Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2020

II Calendar No. 544 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3282 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of contracts awarded by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported by Mr. MORAN, without amendment A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of contracts awarded by the Secretary of Vet- erans Affairs to small business concerns owned and con- trolled by veterans, 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 ‘‘Protecting Business 4 Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3282 RS SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTS UNDER CON- 1 TRACTS WITH SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 2 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127 of title 38, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub- 6 section (l); and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection (k): 9 ‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING.—(1)(A) 10 The requirements applicable to a covered small business 11 concern under section 46 of the Small Business Act (15 12 U.S.C. 657s) shall apply with respect to a small business 13 concern owned and controlled by veterans that is awarded 14 a contract under this section. 15 ‘‘(B) For purposes of applying the requirements of 16 section 46 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) 17 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the term ‘similarly situated 18 entity’ used in such section 46 includes a subcontractor 19 for a small business concern owned and controlled by vet- 20 erans described in such subparagraph (A). 21 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary may award a contract under 22 this section only after the Secretary obtains from the of- 23 feror a certification that the offeror will comply with the 24 requirements described in paragraph (1)(A) if awarded 25 the contract. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3282 RS ‘‘(B) A certification described in subparagraph (A) 1 shall— 2 ‘‘(i) specify the exact performance requirements 3 applicable under such paragraph; and 4 ‘‘(ii) explicitly acknowledge that the certification 5 is subject to section 1001 of title 18. 6 ‘‘(3)(A) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged 7 Business Utilization for the Department, established pur- 8 suant to section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 9 U.S.C. 644(k)), and the Chief Acquisition Officer of the 10 Department, established pursuant to section 1702 of title 11 41, shall jointly implement a process using the systems 12 described in section 16(g)(2) of the Small Business Act 13 (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(2)), and any other relevant systems 14 available, to monitor compliance with this subsection. 15 ‘‘(B) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Busi- 16 ness Utilization and the Chief Acquisition Officer shall 17 jointly refer any violations or suspected violations of this 18 subsection to the Inspector General of the Department. 19 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines, in consultation with 20 the Inspector General of the Department, that a small 21 business concern that is awarded a contract under this 22 section did not act in good faith with respect to the re- 23 quirements described in paragraph (1)(A), the small busi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3282 RS ness concern shall be subject to any or all of the following 1 consequences— 2 ‘‘(i) referral to the Debarment and Suspension 3 Committee of the Department; 4 ‘‘(ii) a fine under section 16(g)(1) of the Small 5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(1)); and 6 ‘‘(iii) prosecution for violating section 1001 of 7 title 18. 8 ‘‘(D)(i) Not later than November 30 for each of fiscal 9 years 2021 through 2025, the Inspector General shall sub- 10 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 11 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 12 Representatives a report on violations and suspected viola- 13 tions described in subparagraph (B) for the fiscal year 14 preceding the fiscal year during which the report is sub- 15 mitted. 16 ‘‘(ii) Each report submitted under clause (i) shall in- 17 clude, for the period covered by the report, the following: 18 ‘‘(I) The number of referred violations and sus- 19 pected violations received under subparagraph (B). 20 ‘‘(II) The disposition of such referred violations, 21 including the number of small business concerns sus- 22 pended or debarred from Federal contracting or re- 23 ferred to the Attorney General for prosecution.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3282 RS (b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (k) of section 8127 of 1 title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 2 shall apply with respect to a contract entered into after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 544 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3282 A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of contracts awarded by the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to small business con- cerns owned and controlled by veterans, and for other purposes. SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S3282.RS S3282 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS