[House Report 117-121]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
117th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 117-121
======================================================================
DHS CONTRACT REPORTING ACT OF 2021
_______
September 14, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, from the Committee on Homeland Security,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4363]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 4363) to establish a daily public reporting
requirement for covered contract awards of the Department of
Homeland Security, and for other purposes, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and
recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 3
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 4
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 4
C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and
Tax Expenditures............................................... 4
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 5
Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 5
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 5
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits Advisory Committee Statement.......................... 5
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 5
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. DAILY PUBLIC REPORT OF COVERED CONTRACT AWARDS.
(a) Daily Report.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall post, maintain, and
update in accordance with paragraph (2), on a publicly
available website of the Department, a daily report of all
covered contract awards. Each reported covered contract award
shall include information relating to--
(A) the contract number, modification number, or
delivery order number;
(B) the contract type;
(C) the amount obligated for such award;
(D) the total contract value for such award,
including all options;
(E) the description of the purpose for such award;
(F) the number of proposals or bids received;
(G) the name and address of the vendor, and whether
such vendor is considered a small business;
(H) the period and each place of performance for such
award;
(I) whether such award is multiyear;
(J) whether such award requires a small business
subcontracting plan; and
(K) the contracting office and the point of contact
for such office.
(2) Update.--Updates referred to in paragraph (1) shall occur
not later than two business days after the date on which the
covered contract is authorized or modified.
(3) Subscribing to alerts.--The website referred to in
paragraph (1) shall provide the option to subscribe to an
automatic notification of the publication of each report
required under such paragraph.
(4) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall take effect on the
date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
section.
(b) Undefinitized Contract Action or Definitized Amount.--If a
covered contract award reported pursuant to subsection (a) includes an
undefinitized contract action, the Secretary shall--
(1) report the estimated total contract value for such award
and the amount obligated upon award; and
(2) once such award is definitized, update the total contract
value and amount obligated.
(c) Exemption.--Each report required under subsection (a) shall not
include covered contract awards relating to classified products,
programs, or services.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered contract award.--The term ``covered contract
award''--
(A) means a contract action of the Department with
the total authorized dollar amount of $4,000,000 or
greater, including unexercised options; and
(B) includes--
(I) contract awards governed by the Federal
Acquisition Regulation;
(ii) modifications to a contract award that
increase the total value, expand the scope of
work, or extend the period of performance;
(iii) orders placed on a multiple award or
multiple-agency contract that includes delivery
or quantity terms that are indefinite;
(iv) other transaction authority agreements;
and
(v) contract awards made with other than full
and open competition.
(2) Definitized amount.--The term ``definitized amount''
means the final amount of a covered contract award after
agreement between the Department and the contractor at issue.
(3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department
of Homeland Security.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Homeland Security.
(5) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means an
entity that qualifies as a small business concern, as such term
is described under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 632).
(6) Total contract value.--The term ``total contract value''
means the total amount of funds expected to be provided to the
contractor at issue under the terms of the contract through the
full period of performance.
(7) Undefinitized contract action.--The term ``undefinitized
contract action'' means any contract action for which the
contract terms, specifications, or price is not established
prior to the start of the performance of a covered contract
award.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 4363, the ``DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021,''
seeks to enhance transparency and oversight of the Department
of Homeland Security's (DHS) procurements by requiring the
Department to provide a daily report of contracts awarded by
its headquarters or components on a public website. For
contract awards of $4 million or more, the bill would require
DHS to report key information, such as contract type, the
purpose of the contract, the number of proposals or bids
received, and the name of the company that received the award.
In addition, the bill requires that DHS's website allow
interested parties to subscribe to automatic notifications to
ensure timely access to the information.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Each year, DHS spends billions of dollars to procure the
goods and services needed to fulfill the Department's many
missions. While the Department publicly announces some contract
awards on official U.S. Government websites in accordance with
Federal regulations, DHS offices and components are given
discretion on when to issue press releases about contract
awards. In addition, the official U.S. Government websites can
be difficult to search and must be monitored continuously to
keep pace with the Department's spending.
This is concerning to the Committee because the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) and DHS Office of Inspector General
(OIG) have consistently reported on challenges DHS faces with
contract management. For example, in June 2020, GAO determined
that U.S. Customs and Border Protection misspent funding
Congress appropriated for medical care and other supplies in
response to a surge of migrants at the southern border.\1\ The
OIG also found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) inappropriately awarded contracts to a vendor that was
unable to deliver critical supplies following three major
hurricanes and the California wildfires that occurred in
2017.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection--Obligations of Amounts Appropriated in the 2019 Emergency
Supplemental, (June 11, 2020), available at https://www.gao.gov/
products/b-331888.
