Federal

FIND Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,388 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill prevents federal agencies from awarding government contracts to companies that discriminate against firearm or ammunition businesses. The bill adds requirements to all federal government contracts so that companies must certify they do not have policies against the firearm industry and will not adopt such policies during the contract period. (Sec. 2)

Who It Affects

Federal agencies awarding contracts, prime contractors (the main company hired by the government), subcontractors (companies hired by the prime contractor), firearm manufacturers and dealers, ammunition sellers, gun safety device makers, and firearm trade associations.

Key Provisions

• Federal agencies must include a clause in every contract requiring the main contractor to certify that the company does not discriminate against firearm or ammunition businesses and will not do so during the contract term (Sec. 2(a)(1)) • Prime contractors cannot award large subcontracts (worth more than 10 percent of the total contract value) to companies that fail to provide the same anti-discrimination certification in writing (Sec. 2(a)(2)) • Prime contractors cannot structure subcontracts in ways designed to dodge the 10 percent rule by breaking up work among lower-tier subcontractors (Sec. 2(a)(2)(B)) • If a prime contractor violates these requirements, the federal government can terminate the contract immediately and start suspension or debarment proceedings (a formal process preventing the company from receiving future federal contracts) (Sec. 2(a)(3)) • This requirement does not apply to sole-source contracts (contracts awarded to only one company because no other option exists) (Sec. 2(b))

What Changes

Federal contracting rules will be amended to include new anti-discrimination language. Companies seeking federal contracts must now certify compliance with firearm industry non-discrimination requirements. Contracts awarded after this bill becomes law will contain these new requirements.

Important Definitions

• "Discriminate" means judging a company's policies using broad categories instead of case-by-case analysis, or using criteria based on favoritism or prejudice against the firearm industry or preference for alternative businesses. It also means refusing or limiting services to firearm companies based on bias rather than credit history, financial risk, or legal violations. (Sec. 2(c)(1)) • "Firearm entity" means any licensed firearm importer, manufacturer or dealer; ammunition sellers; makers or dealers of gun safety devices; and makers or dealers of firearm or ammunition parts and accessories. (Sec. 2(c)(2)) • "Firearm trade association" has the meaning defined in section 7903 of title 15 of federal law. (Sec. 2(c)(3)) • "First-tier subcontract" means a subcontract between a subcontractor and the prime contractor for work on the main contract. (Sec. 2(c)(4)) • "Lower-tier subcontractor" means any company hired by a subcontractor to work on the prime contract. (Sec. 2(c)(5))

Effective Date

These requirements apply to contracts awarded on or after the date this bill becomes law. (Sec. 2(b))

