[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11437-11438]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       PROTECTING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2017

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2749) to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
improve the oversight of contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2749

       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 ``Protecting Business 
     Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTS UNDER CONTRACTS WITH 
                   SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 
                   VETERANS.

       (a) In General.--Section 8127 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection (m); and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the following new 
     subsection (l):
       ``(l) Limitations on Subcontracting.--(1)(A) The 
     requirements applicable to a covered small business concern 
     under section 46 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) 
     shall apply with respect to a small business concern owned 
     and controlled by veterans that is awarded a contract under 
     this section.
       ``(B) For purposes of applying the requirements of section 
     46 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) pursuant to 
     subparagraph (A), the term `similarly situated entity' used 
     in such section 46 includes a subcontractor for a small 
     business concern owned and controlled by veterans described 
     in such subparagraph (A).
       ``(2) The Secretary may award a contract under this section 
     only after the Secretary obtains from the offeror a 
     certification that the offeror will comply with the 
     requirements described in paragraph (1)(A) if awarded the 
     contract. Such certification shall--
       ``(A) specify the exact performance requirements applicable 
     under such paragraph; and
       ``(B) explicitly acknowledge that the certification is 
     subject to section 1001 of title 18.
       ``(3)(A) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
     Utilization for the Department, established pursuant to 
     section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)), 
     and the Chief Acquisition Officer of the Department, 
     established pursuant to section 1702 of title 41, shall 
     jointly implement a process using the systems described in 
     section 16(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     645(g)(2)), and any other relevant systems available, to 
     monitor compliance with this subsection.
       ``(B) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
     Utilization and the Chief Acquisition Officer shall jointly 
     refer any violations or suspected violations of this 
     subsection to the Inspector General of the Department.
       ``(C) If the Secretary determines, in consultation with the 
     Inspector General of the Department, that a small business 
     concern that is awarded a contract under this section did not 
     act in good faith with respect to the requirements described 
     in paragraph (1)(A), the small business concern shall be 
     subject to any or all of the following consequences--
       ``(i) referral to the Debarment and Suspension Committee of 
     the Department;
       ``(ii) a fine under section 16(g)(1) of the Small Business 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(1)); and
       ``(iii) prosecution for violating section 1001 of title 18.
       ``(D) Not later than November 30 for each of years 2018 
     through 2022, the Inspector General shall submit to the 
     Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
     Representatives a report for the fiscal year preceding the 
     fiscal year during which the report is submitted that 
     includes, for the fiscal year covered by the report--
       ``(i) the number of referred violations and suspected 
     violations received under subparagraph (B); and
       ``(ii) the disposition of such referred violations, 
     including the number of small business concerns suspended or 
     debarred from Federal contracting or referred to the Attorney 
     General for prosecution.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--Subsection (l) of section 8127 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to a contract entered into after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. 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.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2749, as amended, the 
Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2017.
  H.R. 2749, as amended, is contracting reform legislation sponsored by 
my friends, General Bergman and Representative Kuster, the chairman and 
ranking member of our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
  This bill will help stop companies that exploit the existing 
contracting laws and regulations to take work away from legitimate 
service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and veteran-owned small 
businesses.
  It is crucial that Federal procurement be fair and that veteran 
entrepreneurs actually receive the business opportunities that the law 
creates for

[[Page 11438]]

them. This bill is a smart fix for a difficult problem, and I 
appreciate my colleagues' work on it.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 2749, as amended, and 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2749, as amended, the 
Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act.
  I thank General Bergman and Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire for 
introducing this. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has 
worked hard to ensure that our service-disabled veteran-owned small 
businesses are provided the protections and support they need from the 
VA to remain competitive in the Federal contracting process.
  Congress granted Federal Government contracting preferences to small 
businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans because we 
want our veteran entrepreneurs to thrive.
  This bill, introduced by Representatives Bergman and Kuster, closes a 
loophole utilized by some that pass through contracts to non-veteran-
owned businesses. This practice is unfair to the thousands of small-
business owners who are actually serving and owned by service-disabled 
veterans who play by the rules.
  The bill ensures that only our veteran entrepreneurs get this 
preference by closing the loophole. It is smart, it is the right thing 
to do, and I urge its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), a new member of our committee and chairman 
of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
  Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak today on behalf of H.R. 
2749, the Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2017. I 
thank the chairman and the ranking member for their support for Ranking 
Member Kuster and myself.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2749 aims to provide the VA with the tools it needs 
to correct the persistent problem in contracting. The problem is 
improper pass-throughs. An improper pass-through is when a small 
business obtains a contract under a set-aside, but gives all or 
substantially all of the work to a large company and, nonetheless, 
collects profit.
  Sometimes multiple companies pass through the work while adding price 
markups. This has long been prohibited by law and wastes taxpayer 
dollars; but, in practice, agencies have little ability to stop it.
  In the VA, veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small 
businesses have special preference to receive contracts, but bad actors 
are taking contracts away from law-abiding veteran businessowners who 
truly want to perform their work. The committee gets complaints about 
this situation nearly every week.
  This bill will make every bidder for a VA contract certify that it 
will perform the percentage of work the law already requires. The bill 
also directs the VA to work with the Office of Inspector General in a 
more effective way to find, stop, and, where appropriate, punish the 
improper pass-throughs.
  H.R. 2749 relies on existing law and fills in gaps in implementation, 
but does not create any new bureaucracy.
  The solution is long overdue. I strongly urge my colleagues to 
support the bill.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this good piece of 
legislation that is doing the right thing, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 
2749, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rice of South Carolina). The question is 
on the motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2749, 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. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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