each report 
     required under such paragraph.
       (4) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall take effect on the 
     date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     section.
       (b) Undefinitized Contract Action or Definitized Amount.--
     If a covered contract award reported pursuant to subsection 
     (a) includes an undefinitized contract action, the Secretary 
     shall--
       (1) report the estimated total contract value for such 
     award and the amount obligated upon award; and
       (2) once such award is definitized, update the total 
     contract value and amount obligated.
       (c) Exemption.--Each report required under subsection (a) 
     shall not include covered contract awards relating to 
     classified products, programs, or services.
       (d) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Covered contract award.--The term ``covered contract 
     award''--
       (A) means a contract action of the Department with the 
     total authorized dollar amount of $4,000,000 or greater, 
     including unexercised options; and

[[Page H5546]]

       (B) includes--
       (i) contract awards governed by the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation;
       (ii) modifications to a contract award that increase the 
     total value, expand the scope of work, or extend the period 
     of performance;
       (iii) orders placed on a multiple award or multiple-agency 
     contract that includes delivery or quantity terms that are 
     indefinite;
       (iv) other transaction authority agreements; and
       (v) contract awards made with other than full and open 
     competition.
       (2) Definitized amount.--The term ``definitized amount'' 
     means the final amount of a covered contract award after 
     agreement between the Department and the contractor at issue.
       (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
     Department of Homeland Security.
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Homeland Security.
       (5) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means an 
     entity that qualifies as a small business concern, as such 
     term is described under section 3 of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 632).
       (6) Total contract value.--The term ``total contract 
     value'' means the total amount of funds expected to be 
     provided to the contractor at issue under the terms of the 
     contract through the full period of performance.
       (7) Undefinitized contract action.--The term 
     ``undefinitized contract action'' means any contract action 
     for which the contract terms, specifications, or price is not 
     established prior to the start of the performance of a 
     covered contract award.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Guest) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi.


                             General Leave

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. 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 on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Mississippi?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
4363, the DHS Contract Reporting Act of the 2021. I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Department of Homeland Security spends billions of 
dollars each year to acquire goods and services needed to carry out its 
missions.
  It purchases everything from disaster relief supplies to passenger 
screening equipment to software designed to protect Federal Government 
networks from cyber threats.
  The Department's Inspector General and the Government Accountability 
Office have consistently identified challenges with respect to DHS 
contract management efforts.
  For instance, the DHS Inspector General has identified instances 
where FEMA awarded contracts to inexperienced vendors that were unable 
to deliver critical supplies in response to major disasters.
  In June 2020, GAO determined that U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
had misspent funding that Congress specifically appropriated for 
migrant medical care and related supplies.
  H.R. 4363 seeks to improve visibility in DHS' contract awards by 
requiring daily reporting of contract awards on the Department's public 
website. The reports are to include key information about the award, 
such as the purpose of the contract and where work is expected to be 
performed.
  The reports are also to include information about the award 
recipient, such as the name of the company and whether it is considered 
a small business.
  H.R. 4363 has bipartisan support and was reported out of committee by 
voice vote. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, the DHS Contract 
Reporting Act of 2021.
  The Department of Homeland Security, along with its component 
agencies, is appropriated billions of dollars every year to carry out 
its mission. This legislation, authorized by my colleague, 
Representative Harshbarger, will bring long overdue transparency to the 
money DHS spends when contracting services from the private sector.
  I commend Representative Harshbarger for her legislation to battle 
waste, fraud, and abuse, and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent 
efficiently and transparently.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4363, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, 
and I am prepared to close after the gentleman from Mississippi closes. 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger).
  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, 
the DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021.
  Improving transparency and accountability is an essential way for the 
America people to gain and have confidence in their government and the 
Department of Homeland Security.
  Currently, there is no clear line of sight into DHS' purchasing 
decisions. Even though DHS is required to report some contract awards 
to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, it is not required 
to report them to other committees with oversight responsibilities such 
as ours, the House Committee on Homeland Security.
  And most importantly, if the American people want to know where their 
tax dollars are going, that information is almost impossible to find.
  Today, if someone wanted to find a DHS contract award, they would 
have to know how to use and navigate the cumbersome Federal data 
systems, and even then they may not be successful if they don't already 
know some key details about the contract.
  Furthermore, DHS acquisition management is still on the Government 
Accountability Office's high-risk list. GAO reports that although DHS 
has taken steps to strengthen its acquisition requirements development 
process, DHS continues to face challenges in effectively executing its 
acquisition portfolio, with many programs not meeting the cost and 
schedule goals they establish.
  I want to change this. The bill I am putting forward today will 
increase the transparency into these contracts. The DHS Contract 
Reporting Act of 2021 requires DHS to have a public facing website 
where it will report all contract awards over $4 million.
  To illustrate the current opaqueness of our oversight, I want to ask: 
Does anybody here know whether all the DHS contracts that should have 
been awarded competitively actually were? I don't know the answer. But 
I do know that competition and contract awards helps to lower the cost 
of services and technologies the Department buys, and to get the best 
return on investment for the American taxpayer.
  To get at this type of information and to have more insight into DHS' 
awards more generally, this bill also requires DHS to include key 
aspects of each contract award it reports, such as the total amount it 
plans to spend; what the contract is for; what type of agreement it is; 
and whether the government competed the contract award.
  According to the government's top 100 contractors report for 2020, 
DHS alone awarded over $12 billion to its top 100 contractors. And this 
is an increase in spending of $1 billion from just the previous year.

                              {time}  1645

  This includes everything from drones and IT systems to medical 
services at the border. With these significant levels of increased 
spending, it is crucial that Congress have better oversight of DHS 
contracts.
  If this requirement would have been in place last year, the American 
people and Congress would have had that insight into nearly 1,000 
contracts DHS awarded in 2020. We need to put this requirement in place 
now so that Congress can ensure better stewardship of taxpayer dollars 
next year.
  With increased Federal spending across the board, it is more 
important than ever that this committee does its job to ensure DHS is 
being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. More accountability will make 
the Department a better business partner and a better provider of 
services to the public, and that is why I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill.
  I would like to thank Ranking Member Katko and Representatives Luria 
and Slotkin for reaching across the aisle and cosponsoring this bill 
with me.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time, and I am prepared to close.

[[Page H5547]]

  

  Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge Members to 
support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, DHS obligated the $20 billion on goods and services in 
fiscal year 2020, making it the fourth highest spending civilian agency 
in the Federal Government.
  Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the Department's funds 
are well spent. Enactment of H.R. 4363 would provide greater 
transparency into the Department's contract awards and enable better 
oversight of DHS's spending.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4363, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4363, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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