TITLE: B-310970; B-310970.2, Brian X. Scott, March 26, 2008
BNUMBER: B-310970; B-310970.2
DATE: March 26, 2008
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B-310970; B-310970.2, Brian X. Scott, March 26, 2008

   Decision

   Matter of: Brian X. Scott

   File: B-310970; B-310970.2

   Date: March 26, 2008

   Brian X. Scott for the protester.

   Capt. John J. Cho and Col. David P. Harney, Department of the Army, for
   the agency.

   Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the
   General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

   DIGEST

   In a negotiated procurement, agency had a reasonable basis to cancel,
   after receipt of proposals, a solicitation for executive agent services,
   where the agency reasonably found that it would be more advantageous to
   satisfy its requirements through an existing contract.

   DECISION

   Brian X. Scott protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP)
   No. W91GDW-08-R-4006, issued by the Joint Contracting
   Command-Iraq/Afghanistan (JJC-I/A) for executive agent services for the
   Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone (I-BIZ) program. Mr. Scott complains that the
   cancellation of the RFP after receipt of proposals was unreasonable and
   was the result of bias against him.

   We deny the protest.

   The RFP provided for the award of a contract for an executive agent to
   oversee the I-BIZ program at the Victory Base Complex in Baghdad, Iraq,
   for a 6-month base period with five 6-month option periods. The I-BIZ
   program was established to implement the agency's "Iraqi First" program,
   under which multi-national forces were to use available Iraqi businesses,
   services and products, whenever possible.[1] RFP, Statement of Work (SOW),
   para. 2.0. It is the aim of the Iraqi First and I-BIZ programs to obtain
   various services, such as repair and cleaning services, from Iraqi vendors
   for United States and coalition forces. Offerors were informed that the
   I-BIZ executive agent would provide facilitation, consultation, and
   liaison support services for the I-BIZ program, and that

     [t]his will consist of providing expert advice, assistance, and guidance
     on establishing I-BIZ Iniatives for [Multi-National Forces - Iraq], as
     well as identifying Iraqi candidate businesses and labor for I-BIZ
     initiatives.

   In addition, the executive agent would "submit advisory suggestions when
   necessary with policy recommendation to ensure theater wide requirements
   are integrated and synchronized with current and future theater level
   operations." RFP, SOW, para. 3.0. The executive agent was required to, at
   a minimum, be bilingual in English and Arabic, have a secret security
   clearance, and 2 years of experience working with business development
   projects in developing nations. Id. para. 5.0.

   The agency received three proposals, including Mr. Scott's, by the
   November 23 closing date for receipt of proposals. Mr. Scott's and another
   offeror's proposal were transmitted for evaluation to the Resources and
   Sustainment, Sustainment and Fusion Directorate of the Multi-National
   Force-Iraq, the requiring activity for the RFP.[2] Prior to the requiring
   activity's receipt of the proposals for evaluation, the activity became
   aware of an existing JJC-I/A contract for Bilingual, Bicultural
   Advisor-Subject Matter Expert (BBA-SME) services, under which the I-BIZ
   executive agent might be obtained. The activity considered the use of the
   BBA-SME contract, but also evaluated Mr. Scott's and the other offeror's
   proposals. Agency Report (AR), Tab 15, Statement of Contracting Action
   Officer on the Deputy Chief of Staff, Resources and Sustainment,
   Sustainment Fusion Directorate of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.

   The requiring activity found both proposals to be deficient in a number of
   respects. With respect to Mr. Scott's proposal, the requiring activity
   found that he

     did not provide personnel experienced in accomplishing the requirement,
     did not have prior experience in accomplishing the requirement, did not
     have the desired Arabic language skills, had too much turnover of key
     personnel to establish the long term relationships anticipated in the
     requirement, and only had an interim secret security clearance.

   Contracting Officer's Statement at 2.

   The agency concluded that the services solicited by the RFP could be
   satisfied under the existing BBA-SME contract and that, in fact, "the
   requiring activity was attempting to satisfy the I-BIZ requirement using
   both the I-BIZ solicitation and the BBA-SME contract." AR at 3. The agency
   decided, after its evaluation of Mr. Scott's and the other offeror's
   proposal, that satisfying this requirement under the BBA-SME contract
   would be more advantageous than continuing under the RFP. AR, Tab 6, Army
   E-Mails (Dec. 12, 2007). On December 13, the agency cancelled the RFP "due
   to changes in operational requirements." RFP amend. 1. This protest
   followed.

