[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 118 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4711-H4712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
     ALLOWING CONTRACTORS TO CHOOSE EMPLOYEES FOR SELECT SKILLS ACT

  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 7887) to amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit minimum 
experience or educational requirements for proposed contractor 
personnel in certain contract solicitations, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 7887

       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 ``Allowing Contractors to 
     Choose Employees for Select Skills Act'' or the ``ACCESS 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. USE OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING EDUCATION OF CONTRACTOR 
                   PERSONNEL.

       (a) Flexibility in Contractor Education Requirements.--
     Chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``Sec. 3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements

       ``(a) Prohibition.--A solicitation may not set forth any 
     minimum educational requirement for proposed contractor 
     personnel in order for a bidder to be eligible for award of a 
     contract unless the contracting officer includes in the 
     solicitation a written justification that explains why the 
     needs of the executive agency cannot be met without any such 
     requirement and clarifies how the requirement ensures the 
     needs are met.
       ``(b) Executive Agency Defined.--In this section, the term 
     `executive agency' has the meaning given that term in section 
     133.''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements.''.
       (c) OMB Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget shall issue guidance to the heads of 
     executive agencies for implementing the amendment made by 
     subsection (a) that includes the following:
       (1) Instructions for contracting officers for the 
     justifications under section 3313(a) of title 41, United 
     States Code, as added by subsection (a), including a 
     requirement that each use of an education requirement be 
     determined, justified, and reviewed.
       (2) In the case of a solicitation in which education 
     requirements are included, instructions on how alternative 
     certifications, industry-recognized credentials, and work-
     based learning programs, including apprenticeships, may 
     satisfy such requirements.
       (d) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply with respect to solicitations issued on or after 
     the date that is 15 months after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.
       (e) Repeal.--Section 813 of the Floyd D. Spence National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 
     106-398; 114 Stat. 1654A-214), as implemented in subpart 
     39.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as in effect on 
     July 1, 2024, is repealed as of the date that the guidance 
     required by subsection (c) becomes effective.
       (f) GAO Report.--Not later than 36 months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
     submit to Congress an evaluation of executive agency 
     compliance with section 3313 of title 41, United States Code, 
     as added by subsection (a).
       (g) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Education requirement.--The term ``education 
     requirement'' includes a requirement that can be met either 
     through--
       (A) education alone;
       (B) education or experience; or
       (C) a combination of education and experience.
       (2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
     the meaning given that term in section 133 of title 41, 
     United States Code.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
South Carolina (Ms. Mace) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from South Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Ms. MACE. 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 
gentlewoman from South Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Federal contractor workforce is several times larger 
than the 2 million strong civilian workforce the Federal Government 
employs today. That is because so much government work is outsourced. 
That includes, for instance, much of the operation and maintenance of 
the Federal IT systems and the safeguarding of their cybersecurity.
  It was disturbing for me to learn, in the course of my work this 
Congress as chair of the Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on 
Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, that 
many Federal contract solicitations bar qualified individuals from 
performing the work.
  What are these barriers? Many Federal solicitations include 
unnecessary degree requirements mandating that individuals who perform 
various tasks hold specific education credentials such as a 4-year 
college degree, but training for many jobs in fields like IT and 
building construction is increasingly available through nondegree 
pathways like apprenticeships, boot camps, or certifications.
  That is why a slew of major private-sector employees have pared back 
degree requirements in hiring in recent years. In fact, some of our 
biggest tech companies offer certification programs within their own 
companies to help their individuals be even more qualified for jobs 
that are available to them.
  When it comes to cybersecurity, the public and private sectors 
together face

[[Page H4712]]

a shortage of roughly 700,000 workers. Clearly, the Federal Government 
cannot afford to erect unnecessary hurdles that prohibit those with the 
necessary technical skills and desire from doing such work simply 
because they lack a traditional degree.
  The companies who employ them, those that offer apprenticeships and 
engage in skills-based hiring, should be encouraged to compete for 
government contracts and not be excluded from competition.
  This bill helps ensure that Federal contractors are permitted to hire 
qualified professionals with the necessary knowledge, the necessary 
skills, and the necessary drive, even if they lack a traditional 4-year 
degree.
  The bill does this by prohibiting contract officers from stipulating 
education requirements for contract employees without providing a 
written justification for doing so. That justification must show that 
education is necessary in order to perform the work and meet the needs 
of the agency.
  To be clear, this bill in no way tells Federal contractors how to 
actually hire their staff. Rather, it removes an unnecessary 
restriction on their ability to hire qualified individuals.
  The Federal Government shouldn't be barring from consideration for 
work qualified individuals who acquire their skills through alternative 
training. They deserve a chance at a job. They deserve a chance to 
compete.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this timely, necessary, 
and bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 7887, the ACCESS Act, which is intended to 
address degree inflation, the growing trend of college graduates 
filling jobs that don't require college degrees. This can lead to 
reduced earnings for college degree holders, reduced employment 
opportunities for nondegree holders, and an overall drag on the economy 
in a time of very low unemployment, like ours, and of labor shortages.
  Committee Democrats are supportive of efforts to eliminate minimum 
education and experience requirements for jobs that don't actually 
require such associated skills for successful performance, expanding 
opportunity for the more than 62 percent of the population, age 25 and 
older, who do not hold a bachelor's degree.
  The ACCESS Act would prohibit Federal agencies from specifying 
minimum educational requirements for contractor personnel in 
solicitations, unless the solicitation also includes a written 
justification explaining why such requirements are actually necessary.
  I had been concerned that this might create a blanket requirement 
that could be unnecessarily burdensome for Federal agencies in the 
instances in which minimum education or experience requirements are 
commonly and reasonably understood to be necessary, but changes made to 
the bill after our committee markup have alleviated those concerns.
  There are certainly some jobs for which some minimum education or 
experience appears to be totally unnecessary. For example, 
approximately 39 percent of postings for construction managers require 
a college degree, as do 52 percent of web developer postings and 34 
percent of distribution manager postings.
  This suggests that these roles are frequently performed in the 
economy totally successfully without a college degree and that the 
requirement is more about the subjective preference or traditions of 
the employer than the actual demands of the job. It makes sense for 
agency contracting officers to have to provide a written justification 
for choosing to require that contractors hire only college degree 
holders for such jobs, as this bill would require.
  However, there are also an array of jobs for which some minimum 
education or experience requirements are indeed necessary. For example, 
in 2022, the Federal Government spent almost $30 billion on medical 
services contracts and another $29 billion on engineering and technical 
support services contracts. We do not want our contracting officers to 
have to provide a written explanation every single time they put out a 
solicitation that requires healthcare and engineering professionals to 
have advanced higher education degrees, and the bill has been 
appropriately and gratefully refined to eliminate this unnecessary 
burden.

  I understand that the North America's Building Trades Unions have 
expressed concerns about just this point, but in cases where highly 
trained and educated Federal contractors are required to perform 
technical, scientific, and professional services, nothing in the bill 
would prevent the hiring of such individuals.
  I am happy to continue supporting this legislation as an important 
step to expand opportunity to more Americans and to welcome more talent 
in service to our country.
  I thank Chairwoman Mace and Chairman Comer for working with us to 
improve the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to 
close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 7887, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill to 
ensure that contract employees with the right skills can work for the 
Federal Government regardless if they have a traditional 4-year degree.
  I thank Ranking Member Raskin and all of my colleagues on the 
Oversight Committee who voted this out of the committee for their 
bipartisan support. This doesn't hurt jobs. This helps people get jobs, 
even if they don't have a 4-year degree, whether they are joined to a 
labor union or not.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the support of Mr. Raskin, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7887, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________