[House Report 112-37]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     112-37

======================================================================

 
 TO AMEND TITLE 41, UNITED STATES CODE, TO EXTEND THE SUNSET DATE FOR 
          CERTAIN PROTESTS OF TASK AND DELIVER ORDER CONTRACTS

                                _______
                                

 March 17, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Issa, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 899]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 899) to amend title 41, United 
States Code, to extend the sunset date for certain protests of 
task and deliver order contracts, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Committee Statement and Views....................................     1
Section-by-Section...............................................     2
Explanation of Amendments........................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     2
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     3
Federal Advisory Committee Act...................................     3
Unfunded Mandate Statement.......................................     3
Earmark Identification...........................................     3
Committee Estimate...............................................     3
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate...     3
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............     5

                     Committee Statement and Views


                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The purpose of this bill is to extend the sunset date to 
allow the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to continue to 
hear bid protests on civilian agency task and delivery orders 
until September 30, 2016.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Section 825 of the Ike Skelton National Defense 
Authorization Act of for FY 2011 (PL 111-383) extended the 
sunset date for GAO bid protests on task and delivery orders 
for defense acquisitions until September 30, 2016. It did not 
address civilian agency acquisitions. Therefore, this bill is 
necessary to align the two procurement systems--defense and 
civilian--and alleviate uncertainty in the contracting 
community. In addition, allowing protests at the task and 
delivery order level increases transparency and accountability, 
while providing an alternative to costly litigation.
    Extending GAO's jurisdiction to encompass bid protests over 
task and delivery orders was a recommendation made in the 
January 2007 Report of the Acquisition Advisory Working Group 
(commonly referred to as the ``SARA Panel''). The SARA Panel 
made the recommendation based on the following findings: (1) 
improper use of certain contracting vehicles, (2) a need for 
increased competition, (3) the frequency with which agencies 
make ``significant purchases of complex services using task and 
delivery orders,'' and (4) the desire to increase 
transparency.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Report of the Acquisition Advisory Panel to the Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy and the U.S. Cong., available at https://
www.acquisition.gov/comp/aap/documents/Chapter1.pdf (Jan. 2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Section 843 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
(NDAA) of 2008 (PL 110-181) expanded the GAO jurisdiction to 
hear bid protests by authorizing GAO to hear protests on task 
and delivery orders valued in excess of $10 million. This 
provision covered both defense (Title 10) and civilian 
acquisitions (Title 41). It sunsets in May 2011.

                           Section-by-Section


Section 1

    This bill contains one section which amends 41 U.S.C. 
4106(f) to allow GAO to continue to hear bid protests on task 
and delivery orders over $10 million until September 30, 2016.

                       Explanation of Amendments

    No amendments were offered to the bill.

                        Committee Consideration

    On March 10, 2011, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 899, by voice vote, a 
quorum being present.

              Application of Law to the Legislative Branch

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of 
employment or access to public services and accommodations. 
This bill extends the sunset date to allow the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) to continue to hear bid protests on 
civilian agency task and delivery orders until September 30, 
2016. As such this bill does not relate to employment or access 
to public services and accommodations.
    Legislative branch employees and their families, to the 
extent that they are otherwise eligible for the benefits 
provided by this legislation, have equal access to its 
benefits.

  Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
the Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in the descriptive portions of this report.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance 
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions 
of this report.

                     Federal Advisory Committee Act

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish 
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within 
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).

                       Unfunded Mandate Statement

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to 
whether the provisions of the reported include unfunded 
mandates. In compliance with this requirement the Committee has 
received a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included 
herein.

                         Earmark Identification

    H.R. 899 does not include any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of Rule XXI.

                           Committee Estimate

    Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out 
H.R. 899. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides that 
this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included 
in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.

     Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received 
the following cost estimate for H.R. 899 from the Director of 
Congressional Budget Office:

                                                    March 16, 2011.
Hon. Darrell Issa,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 899, a bill to 
amend title 41, United States Code, to extend the sunset date 
for certain protests of task and deliver order contracts.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 899--A bill to amend title 41, United States Code, to extend the 
        sunset date for certain protests of task and deliver order 
        contracts

    H.R. 899 would amend federal law to extend the process for 
protesting the awards of certain civilian agency procurements. 
Under the legislation, contractors could protest certain task 
and delivery order contracts through September 30, 2016.
    Task and delivery order contracts authorize deliveries 
during the life of the contract without specifying a firm 
quantity of supplies or services. Such contracts are often used 
when an agency cannot determine the precise number of supplies 
or services that will be required. Under current law, 
contractors under such orders can protest the award of any 
order valued over $10 million, and the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) has exclusive jurisdiction to hear 
those protests through May 2011. H.R. 899 would extend those 
procedures through September 2016.
    Information from GAO and several civilian agencies 
indicates that more than 100 cases have been filed to protest 
contract awards during the past two years; 50 percent of the 
protestors have reported obtaining some form of relief from the 
procuring agency. The form of relief can vary from improvements 
in the procurement process to reimbursement of the protestors' 
costs. Based on that information, CBO expects that complying 
with the bill would increase the administrative expenses of 
federal agencies for contract personnel, lawyers, and general 
administrative overhead. Such expenses would generally be paid 
from agencies' salaries and expense budgets, which are subject 
to annual appropriation. CBO estimates that such costs would 
total a few million dollars over the 2011-2016 period.
    Enacting H.R. 899 also could affect direct spending by 
agencies not funded through annual appropriations, such as the 
Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power 
Administration; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO 
estimates, however, that any net increase in spending by those 
agencies would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 899 would not 
affect revenues.
    H.R. 899 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

TITLE 41, UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



SUBTITLE I--FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POLICY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


CHAPTER 41--TASK AND DELIVERY ORDER CONTRACTS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



Sec. 4106. Orders

  (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (f) Protests.--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          [(3) Effective period.--This subsection shall be in 
        effect for three years, beginning on the date that is 
        120 days after January 28, 2008.]
          (3) Effective period.--Paragraph (1)(B) and paragraph 
        (2) of this subsection shall not be in effect after 
        September 30, 2016.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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