[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
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(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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