[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5088-S5089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2878. Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. Cruz) 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--Federal Improvement in Technology Procurement

     SEC. 894. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``Federal Improvement in 
     Technology Procurement Act'' or the ``FIT Procurement Act''.

     SEC. 895. DEFINITIONS.

       In this subtitle:
       (1) Acquisition workforce.--The term ``acquisition 
     workforce'' means employees of an executive agency who are 
     responsible for procurement, contracting, program or project 
     management that involves the performance of acquisition-
     related functions, or others as designated by the Chief 
     Acquisition Officer, senior procurement executive, or head of 
     the contracting activity.
       (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
     Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
       (3) Cross-functional.--The term ``cross-functional'' means 
     a structure in which individuals with different functional 
     expertise or from different areas of an organization work 
     together as a team.
       (4) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
     the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United 
     States Code.
       (5) Experiential learning.--The term ``experiential 
     learning'' means on-the-job experiences or simulations that 
     serve to enhance workforce professional skills.
       (6) Information and communications technology.--The term 
     ``information and communications technology''--
       (A) has the meaning given the term in section 4713 of title 
     41, United States Code; and
       (B) includes information and communications technologies 
     covered by definitions contained in the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation, including definitions added after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
     Council pursuant to notice and comment.
       (7) Relevant committees of congress.--The term ``relevant 
     committees of Congress'' means the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (8) Small business.--The term ``small business'' has the 
     meaning given the term ``small business concern'' in section 
     3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

     SEC. 896. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.

       (a) Experiential Learning.--Not later than 18 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 
     Acquisition Institute shall establish a pilot program to 
     consider the incorporation of experiential learning into the 
     Federal Credentials Program, the Federal Acquisition 
     Certification-Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-COR) 
     Program, and the Federal Acquisition Certification for 
     Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM) Program, or any 
     successor programs.
       (b) Training on Information and Communications Technology 
     Acquisition.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Institute, 
     in coordination with the Administrator, the Administrator of 
     General Services, the Administrator of the Office of 
     Electronic Government, the Chief Information Officers 
     Council, and the United States Digital Service, and in 
     consultation with others as determined to be appropriate by 
     the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, shall 
     develop and implement or otherwise provide a cross-functional 
     information and communications technology acquisition 
     training program for acquisition workforce members involved 
     in acquiring information and communications technology. The 
     training shall--
       (A) include learning objectives related to market research, 
     communicating with industry and industry perspectives on the 
     procurement process, including how investment decisions are 
     impacted by Government communication and engagement, 
     developing requirements, acquisition planning, best practices 
     for developing and executing outcome-based contracts, and 
     source selection strategy, evaluating proposals, and awarding 
     and administering contracts for information and 
     communications technology;
       (B) include learning objectives that provide a basic 
     understanding of key technologies Federal agencies need, such 
     as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and artificial 
     intelligence-enabled applications, and cybersecurity 
     solutions;
       (C) include learning objectives that encourage the use of 
     commercial or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) 
     technologies to the greatest extent practicable;
       (D) include case studies of lessons learned from Federal 
     information and communications technology procurements and 
     contracts, and related matters as deemed relevant by the 
     Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute;
       (E) include experiential learning opportunities, and 
     opportunities to practice acquisition teaming involving 
     collaboration of team

[[Page S5089]]

     members with varied relevant domain expertise to complete 
     acquisition-related tasks, including tasks with accelerated 
     timelines;
       (F) include continuous learning recommendations and 
     resources to keep the skills of acquisition workforce members 
     current, including tools that help adopt or adapt the use of 
     innovative acquisition practices or other flexible business 
     practices commonly used in commercial buys;
       (G) be made available to acquisition workforce members 
     designated by a Chief Acquisition Officer, senior procurement 
     executive, or head of the contracting activity to participate 
     in the training program; and
       (H) inform executive agencies about streamlined and 
     alternative procurement methods for procurement of 
     information and communications technology, including--
       (i) simplified procedures for certain commercial products 
     and commercial services in accordance with subpart 13.5 of 
     the Federal Acquisition Regulation, prize competitions under 
     the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 
     111-358), competitive programs that encourage businesses to 
     engage in Federal research or research and development with 
     the potential for commercialization, and joint venture 
     partnerships;
       (ii) innovative procurement techniques designed to 
     streamline the procurement process and lower barriers to 
     entry, such as use of oral presentations and product 
     demonstrations instead of lengthy written proposals, 
     appropriately leveraging performance and outcomes-based 
     contracting, and other techniques discussed on the Periodic 
     Table of Acquisition Innovations or other similar successor 
     knowledge management portals; and
       (iii) information on appropriate use, examples and 
     templates, and any other information determined relevant by 
     the Administrator to assist contracting officers and other 
     members of the acquisition workforce in using the procedures 
     described in clauses (i) and (ii).
       (I) includes ethical procurement practices as a core 
     component of trainings and provides a mechanism for feedback 
     from program participants to ensure trainings cover ethical 
     procurement practices that are aligned with the evolving 
     landscape of technology and procurement;
       (J) incorporates learning objectives for workforce members 
     to identify and mitigate wasteful practices and unethical 
     behaviors in procurement processes, with a focus on practical 
     applications rather than theoretical knowledge; and
       (K) incorporates learning objectives on privacy protection 
     and civil liberties safeguards, ensuring that all acquisition 
     workforce members understand the importance of integrating 
     these considerations into the procurement process.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal 
     Acquisition Institute shall provide to the relevant 
     committees of Congress, the Chief Acquisition Officers 
     Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council--
       (A) a report on the Director's progress in developing and 
     implementing or otherwise providing the information and 
     communications technology acquisition training described in 
     paragraph (1); and
       (B) a list of any acquisition training that the Director 
     determines to be outdated or no longer necessary for other 
     reasons.
       (3) Duration.--The training program shall be updated as 
     appropriate as technology advances, but at least every 2 
     years after implementation, and offered for a minimum of 5 
     years following the date of implementation of the training 
     program.
       (c) Acquisition Workforce Training Fund.--Section 
     1703(i)(3) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking ``Five percent'' and inserting ``Seven and a half 
     percent''.
       (d) Harmonization of Acquisition Workforce Training 
     Requirements.--The responsibility for the requirement in 
     subsection (b)(1) of section 2 of the AI Training Act (Public 
     Law 117-207; 41 U.S.C. 1703 note) is reassigned from the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget to the 
     Administrator of General Services.