\2\Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General,
FEMA Should Not have Awarded Two Contracts to Bronze Star LLC, (May 7,
2019), available at https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/
2019-05/OIG-19-38-May19.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 4363 promotes transparency into DHS's spending by
creating an online clearinghouse the public can access to view
contracts awarded Department-wide. The daily reports required
under the bill would include contract awards with a total
authorized value of $4 million or greater. In addition to
contracts awarded in accordance with Federal Acquisition
Regulation procedures and Other Transaction Authority
agreements, the Committee expects the Department to report
orders on multiple-award or multiple-agency contract vehicles
as well as modifications to existing contracts that were not
otherwise negotiated or included in the original contract.
Providing timely access to the information required in H.R.
4363 will enable better oversight of DHS's spending and insight
for those companies interested in working with the Department.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, the following hearings
were used to develop H.R. 4363:
The Committee did not hold a legislative hearing on H.R.
4363 in the 117th Congress. However, the legislation was
informed by hearings held in the 116th Congress. On July 15,
2020, the Committee held a hearing entitled ``Children in CBP
Custody: Examining Deaths, Medical Care Procedures, and
Improper Spending.'' The Committee received testimony from Dr.
Fiona S. Danaher, M.D., M.P.H., Pediatrician, Chelsea
Pediatrics, Child Protection Team, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School;
Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, Jr., M.D., Chief Medical Examiner,
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington DC, Clinical
Professor of Pathology at the George Washington University,
Associate Professor of Surgery at Howard University; The
Honorable Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General, DHS OIG; and
Ms. Rebecca Gambler, Director, Homeland Security and Justice
Team, GAO.
On May 9, 2019, the Subcommittees on Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery and Oversight, Management,
and Accountability held a hearing entitled, ``FEMA Contracting:
Reviewing Lessons Learned from Past Disasters to Improve
Preparedness.'' The Subcommittees received testimony from Mr.
Brian Kamoie, Associate Administrator for Mission Support,
FEMA; Ms. Marie Mak, Director, GAO; Ms. Katherine Trimble,
Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audits, DHS OIG.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee met on July 28, 2021, a quorum being present,
to consider H.R. 4363 and ordered the measure to be favorably
reported to the House, as amended, by voice vote.
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII requires the Committee to list the
recorded votes on the motion to report legislation and
amendments thereto.
No recorded votes were requested during consideration of
H.R. 4363.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII, the
Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the
Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1)
of rule X, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this
report.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE, NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT
AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, and with respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(3) of
rule XIII and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has requested but not received from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office a statement as to
whether this bill contains any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chairman
of the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee.
DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds
that H.R. 4363 does not contain any provision that establishes
or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative of another
Federal program.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the objective of
H.R. 4363 is to enhance transparency and oversight of DHS
procurements by requiring the Department to provide a daily
report of contracts awarded by its headquarters and components
on a public website.
CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF
BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
In compliance with rule XXI, this bill, as reported,
contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or
limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or
9(f) of rule XXI.
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that H.R. 4363 does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services
or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of
the Congressional Accountability Act.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
Section 1. Short Title.
This section states that the Act may be cited as the ``DHS
Contract Reporting Act of 2021''.
Sec. 2. Daily Public Report of Covered Contract Awards.
Subsection 2(a) directs the Secretary of Homeland Security
to provide a daily report of all covered contract awards on a
public website and outlines the information to be included in
each report. The daily reports are to include the contract
number; the contract type; the purpose of the contract; the
number of proposals or bids received; the name and address of
the vendor, and whether the vendor is considered a small
business; the period and each place of performance; and whether
the contract is required to have a small business
subcontracting plan. The subsection also directs that covered
contract awards be included in the daily report not later than
two business days after they are authorized or modified.
Additionally, the website is to provide the option to subscribe
to receive an automatic notification when each daily report is
published. Lastly, this subsection establishes an effective
date of 180 days after the enactment of the section.
Subsection 2(b) identifies how the Secretary is required to
report undefinitized contract actions in the daily reports.
Specifically, the Secretary must report the estimated total
contract value and the amount obligated upon award. Once the
award is definitized, the Secretary must report the updated
total contract value and amount obligated.
Subsection 2(c) exempts covered contract awards relating to
classified products, programs, or services from being included
in the daily report.
Subsection 2(d) defines key terms for the purpose of the
bill, including ``covered contract award,'' ``definitized
amount,'' ``total contract value,'' and ``undefinitized
contract action.''
{all}