[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3328-S3329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6119. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2027 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 subtitle B of title VIII, add the following:
SEC. 823. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH CERTAIN
CONSULTANCIES.
(a) Prohibition Related to Certain Contracts or Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may not after the date of
the enactment of this Act enter into, renew, extend a
contract with, award a grant to, enter into an other
transactional agreement with, or otherwise effectuate any
legal instrument resulting in any financial benefit accruing
to, a covered consultancy.
(2) Disclosure.--Any individual or entity that submits an
offer or bid to provide consulting services to the Department
of Defense shall disclose in such offer or bid any
information relevant to the individual or entity with respect
to the prohibition under paragraph (1), including--
(A) whether the individual or entity has entered into a
contract with, or received grants or other financial awards
from, a covered entity in the five years prior to submitting
the offer or bid; and
(B) at the time the contract to provide consulting services
to the Department will be entered into, whether--
(i) any contract entered into by the individual or entity
with a covered entity will still be in effect; or
(ii) the individual or entity will be receiving funds from,
or have any unobligated or unexpended funds received under,
any grant or other financial award from a covered entity.
(3) Penalties.--
(A) In general.--If the Secretary determines that a
contractor of the Department failed to make the disclosure
required by paragraph (2), the Secretary shall--
(i) terminate the applicable contract for cause; and
(ii) initiate a suspension and debarment proceeding with
respect to the contractor.
(B) Maximum length of debarment.--The maximum length of a
debarment of a contractor pursuant to this paragraph shall be
a period of 5 years.
(b) Certification.--
(1) In general.--After a determination by the Secretary
that a company is a covered consultancy, such company may
submit to the Secretary a written and signed certification
that--
(A) the consultancy no longer is--
(i) performing under a contract with a covered entity;
(ii) carrying out activities under a grant received from a
covered entity; or
(iii) receiving funds, or has any unobligated or unexpended
funds received, from a covered entity; and
(B) will not enter into, accept, or pursue a contract with
a covered entity or a grant or other financial award from a
covered entity--
(i) during the term of a contract with the Department of
Defense; or
(ii) while receiving funds from the Department of Defense,
or obligating or expending any such funds.
(2) Status change.--Upon the approval by the Secretary of a
certification submitted under paragraph (1), a company is
deemed to not be a covered consultancy for the purposes of
this section until the expiration of the certification under
paragraph (3).
(3) Expiration.--A certification submitted by a company
under paragraph (1) shall expire on the earlier of the date
on which the company, after submitting such certification,
enters into, extends, renews, or performs under a contract
with a covered entity for consulting services.
(c) Policies and Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
issue the following policies and practices:
(1) Policies to implement the prohibition under subsection
(a)(1).
(2) Best practices for consultancies to avoid becoming
covered consultancies under this section and for covered
consultancies to end their status as such.
(3) A policy articulating the exact provisions and terms to
be included in solicitations, contracts, and grants of the
Department of Defense pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of
subsection (a).
(d) Revision of Department of Defense Acquisition
Regulation.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall amend the Defense
Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement this
section.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Consulting services.--The term ``consulting services''
has the meaning given the term ``advisory and assistance
services'' in section 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition
Regulation, except that--
(A) the term does not include the services described in
paragraph (3) of such section; and
(B) each instance of the term ``Federal'' is replaced with
``client''.
(2) Contract employee.--The term ``contract employee''
means--
(A) an employee of a contractor; or
(B) in the case of a contractor who is an individual who
directly enters into a contract with the Federal Government,
that individual.
(3) Contractor.--The term ``contractor'' has the meaning
given the term in section 7101 of title 41, United States
Code.
(4) Covered consultancy.--The term ``covered consultancy''
means a company that, itself or any subsidiary or affiliate
thereof, in the later of the five-year period preceding the
date of the relevant requirement or the effective date of the
relevant requirement--
(A) failed to disclose information to the Secretary related
to any activities involving a covered entity as required by
any law, regulation, or contract term, or terms of other
agreements;
(B) was found to have submitted false or misleading
information to any Federal agency in any Federal proceeding;
or
(C) was found to have failed to disclose an actual or
potential conflict of interest as required by any law,
regulation, or contract term to any Federal agency or in any
Federal proceeding.
(5) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means any
of the following:
(A) The Government of the People's Republic of China.
(B) The Chinese Communist Party.
(C) The People's Liberation Army, the Ministry of State
Security, or any security service or intelligence agency of
the People's Republic of China.
(D) 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.
(E) Any Chinese military company 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 owned (25 percent or more) or controlled,
directly or indirectly, by the Government of the People's
Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party, including
through board representation, voting rights, contractual
arrangements, or other means of effective control, that is
engaged in one or more national security industries.
(G) The Government of the Russian Federation, any entity
owned (25 percent or more) or controlled, directly or
indirectly by the Russian Federation, or any entity
sanctioned by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(H) The government or any State-owned entity of any country
if the Secretary of State determines that such government has
repeatedly provided support for acts of international
terrorism pursuant to--
(i) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control Reform Act
of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(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); or
(iv) any other provision of law.
(I) 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.
(J) The Military End User List set forth in Supplement No.
7 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations.
(K) A foreign adversary, as that term is defined in this
subsection.
(L) An individual or entity included on any sanctions list
administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the
Department of the Treasury or of the Department of Justice,
including any successor list.
(6) Export administration regulations.--The term ``Export
Administration Regulations'' means the regulations set forth
in subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal
Regulations.
(7) Foreign adversary.--The term ``foreign adversary''
means the following:
(A) The Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.
(B) The People's Republic of China.
(C) The Russian Federation.
(D) The Islamic Republic of Iran.
(E) The Republic of Cuba.
(F) Venezuelan politician Nicolas Maduro (the Maduro
Regime).
(8) National security industry.--The term ``national
security industry'' means--
(A) a military-related industry;
(B) semiconductor production;
(C) researching or commercializing quantum computing;
[[Page S3329]]
(D) developing artificial intelligence products or
services;
(E) the biotechnology industry;
(F) the cybersecurity industry;
(G) the mining, processing, or refining of critical
minerals (as such term is defined in section 7002(a) of the
Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a))) for use by a covered
entity; or
(H) other emerging technologies (as that term is defined in
section 6701 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2023 (division F of Public Law 117-263; 50 U.S.C. 3024
note).
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Defense.
______