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LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS NOT ADOPTED

House and Senate Bill Sections Not Enacted

House Conference Report 111-288

Version of Bill Passed by House or Senate and House and Senate Report

Requirement to buy military decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments produced in the United States

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 827) that would require that all military decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments be produced in the United States.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The House recedes.

   The conferees are aware of allegations that substandard medals and decorations, produced in foreign countries, may have been sold to some service members or their families. The conferees note that the production and sale of such medals and decorations would be criminal violations under existing law. Title 32, Part 507 of the Code of Regulations prohibits the manufacture or sale of heraldic items unless they are ``manufactured in accordance with Government specifications using government furnished tools'' by a company that has received a certificate of authority to manufacture the articles by the Institute of Heraldry. Each certified manufacturer is assigned a hallmark, which must be placed on all insignia that it manufacturers. Section 704 of title 18, United States Code, establishes criminal penalties for anybody who knowingly ``sells, attempts to sell, [or] advertises for sale'' any medals or decorations that fail to comply with these regulations.

The conferees direct the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to investigate allegations of the sale of substandard medals and decorations and to refer any potential violations of the applicable laws and regulations to the appropriate criminal enforcement agencies.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 827. REQUIREMENT TO BUY MILITARY DECORATIONS, RIBBONS, BADGES, MEDALS, INSIGNIA, AND OTHER UNIFORM ACCOUTERMENTS PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES.

(a) Requirement- Subchapter III of chapter 147 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

`Sec. 2495c. Requirement to buy military decorations and other uniform accouterments from American sources; exceptions

`(a) Buy-American Requirement- A military exchange store or other nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense may not purchase for resale any military decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments that are not produced in the United States. Competitive procedures shall be used in selecting the United States producer of the decorations.

`(b) Heraldic Quality Control- No certificate of authority (contained in part 507 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations) for the manufacture and sale of any item reference in subsection (a) by the Institute of Heraldry, the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility, or the Marine Corps Combat Equipment and Support Systems for quality control and specifications purposes shall be permitted unless these items are from domestic material manufactured in the United States.

`(c) Exception- Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to the extent that the Secretary of Defense determines that a satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of an item covered by subsection (a) and produced in the United States cannot be procured at a reasonable cost.

`(d) United States Defined- In this section, the term `United States' includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

`2495c. Requirement to buy military decorations and other uniform accouterments from American sources; exceptions.'.

(c) Conforming Amendment- Section 2533a(b)(1) of such title is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking `or' at the end;

(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; or'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(F) military decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments.'.

Source:  House Report 111-166 To Accompany H. R. 2647

SECTION 827--REQUIREMENT TO BUY MILITARY DECORATIONS, RIBBONS, BADGES, MEDALS, INSIGNIA, AND OTHER UNIFORM ACCOUTERMENTS PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES

This section would require military exchanges and other nonappropriated fund activities to purchase decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments that are manufactured in the United States using competitive procedures. This section would bar the agencies within the services that certify quality and specifications of products from issuing certificates of authority for the manufacture and sale for any such uniform item unless the items are from domestic material manufactured in the United States. This section would allow the Secretary of Defense to waive the requirements of the provision when a satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of an item produced in the United States cannot be procured at reasonable cost. This section would also amend the Berry Amendment, section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, to add military decorations, ribbons, badges, medals, insignia, and other uniform accouterments to the list of items that may only be procured with appropriated funds when the items are grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States.

Furniture standards

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 829) that would require that all Department of Defense purchases of furniture meet quality standards established by the General Services Administration.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The House recedes.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 829. FURNITURE STANDARDS.

All Department of Defense purchases of furniture in the United States and its territories made from Department of Defense funds, including under design-build contracts, must meet the same quality standards as specified by the General Services Administration schedule program and the Department of Defense.

Source:  House Report 111-166 To Accompany H. R. 2647

SECTION 829--FURNITURE STANDARDS

This section would require that all Department of Defense (DOD) purchases of furniture, made with DOD funds, including design-build contracts, comply with quality standards established in the General Services Administration program and by the Department of Defense.

Follow-on contracts for certain items acquired for special operations forces

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 830) that would have authorized the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to award sole-source contracts in certain cases where other contract approaches would unduly delay the fielding of an item to forces preparing for or participating in overseas contingency operations or for other deployments undertaken in response to a request from a combatant commander.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The House recedes.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 830. FOLLOW-ON CONTRACTS FOR CERTAIN ITEMS ACQUIRED FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES.

(a) Authority for Award of Follow-on Contracts- The commander of the special operations command, acting under authority provided by section 167(e)(4) of title 10, United States Code, may award a follow-on contract for the acquisition of an item to a contractor who previously provided such item if--

(1) the item is an item of special operations-peculiar equipment and not anticipated to be made service common within 24 months of the initial contract;

(2) the item was previously acquired in the make, model, and type--

(A) using competitive procedures;

(B) under the authority of other statutory authority permitting noncompetitive or limited competition procurement actions (such as section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), section 31 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657a, relating to the HUBZone program), and section 36 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657f, relating to procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans)); or

(C) as a result of a competition among a limited number of sources on the basis that the disclosure of the need for the item would compromise national security ; and

(3) the acquisition of the item by means other than a follow-on contract with the contractor would unduly delay the fielding of such item to forces preparing for or participating in overseas contingency operations or for other deployments undertaken in response to a request from a combatant commander.

