[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4502-S4503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2226. Mr. HAWLEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 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 end of title VIII, add the following:

                 Subtitle F--Time to Choose Act of 2024

     SEC. 894. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``Time to Choose Act of 
     2024''.

     SEC. 895. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Department of Defense and other agencies in the 
     United States Government regularly award contracts to firms 
     that are simultaneously providing consulting services to 
     foreign governments and proxies or affiliates thereof.
       (2) The provision of such consulting services to covered 
     foreign entities may support efforts by certain foreign 
     governments to generate economic and military power that they 
     can then use to undermine the economic and national security 
     of the American people.
       (3) It is a conflict of interest for consulting firms to 
     simultaneously aid in the efforts of certain foreign 
     governments to undermine the economic and national security 
     of the United States while they are simultaneously 
     contracting with Federal agencies responsible for protecting 
     and defending the United States from foreign threats.
       (4) Firms should be prevented from engaging in such a 
     conflict of interest and should instead be required to choose 
     between aiding the efforts of certain foreign governments or 
     helping the United States Government to support and defend 
     its citizens.

     SEC. 896. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES 
                   THAT ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY AIDING IN THE EFFORTS 
                   OF COVERED FOREIGN ENTITIES.

       (a) In General.--In order to end conflicts of interest in 
     Federal contracting among consulting firms that 
     simultaneously contract with the United States Government and 
     covered foreign entities, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
     Council shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, amend the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation--
       (1) to require any entity that makes an offer or quotation 
     to provide consulting services to an executive agency, 
     including services described in the North American Industry 
     Classification System's Industry Group code 5416, prior to 
     entering into a Federal contract, to certify that neither it 
     nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates hold a consulting 
     contract with one or more covered foreign entities; and
       (2) to prohibit Federal contracts for consulting services 
     from being awarded to an entity that provides consulting 
     services, including services described under the North 
     American Industry Classification System's Industry Group code 
     5416 if the entity or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates 
     are determined, based on the self-certification required 
     under paragraph (1), to be a contractor of, or are otherwise 
     providing consulting services to, a covered foreign entity.
       (b) Waiver.--
       (1) In general.--Subject to the limitations in paragraph 
     (2), the head of an executive agency may waive the conflict 
     of interest restrictions under this section on a case-by-case 
     basis if--
       (A) the agency head, in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, determines 
     the waiver to be in the national security interests of the 
     United States;
       (B) the agency head determines that no other entity without 
     a conflict of interest under this section can perform the 
     work for the Federal contract;
       (C) the head of the executive agency submits to the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget a 
     notification of such waiver at least 5 days prior to issuing 
     the waiver;
       (D) the head of the executive agency submits to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a notification of such 
     waiver within 30 days in unclassified form (accompanied by a 
     classified annex if necessary) and offers a briefing to those 
     committees on the information included in the notification; 
     and
       (E) the contracting agency publishes in an easily 
     accessible location on the agency's public website a list of 
     the names of the covered foreign entities to which the entity 
     receiving a waiver provides consulting services, unless the 
     head of the applicable executive agency, with the approval of 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Defense and Director of 
     National Intelligence, determines that such public disclosure 
     would directly harm the national security interests of the 
     United States.

[[Page S4503]]

       (2) Limitations.--
       (A) Duration.--A waiver granted under paragraph (1) shall 
     last for a period of not more than 365 days. The head of the 
     applicable executive agency, with the approval of the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Defense and Director of 
     National Intelligence, may extend a waiver granted under such 
     paragraph one time, for a period up to 180 days after the 
     date on which the waiver would otherwise expire, if such an 
     extension is in the national security interests of the United 
     States and the Director submits to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a notification of such waiver and 
     offers a briefing to those committees on the information 
     included in the notification.
       (B) Number.--Not more than one total waiver across all 
     executive agencies may be granted under paragraph (1) to a 
     single entity at a given time.
       (C) Notification requirements.--The notification required 
     under subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (1) shall 
     include the following information:
       (i) Information on the contractor, including--

       (I) the name, address, and corporate structure of the 
     contractor;
       (II) the name, address, and corporate structure of any 
     subsidiaries or subcontractors involved;
       (III) all foreign ownership of the contractor;
       (IV) all foreign real estate owned by the contractor; and
       (V) an employee designated as responsible for managing any 
     conflict of interests that may arise as part of the contract.

       (ii) Information on the covered foreign entities involved 
     to the extent known by the contractor, including--

       (I) the name and address of the covered foreign entity;
       (II) the name and address of any subsidiaries or 
     subcontractors involved;
       (III) a complete history of any contracts between the 
     covered foreign entity and the contractor;
       (IV) all ownership of the covered foreign entity; and
       (V) any legal authorities providing a foreign government 
     with access or control over the covered foreign entity.

