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

Subtitle A—Acquisition Policy and Management.

P. L. 117-81

Joint Explanatory Statement

(a) Report Required.--Not later than February 1 of each of 2023, 2024, and 2025, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with each Secretary of a military department, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on violations of certain domestic preference laws reported to the Department of Defense and the military departments. Each report shall include such violations that occurred during the previous fiscal year covered by the report.

(b) Elements.--Each report required under subsection (a) shall include the following for each reported violation:

(1) The name of the contractor.

(2) The contract number.

(3) The nature of the violation, including which of the certain domestic preference laws was violated.

(4) The origin of the report of the violation.

(5) Actions taken or pending by the Secretary concerned in response to the violation.

(6) Other related matters deemed appropriate by the Secretary concerned.

(c) Certain Domestic Preference Laws Defined.--In this section, the term ``certain domestic preference laws'' means any provision of section 2533a or 2533b of title 10, United States Code, or chapter 83 of title 41 of such Code, that requires or creates a preference for the procurement of goods, articles, materials, or supplies, that are grown,
mined, reprocessed, reused, manufactured, or produced in the United States.

Report on violations of certain domestic preference laws (sec.809)

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 807) that would require a contracting officer to refer to the appropriate suspension or debarment official any current or former Department of Defense contractor if the contracting officer believes the contractor has egregiously violated the domestic preference requirements of section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, also known as the Berry Amendment, or section 2533b of title 10, United States Code. The section would include a safe harbor exception where a contractor reasonably acted in good-faith reliance on a written waiver from an authorized
individual, or on a representation by a third party about the origin of goods, articles, materials, or supplies.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The agreement includes the House provision with an amendment that would direct the Secretary of Defense to provide a report on violations of certain domestic preference laws to the congressional defense committees, not later than February 1, 2023, and annually thereafter through 2025.

H. R. 4350--House Report 117-118

Section 807--Suspension or Debarment Referral for Egregious Violations of Certain Domestic Preference Laws

This section would require a contracting officer to refer to the appropriate suspension or debarment official any current or former Department of Defense contractor if the contracting officer believes the contractor has egregiously violated the domestic preference requirements of section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, Berry Amendment, or section 2533b of title 10, United States Code, Restrictions on Specialty Metals. The section would include a safe harbor exception where a contractor reasonably acted in good-faith reliance on a written waiver from an authorized individual, or on a representation by a third party about the origin of goods, articles, materials, or supplies.