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 428 To amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit the Federal Government from entering into contracts with an entity that discriminates against firearm or ammunition industries, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 15, 2023 Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CASSIDY, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. LANKFORD, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. SCHMITT, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. HOEVEN, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit the Fed- eral Government from entering into contracts with an entity that discriminates against firearm or ammunition industries, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Firearm Industry Non- 4 Discrimination Act’’ or the ‘‘FIND Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 428 IS SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ENTERING INTO CONTRACTS 1 WITH ENTITIES DISCRIMINATING AGAINST 2 FIREARM OR AMMUNITION INDUSTRIES. 3 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 47 of title 41, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘§ 4715. Prohibition on entering into contracts with 7 entities discriminating against firearm or 8 ammunition industries. 9 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive 11 agency shall include in each contract for the pro- 12 curement of goods or services awarded by the execu- 13 tive agency, a clause requiring the prime contractor 14 to certify that the contractor— 15 ‘‘(A) has no policy, practice, guidance, or 16 directive that discriminates against a firearm 17 entity or firearm trade association; and 18 ‘‘(B) will not adopt a policy, practice, guid- 19 ance, or directive that discriminates against a 20 firearm entity or firearm trade association dur- 21 ing the term of the contract. 22 ‘‘(2) SUBCONTRACTS.—The head of an execu- 23 tive agency shall include in each contract for the 24 procurement of goods or services awarded by the ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 428 IS ecutive agency, a clause that prohibits the prime 1 contractor on such contract from— 2 ‘‘(A) awarding a first-tier subcontract with 3 a value greater than 10 percent of the total 4 value of the prime contract to an entity that 5 fails to certify in writing to the prime con- 6 tractor that the entity— 7 ‘‘(i) has no policy, practice, guidance, 8 or directive that discriminates against a 9 firearm entity or firearm trade association; 10 and 11 ‘‘(ii) will not adopt a policy, practice, 12 guidance, or directive that discriminates 13 against a firearm entity or firearm trade 14 association during the term of the con- 15 tract; and 16 ‘‘(B) structuring subcontract tiers in a 17 manner designed to avoid violating subpara- 18 graph (A) by enabling a subcontractor to per- 19 form more than 10 percent of the total value of 20 the prime contract as a lower-tier subcon- 21 tractor. 22 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES.—The clause included in con- 23 tracts pursuant to paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 428 IS shall provide that, in the event that the prime con- 1 tractor violates the clause— 2 ‘‘(A) the prime contract shall be termi- 3 nated for default; and 4 ‘‘(B) a suspension or debarment pro- 5 ceeding will be initiated for the contractor on 6 the basis of the violation. 7 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 8 a contract for the procurement of goods or services that 9 is a sole-source contract. 10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) DISCRIMINATE.—The term ‘discriminate’ 12 means to— 13 ‘‘(A) make a judgement about a policy, 14 practice, guidance, or directive on the basis 15 of— 16 ‘‘(i) partial criteria or a category- 17 based assessment analysis, rather than— 18 ‘‘(I) on a case-by-case basis; or 19 ‘‘(II) using empirical data evalu- 20 ated under quantifiable standards; or 21 ‘‘(ii) criteria other than criteria free 22 from— 23 ‘‘(I) favoritism or prejudice 24 against or dislike for the firearm enti- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 428 IS ty or trade association or the products 1 or services sold by the firearm entity 2 or trade association; or 3 ‘‘(II) favoritism for market alter- 4 natives to the business of the firearm 5 entity or the trade association; 6 ‘‘(B) refuse to provide services, or deny, 7 cancel, or limit services, to the firearm entity or 8 trade association on the basis of criteria other 9 than— 10 ‘‘(i) criteria free from— 11 ‘‘(I) favoritism or prejudice 12 against or dislike for the firearm enti- 13 ty or trade association or the products 14 or services sold by the firearm entity 15 or trade association; or 16 ‘‘(II) favoritism for market alter- 17 natives to the business of the firearm 18 entity or the trade association; 19 ‘‘(ii) criteria related to credit history 20 and financial risk specific to a customer or 21 potential customer; or 22 ‘‘(iii) criteria related to noncompliance 23 with Federal, State, or local law; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 428 IS ‘‘(C) limit the operations of the firearm en- 1 tity or trade association in manner not required 2 by— 3 ‘‘(i) Federal, State, or local law; or 4 ‘‘(ii) Federal, State, or local regula- 5 tion. 6 ‘‘(2) FIREARM ENTITY.—The term ‘firearm en- 7 tity’ means any— 8 ‘‘(A) person who is licensed under section 9 923 of title 18 to import, manufacture, or deal 10 in firearms; 11 ‘‘(B) seller of ammunition, as defined in 12 section 7903 of title 15; 13 ‘‘(C) manufacturer or importer of, or deal- 14 er in, a secure gun storage or safety device, as 15 defined in section 921(a) of title 18; and 16 ‘‘(D) manufacturer or importer of, or deal- 17 er in, a component part or accessory of a fire- 18 arm or ammunition. 19 ‘‘(3) FIREARM TRADE ASSOCIATION.—The term 20 ‘firearm trade association’ has the meaning in sec- 21 tion 7903 of title 15. 22 ‘‘(4) FIRST-TIER SUBCONTRACT.—The term 23 ‘first-tier subcontract’ means a subcontract entered 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 428 IS into by a subcontractor with the prime contractor 1 for the purposes of carrying out the prime contract. 2 ‘‘(5) LOWER-TIER SUBCONTRACTOR.—The term 3 ‘lower-tier subcontractor’ means any person entering 4 into a contract with a subcontractor of a prime con- 5 tractor for the purposes of carrying out the prime 6 contract. 7 ‘‘(6) PRIME CONTRACT; PRIME CONTRACTOR.— 8 The terms ‘prime contract’ and ‘prime contractor’ 9 have the meaning given those terms in section 8701 10 of title 41.’’. 11 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 4715 of title 41, United 12 States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with 13 respect to contracts awarded on or after the date of the 14 enactment of this Act. 15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16 for chapter 47 of title 41, United States Code, is amended 17 by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘4715. Prohibition on entering into contracts with entities discriminating against firearm or ammunition industries.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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