       (iii) Information on the nature of the work performed for 
     the covered foreign entities, including--

       (I) the projected and actual dollar value of the contract;
       (II) the projected and actual duration of the contract;
       (III) the projected and actual number of employees to work 
     on the contract;
       (IV) the projected and actual number of employees who are 
     United States citizens who work on the contract;
       (V) the projected and actual number of employees who 
     currently or formerly held security clearances with the 
     United States Government who work on the contract;
       (VI) the subject matter of the contract;
       (VII) any materials provided to the covered foreign entity 
     in order to secure the contract;
       (VIII) any tracking number used by the covered foreign 
     entity to identify the contract;
       (IX) any tracking number or information used by the 
     contractor to identify the contract; and
       (X) any military or intelligence applications that could 
     benefit from the contract.

       (iv) Justification of the executive agency's need for 
     providing the waiver.
       (v) An acceptable management oversight plan to ensure that 
     the work performed for the covered foreign entities does not 
     compromise the work being performed for the Federal 
     Government or harm the national security of the United 
     States, to be approved at not lower than the Deputy Secretary 
     level at the contracting agency.
       (3) Contractor reporting.--The executive agency granting a 
     waiver under this subsection shall require the contractor, in 
     the event the contractor identifies any of the following 
     during the performance of the contract, to report the 
     following information to the executive agency:
       (A) Any human rights violations that are known to the 
     contractor through information provided to the contractor in 
     the course of the contract.
       (B) Any religious liberty violations that are known to the 
     contractor through information provided to the contractor in 
     the course of the contract.
       (C) Any risks to United States economic or national 
     security identified by the contractor in the course of the 
     contract.

     SEC. 897. PENALTIES FOR FALSE INFORMATION.

       (a) Termination, Suspension, and Debarment.--If the head of 
     an executive agency determines that a consulting firm 
     described in section 896(a)(1) has knowingly submitted a 
     false certification or information on or after the date on 
     which the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council amends the 
     Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to such section, the 
     head of the executive agency shall terminate the contract 
     with the consulting firm and consider suspending or debarring 
     the firm from eligibility for future Federal contracts in 
     accordance with subpart 9.4 of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation.
       (b) False Claims Act.--A consulting firm described in 
     section 896(a)(1) that, for the purposes of the False Claims 
     Act, knowingly hides or misrepresents one or more contracts 
     with covered foreign entities, or otherwise violates the 
     False Claims Act, shall be subject to the penalties and 
     corrective actions described in the False Claims Act, 
     including liability for three times the amount of damages 
     which the United States Government sustains.

     SEC. 898. DEFINITIONS.

       In this subtitle:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
     and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 
     House of Representatives.
       (2) Consulting services.--The term ``consulting services'' 
     means advisory or assistance services similar to those 
     defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101, but for the 
     purposes of this Act includes services provided to covered 
     foreign entities, except that the term does not include the 
     provision of products or services related to--
       (A) compliance with legal, audit, accounting, tax, 
     reporting, or other requirements of the laws and standards of 
     countries; or
       (B) participation in a judicial, legal, or equitable 
     dispute resolution proceeding.
       (3) Covered foreign entity.--The term ``covered foreign 
     entity'' means any of the following:
       (A) The Government of the People's Republic of China, the 
     Chinese Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army, the 
     Ministry of State Security, or other security service or 
     intelligence agency of the People's Republic of China.
       (B) The Government of the Russian Federation or any entity 
     sanctioned by the Secretary of the Treasury under Executive 
     Order 13662 titled ``Blocking Property of Additional Persons 
     Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine'' (79 Fed. Reg. 
     16169).
       (C) The government of any country if the Secretary of State 
     determines that such government has repeatedly provided 
     support for acts of international terrorism pursuant to any 
     of the following:
       (i) Section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control Reform Act 
     of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)).
       (ii) Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
     U.S.C. 2371).
       (iii) Section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
     2780).
       (iv) Any other provision of law.
       (D) Any entity included on any of the following lists 
     maintained by the Department of Commerce:
       (i) The Entity List set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 
     744 of the Export Administration Regulations.
       (ii) The Denied Persons List as described in section 
     764.3(a)(2) of the Export Administration Regulations.
       (iii) The Unverified List set forth in Supplement No. 6 to 
     part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations.
       (iv) The Military End User List set forth in Supplement No. 
     7 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations.
       (E) Any entity identified by the Secretary of Defense 
     pursuant to section 1237(b) of the Strom Thurmond National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 
     105-261; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note).
       (F) Any entity on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial 
     Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List) maintained by the 
     Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the 
     Treasury under Executive Order 14032 (86 Fed. Reg. 30145; 
     relating to addressing the threat from securities investments 
     that finance certain companies of the People's Republic of 
     China), or any successor order.
       (4) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
     the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United 
     States Code.
       (5) False claims act.--The term ``False Claims Act'' means 
     sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code.
       (6) North american industry classification system's 
     industry group code 5416.--The term ``North American Industry 
     Classification System's Industry Group code 5416'' refers to 
     the North American Industry Classification System category 
     that covers Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting 
     Services as Industry Group code 5416, including industry 
     codes 54151, 541611, 541612, 541613, 541614, 541618, 54162, 
     541620, 54169, and 541690.

     SEC. 899. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

       No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for 
     the purpose of carrying out this subtitle.
                                 ______