(b) Limitations- A contract awarded using the authority in subsection (a)--

(1) may have a period of performance of not longer than 1 year;

(2) may be used only to acquire one or more items having an individual unit price under $100,000; and

(3) may have a total value not exceeding $25,000,000.

(c) Notification- Not later than 45 days after the use of the authority in subsection (a), the commander of the special operations command shall submit to the congressional defense committees a notification of the use of such authority.

(d) Termination of Authority- The commander of the special operations command may not use the authority in subsection (a) on and after October 1, 2013.

Comptroller General report on defense contract cost overruns

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 832) that would require the Comptroller General to conduct a study of cost overruns in the performance of Department of Defense contracts.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The House recedes.

   The conferees agree that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has performed, and continues to perform, substantial work on cost overruns in the performance of defense contracts. This work includes GAO's annual assessment of the performance of the Department's major defense acquisition programs.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 832. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON DEFENSE CONTRACT COST OVERRUNS.

(a) Report Required- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on cost overruns in the performance of defense contracts.

(b) Matters Covered- The report under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following:

(1) A list of each contractor with a cost overrun during any of fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009, including identification of the contractor and the covered contract involved, the cost estimate of the covered contract, and the cost overrun for the covered contract.

(2) Findings and recommendations of the Comptroller General.

(3) Such other matters as the Comptroller General considers appropriate.

(c) Covered Contract- In this section, the term `covered contract' means a contract that is awarded by the Department of Defense through the use of a solicitation for competitive proposals, in an amount greater than the simplified acquisition threshold, and that is a cost-reimbursement contract or a time-and-materials contract.

Modifications to requirement for database of information regarding the integrity and performance of persons awarded federal contracts and grants

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 834) that would amend the contractor database requirement in section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417).

   The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 824) that would make unrelated changes to the same provision.

   The conference report does not contain either provision.

   The conferees agree that it would be premature to amend section 872 before the required database has been operational for a sufficient period to determine its effectiveness.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 834. ACCESS BY CONGRESS TO DATABASE OF INFORMATION REGARDING THE INTEGRITY AND PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN PERSONS AWARDED FEDERAL CONTRACTS AND GRANTS.

Section 872(e)(1) of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417; 122 Stat. 455) is amended by striking `the Chairman and Ranking Member of the committees of Congress having jurisdiction' and inserting `any Member of Congress'.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Amended By Senate)

SEC. 824. MODIFICATIONS TO DATABASE FOR FEDERAL AGENCY CONTRACT AND GRANT OFFICERS AND SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT OFFICIALS.

Subsection (c) of section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417; 122 Stat. 4556) is amended--

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraphs:

`(6) Each audit report that, as determined by an Inspector General or the head of an audit agency responsible for the report, contains significant adverse information about a contractor that should be included in the database.

`(7) Each contract action that, as determined by the head of the contracting activity responsible for the contract action, reflects information about contractor performance or integrity that should be included in the database.'.

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 835) that would amend section 2330a of title 10, United States Code, to add certain additional reporting requirements.

   The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

   The House recedes.

   The conferees agree that it would be premature to add new reporting requirements to section 2330a when the Department of Defense (DOD) has not yet submitted an inventory meeting the existing requirements. Once such an inventory has been completed, Congress will have an opportunity to review the inventory to determine whether additional reporting requirements would be appropriate to facilitate DOD management or congressional oversight functions.

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Passed By House)

SEC. 835. ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR INVENTORY RELATING TO CONTRACTS FOR SERVICES.

(a) Additional Reporting Requirements- Section 2330a(c)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(H) With respect to such contracts for services--

`(i) the ratio between the number of individuals responsible for awarding and overseeing such contracts to the amount obligated or expended on such contracts; and

`(ii) the number of individuals responsible for awarding and overseeing such contracts who are themselves contractors.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2011 and fiscal years thereafter.

Small business contracting programs parity

   The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 838) that would amend section 31(b)(2)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. Section 657a(b)(2)(B)), relating to the HUBZone small business program, to clarify that when a contract could be awarded pursuant to more than one small business program, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies have discretion as to which program to apply.

   The House bill contained no similar provision.

   The Senate recedes.

The conferees note that the Department of Justice has concluded that no change to the Small Business Act is required to ensure that contracting officers of the Department of Defense and other federal agencies have the discretion whether or not to award contracts pursuant to the HUBZone program. The conferees direct the Secretary of Defense to continue to administer the HUBZone program in a manner consistent with the Department of Justice opinion.  (emphasis added by Wifcon.com)

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For the Department of Justice opinion, see  Permissibility of Small Business Administration Regulations Implementing The Historically Underutilized Business Zone, 8(A) Business Development, And Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern Programs.  (pdf)  (Source:  Office of Legal Councel, Department of Justice)

Source:  H. R. 2647 (As Amended By Senate)

SEC. 838. SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING PROGRAMS PARITY.

Section 31(b)(2)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by striking `shall' and inserting `may'.