   In a negotiated procurement, an agency has broad authority to decide
   whether to cancel a solicitation, and to do so need only establish a
   reasonable basis. The Borenstein Group, Inc., B-309751, Sept. 26, 2007,
   2007 CPD para. 174 at 3. We have found a reasonable basis for the
   cancellation of an RFP exists where an agency discovers an existing
   contract for its requirement that would be more advantageous to the
   government than continuing with the procurement. See Astronautics Corp. of
   Am., B-222414.2, B-222415.2, Aug. 5, 1986, 86-2 CPD para. 147 at 2-3. So
   long as there is a reasonable basis, an agency may cancel a solicitation
   no matter when the information precipitating the cancellation first
   arises, even if it is not until proposals have been submitted and
   evaluated. Daston Corp., B-292583, B-292583.2, Oct. 20, 2003, 2003 CPD
   para. 193 at 3.

   Mr. Scott contends that the I-BIZ executive agent services are outside the
   scope of the BBA-SME contract. Specifically, the protester contends that
   the BBA-SME contract provides for only "expert and advisory services, with
   no responsibility for nothing, not for Executive Agents, who are
   responsible for program success." Protester's Supplemental Comments at 9.

   We disagree with Mr. Scott that the executive agent services solicited by
   the RFP are not within the scope of the BBE-SME contract. As noted above,
   the RFP sought a bilingual individual with a secret security clearance and
   experience to provide expert advice, assistance and guidance with respect
   to establishing I-BIZ initiatives. In addition, the RFP described the
   executive agent's services as including "recommend[ing] policy and at the
   direction of [Multi-National Forces - Iraq], initiate Iraqi First and
   I-BIZ requirements to address theater wide economic issues." RFP, SOW,
   para. 4.1. Similarly, the BBA-SME contract sought bilingual, experienced
   subject matter experts, most of which were required to have a secret or
   interim secret clearance to "assess, advice, and assist commanders in
   developing and implementing action plans for specific tasks." BBA-SME
   Contract, SOW, at 2. The contracts identified the areas in which possible
   tasks could be performed as including economic development and commerce;
   business development/contracting; and urban planning/infrastructure
   engineering. Id. at 9-11. We find from our review that the fairly broad
   scope of the BBA-SME contract statement of work includes the advice and
   assistance services sought by the RFP here.

   We also find reasonable the agency's conclusion that it would be more
   advantageous to obtain the executive agent services under the existing
   BBA-SME contract rather than continuing with its procurement under this
   RFP. As noted above, the agency found that the protester's and the other
   offeror's proposals were deficient, and in particular that Mr. Scott's
   proposal did not demonstrate that he would satisfy the RFP's experience,
   Arabic language, and security clearance requirements. See Contracting
   Officer's Statement at 2. Although Mr. Scott disagrees with the agency's
   evaluation, he does not establish that the agency's concerns with his and
   the other offeror's proposals did not provide the agency with a reasonable
   basis to conclude it would be more advantageous to use its existing
   contract to satisfy these requirements. In addition, the agency concluded
   that obtaining these services from the BBA-SME contract, rather than under
   the RFP, could result in cost savings and would relieve the agency of
   having to administer two contracts.

   Mr. Scott also complains that the agency's cancellation of the RFP was the
   result of bad faith and the agency's "institutional bias" against Mr.
   Scott. Specifically, the protester argues that it has protested other
   JCC-I/A procurements to GAO, which Mr. Scott described as "essentially
   political protests" to challenge the government's policy in Iraq, and that
   because of these protests the agency cancelled the RFP to avoid making
   award to Mr. Scott. Protest at 4-8.

   Government officials are presumed to act in good faith and a protester's
   claim that contracting officials were motivated by bias or bad faith must
   be supported by convincing proof. Our Office will not attribute unfair or
   prejudicial motives to procurement officials on the basis of inference or
   supposition. Shinwha Elecs., B-290603 et al., Sept. 3, 2002, 2002 CPD
   para. 154 at 5 n.6. Mr. Scott has not provided such convincing proof to
   support its bad faith and bias allegations.

   The protest is denied.

   Gary L. Kepplinger
   General Counsel

   ------------------------

   [1] The stated purpose for the "Iraqi First" program is to develop the
   Iraqi economy by increasing United States contracting with Iraqi
   businesses. See www.mnf-iraq.com/
   index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11741&Itemid=128.

   [2] The agency states it has no information explaining why the proposal of
   the third offeror was not forwarded to the requiring activity for
   evaluation.