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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle D—Provisions Relating to Acquisition Workforce

P. L. 114-

House Conference Report. 114-270

(a) Report required.—The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report identifying the defense-unique provisions of law that are applicable for procurement of commercial items or commercial off-the-shelf items, both at the prime contract and subcontract level. The report—

(1) shall discuss the impact—

(A) of limiting the inclusion of clauses in contracts for commercial items or commercial off-the-shelf items to those that are required to implement law or Executive orders or are determined to be consistent with standard commercial practice; and

(B) of limiting flow down of clauses in subcontracts for commercial items or commercial off the shelf-items to those that are required to implement law or Executive order; and

(2) shall provide a listing of all standard clauses used in Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 12 contracts, including a justification for the inclusion of each.

(b) Deadline for submission.—The report under subsection (a) shall be submitted not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes with an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to report to the congressional defense committees identifying the defense-unique provisions of law that are applicable for the procurement of commercial items or commercial-off-the shelf items, both at the prime and subcontract level.

Senate Report 114-49 to accompany S. 1376 as it was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Inapplicability of certain laws and regulations to the acquisition of commercial items and commercially available off-the-shelf items (sec. 861)

The committee recommends a provision that would amend section 2375 of title 10, United States Code, to require the establishment of a list in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement of inapplicable defense-unique statues to contracts for commercial items and commercial available off- the-shelf items. These would be in addition to those inapplicable government-wide statutes currently listed in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) pursuant to section 1906(b) of title 41, United States Code.

The committee is concerned by the growing number of government-unique contract clauses that are now required for FAR Part 12 commercial contracts. By industry estimates these clauses have grown since the mid-1990s from 13 to 63, and in some cases over 80, government-unique contract clauses today. With these requirements come additional costs and regulatory burden ultimately paid by the taxpayer while each added new clause limits the pool of potential commercial companies willing to act as defense suppliers. The committee intends that this provision be used by the Department of Defense to reduce unnecessary requirements on contractors providing commercial items.