[Senate Report 115-166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                   Calendar No. 235

115th Congress}                                            { Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session  }                                            { 115-166
_______________________________________________________________________

                    PROCUREMENT FRAUD PREVENTION ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              TO ACCOMPANY

                                 S. 938

           TO REQUIRE NOTICE OF COST-FREE FEDERAL PROCUREMENT
          TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN CONNECTION WITH REGISTRATION
           OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                October 5, 2017.--Ordered to be printed
                
                
                               __________
                                

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
                            WASHINGTON : 2017                     
          
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 
http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, 
U.S. Government Publishing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free). 
E-mail, [email protected].              
                
                
                
               
                
                
                
       
       
       COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona                 CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  JON TESTER, Montana
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota            MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
STEVE DAINES, Montana                KAMALA D. HARRIS, California

                  Christopher R. Hixon, Staff Director
                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Chief Counsel
       Patrick J. Bailey, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
               Margaret E. Daum, Minority Staff Director
               Stacia M. Cardille, Minority Chief Counsel
       Charles A. Moskowitz, Minority Senior Legislative Counsel
                 Katherine C. Sybenga, Minority Counsel
Daniel J. Webb, Minority U.S. Government Accountability Office Detailee
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk





                                                   Calendar No. 235

115th Congress}                                            { Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session  }                                            { 115-166

======================================================================
 
                    PROCUREMENT FRAUD PREVENTION ACT

                                _______
                                

                October 5, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 938]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 938) to require 
notice of cost-free Federal procurement technical assistance in 
connection with registration of small business concerns in 
procurement systems, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                              
                              
                              
                              CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III. Legislative History..............................................2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................2
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................2
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII.  Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........3

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The Procurement Fraud Prevention Act, S. 938, requires that 
the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) establish a procedure to notify 
small businesses registering to do business with the government 
that there are services available to assist them at no cost.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Doing business with the Federal Government is notoriously 
complex: the Federal Acquisition Regulation is nearing 2,000 
pages with a supplement for the Defense Department totaling 
over 1,000 pages.\1\ Large business enterprises with the 
capability to absorb the overhead required to expertly navigate 
this system thrive, while small businesses struggle to sell 
their products and services to the Federal Government.\2\ To 
navigate the complex registration process required to do 
business with the Federal Government, many small businesses 
seek out the assistance of consultants and other organizations 
that offer services and support at varying prices, without 
realizing that there is support available at no cost.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Federal Acquisition Regulation, 48 C.F.R. (2005).
    \2\Press Release, Small Business Administration, Federal Government 
Achieves Small Business Procurement Contracting Goal for Second 
Consecutive Year (June 26, 2015), https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-
newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/federal-government-achieves-
small-business-procurement-contracting-goal-second-consecutive-year.
    \3\Get Help with Government Contracting, USA.GOV, https://
www.usa.gov/expand-business (last updated May 05, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    S. 938 requires GSA and OMB to establish a process for 
notifying small businesses that free support services exist to 
assist them in registering to do business with the Federal 
Government. These communications can be included in official 
communications that are already sent by GSA.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 938 on April 5, 
2017. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. The Committee considered S. 
938 at a July 26, 2017 business meeting.
    The Committee ordered S. 938 reported favorably on July 26, 
2017, en bloc, by voice vote. Senators present for the vote 
were Senators Johnson, Portman, Lankford, Daines, McCaskill, 
Tester, Heitkamp, Peters, Hassan and Harris.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section provides the bill's short title, the 
``Procurement Fraud Prevention Act.''

Section 2. Notice of cost-free federal procurement technical assistance 
        in connection with registration of small business concerns in 
        procurement systems

    This section requires GSA and OMB to establish a procedure 
to notify small businesses that there is free technical 
assistance available to them to assist in navigating the 
federal procurement process, including assisting with 
registering to do business with the federal government.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                                September 13, 2017.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 
        United States Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 938, the Procurement 
Fraud Prevention Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

S. 938--Procurement Fraud Prevention Act

    S. 938 would require the General Services Administration 
(GSA) in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, 
to ensure that any direct communications with small businesses 
about providing goods and services to the federal government 
contain a notice that technical assistance from the federal 
government on the procurement process is available to small 
businesses at no cost. According to GSA and the Small Business 
Administration, many government websites already state that 
such assistance is available and there would be minimal 
administrative costs to expand those efforts. Thus, CBO 
estimates any additional costs to implement S. 938 would total 
less than $500,000 annually; such spending would be subject to 
the availability of appropriated funds.
    Enacting S. 938 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 938 would not increase 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    S. 938 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. This estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any 
provision of current law, it would make no changes in existing 
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

                                  [all]