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

Public Law 108-136

House Conference Report 108-354

SEC. 805. COMPETITIVE AWARD OF CONTRACTS FOR RECONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ.

(a) COMPETITIVE AWARD OF CONTRACTS- The Department of Defense shall fully comply with chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, and other applicable procurement laws and regulations for any contract awarded for reconstruction activities in Iraq, and shall conduct a full and open competition for performing work needed for the reconstruction of the Iraqi oil industry.

(b) REPORT- If the Department of Defense does not have a fully competitive contract in place to replace the March 8, 2003, contract for the reconstruction of the Iraqi oil industry on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress, not later than 30 days after such date of enactment, a report detailing the reasons for allowing the March 8, 2003, contract to continue.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 1209) that would require the Department of Defense to conduct a full and open competition for performing work needed for the reconstruction of the Iraqi oil industry and the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress until such time a competitive contract has been awarded.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes with an amendment that would limit the number of reports required by the provision. The conferees note that section 2304a(d)(3) of title 10, United States Code, and section 253h(d) title 41, United States Code, establish a statutory preference for the award of separate task order or delivery order contracts for the same or similar services or property to two or more sources to facilitate competition for individual task orders and delivery orders. The conferees encourage the Department of Defense and the Coalition Provisional Authority to utilize multiple task order and delivery order contracts to facilitate competition for task orders and delivery orders for Iraqi reconstruction to the maximum extent practicable.