     SEC. 897. INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT METHODS.

       (a) Increase in Simplified Acquisition Threshold.--Section 
     134 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     ``$250,000'' and inserting ``$500,000''.
       (b) Advances for Commercial Technology Subscriptions and 
     Tenancy.--Section 3324(d) of title 31, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``; and'' and 
     inserting a semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by inserting ``or commercially available content'' 
     after ``publication''; and
       (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) charges for information and communications technology 
     subscriptions, reservations, or tenancy, which means the 
     sharing of computing resources in a private or public 
     environment, including cloud environments, for which the 
     ordering agency defines appropriate access and security 
     standards.''.

     SEC. 898. INCREASING COMPETITION IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING.

       (a) Use of Past Performance.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue 
     guidance, including examples and templates where appropriate, 
     on--
       (A) when a wider range of projects, such as commercial or 
     non-government, as well as Government projects, should be 
     accepted as relevant past performance, in order to have 
     increased competition among eligible firms with capability to 
     perform a requirement, such as a requirement without much 
     precedent;
       (B) a means by which an agency may validate non-government 
     past performance references, such as by requiring an official 
     of an entity providing past performance references to attest 
     to their authenticity and by providing verifiable contact 
     information for the references; and
       (C) use of alternative evaluation methods other than past 
     performance that may be appropriate for a requirement without 
     much precedent, such as demonstrations and testing of 
     technologies as part of the proposal process.
       (2) Supplement not supplant.--The guidance issued under 
     paragraph (1) shall supplement, not replace, existing Federal 
     and agency policy and procedures for consideration of past 
     performance and other evaluation factors and methods.
       (b) Enhancing Competition in Federal Procurement.--
       (1) Council recommendations.--Not later than 90 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
     shall convene the Chief Acquisition Officers' Council (in 
     this section referred to as the ``Council''), to make 
     recommendations to identify and eliminate specific, 
     unnecessary procedural barriers that disproportionately 
     affect the ability of small businesses to compete for Federal 
     contracts, with a focus on streamlining documentation and 
     qualification requirements unrelated to the protection of 
     privacy and civil liberties, and related matters.
       (2) Consultation.--The Council shall obtain input from the 
     public, including from the APEX Accelerators program 
     (formerly known as Procurement Technical Assistance Center 
     (PTAC) network) and other contractor representatives, to 
     identify Federal procurement policies and regulations that 
     are obsolete, overly burdensome or restrictive, not 
     adequately harmonized, or otherwise serve to create barriers 
     to small business participation in Federal contracting or 
     unnecessarily increase bid and proposal costs.
       (3) Examination of actions.--The Council shall consider the 
     input obtained under paragraph (2) and any other information 
     determined to be relevant by the Council to identify 
     legislative, regulatory, and other actions to increase 
     competition and remove barriers to small business 
     participation in the procurement process.
       (4) Implementation.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall, in 
     consultation with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, 
     the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and other agencies as 
     appropriate, implement the regulatory and other non-
     legislative actions identified under paragraph (3), as 
     determined necessary by the Administrator, to remove barriers 
     to entry for small businesses seeking to participate in 
     Federal Government procurement.
       (5) Briefing.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the 
     relevant committees of Congress on the legislative actions 
     identified under paragraph (3), and the actions implemented 
     under paragraph (4).
       (c) Consideration of Cost-efficiency and Quality.--The 
     Administrator shall advocate for and prioritize contracting 
     policies that ensure that cost-efficiency and quality of 
     goods and services are key determining factors in awarding 
     Federal contracts.

     SEC. 899. COMPTROLLER GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS 
                   PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL PROCUREMENT.

       Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
     submit to Congress and make publicly available a report 
     that--
       (1) assesses the current level of small business 
     participation in Federal procurement, identifying barriers, 
     opportunities, and the impact of existing policies on the 
     ability of small businesses to compete in Federal 
     procurement;
       (2) catalogs and evaluates the effectiveness of programs 
     intended to support small business participation in Federal 
     procurement; and
       (3) analyzes trends in small business involvement in 
     Federal technology projects, including data on contract 
     awards, the diversity of sectors represented, and the 
     geographic distribution of small business contractors.

     SEC. 899A. CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROCEDURES.

       The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the 
     Administrator shall update the Federal Acquisition Regulation 
     as necessary to provide additional guidance to Federal 
     agencies to address personal and organizational conflicts of 
     interest involving members of the acquisition workforce.

     SEC. 899B. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

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