Department of Homeland Security Mentor-Protégé Program Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4251 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a mentor-prote´ge´ program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2020 Mr. WARNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a mentor-prote´ge´ program, 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 ‘‘Department of Home- 4 land Security Mentor-Prote´ge´ Program Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MENTOR- 6 PROTE´ GE´ PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 8 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 9 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4251 IS ‘‘SEC. 890B. MENTOR-PROTE´ GE´ PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 2 Department a mentor-prote´ge´ program (in this section re- 3 ferred to as the ‘Program’) under which a mentor firm 4 enters into an agreement with a prote´ge´ firm for the pur- 5 pose of assisting the prote´ge´ firm to compete for prime 6 contracts and subcontracts of the Department. 7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish cri- 8 teria for mentor firms and prote´ge´ firms to be eligible to 9 participate in the Program, including a requirement that 10 a firm is not included on any list maintained by the Fed- 11 eral Government of contractors that have been suspended 12 or debarred. 13 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM APPLICATION AND APPROVAL.— 14 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The Secretary, acting 15 through the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 16 Business Utilization of the Department, shall estab- 17 lish a process for submission of an application joint- 18 ly by a mentor firm and the prote´ge´ firm selected by 19 the mentor firm. The application shall include each 20 of the following: 21 ‘‘(A) A description of the assistance to be 22 provided by the mentor firm, including, to the 23 extent available, the number and a brief de- 24 scription of each anticipated subcontract to be 25 awarded to the prote´ge´ firm. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4251 IS ‘‘(B) A schedule with milestones for 1 achieving the assistance to be provided over the 2 period of participation in the Program. 3 ‘‘(C) An estimate of the costs to be in- 4 curred by the mentor firm for providing assist- 5 ance under the Program. 6 ‘‘(D) Attestation that Program partici- 7 pants will submit to the Secretary reports at 8 times specified by the Secretary to assist the 9 Secretary in evaluating the prote´ge´ firm’s devel- 10 opmental progress. 11 ‘‘(E) Attestations that Program partici- 12 pants will inform the Secretary in the event of 13 change in eligibility or voluntary withdrawal 14 from the Program. 15 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 16 receipt of an application pursuant to paragraph (1), 17 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 18 Business Utilization shall notify applicants of ap- 19 proval or, in the case of disapproval, the process for 20 resubmitting an application for reconsideration. 21 ‘‘(3) RESCISSION.—The head of the Office of 22 Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may 23 rescind the approval of an application under this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4251 IS subsection if it determines that such action is in the 1 best interest of the Department. 2 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM DURATION.—A mentor firm and 3 prote´ge´ firm approved under subsection (c) shall enter into 4 an agreement to participate in the Program for a period 5 of not less than 36 months. 6 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM BENEFITS.—A mentor firm and 7 prote´ge´ firm that enter into an agreement under sub- 8 section (d) may receive the following Program benefits: 9 ‘‘(1) With respect to an award of a contract 10 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 11 may receive evaluation credit for participating in the 12 Program. 13 ‘‘(2) With respect to an award of a contract 14 that requires a subcontracting plan, a mentor firm 15 may receive credit for a prote´ge´ firm performing as 16 a first tier subcontractor or a subcontractor at any 17 tier in an amount equal to the total dollar value of 18 any subcontracts awarded to such prote´ge´ firm. 19 ‘‘(3) A prote´ge´ firm may receive technical, man- 20 agerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon 21 benefit from a mentor firm, including a subcontract 22 award. 23 ‘‘(4) Any other benefits identified by the Sec- 24 retary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4251 IS ‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 2 the head of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Busi- 3 ness Utilization shall submit to the Committees on Home- 4 land Security and Small Business of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives a report that— 6 ‘‘(1) identifies each agreement between a men- 7 tor firm and a prote´ge´ firm entered into under this 8 section, including number of prote´ge´ firm partici- 9 pants that are— 10 ‘‘(A) small business concerns; 11 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 12 controlled by veterans; 13 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 14 controlled by service-disabled veterans; 15 ‘‘(D) qualified HUBZone small business 16 concerns; 17 ‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 18 controlled by socially and economically dis- 19 advantaged individuals; 20 ‘‘(F) women-owned small business con- 21 cerns; 22 ‘‘(G) historically Black colleges and univer- 23 sities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4251 IS ‘‘(H) minority institutions of higher edu- 1 cation; 2 ‘‘(2) describes the type of assistance provided 3 by mentor firms to prote´ge´ firms; 4 ‘‘(3) identifies contracts within the Department 5 in which a mentor firm serving as the prime con- 6 tractor provided subcontracts to a prote´ge´ firm 7 under the Program; and 8 ‘‘(4) assesses the degree to which there has 9 been— 10 ‘‘(A) an increase in the technical capabili- 11 ties of prote´ge´ firms; and 12 ‘‘(B) an increase in the quantity and esti- 13 mated value of prime contract and subcontract 14 awards to prote´ge´ firms for the period covered 15 by the report. 16 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 ‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 18 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 19 university’ means any of the historically Black col- 20 leges and universities referred to in section 2323 of 21 title 10, United States Code, as in effect on March 22 1, 2018. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4251 IS ‘‘(2) MENTOR FIRM.—The term ‘mentor firm’ 1 means a for-profit business concern that is not a 2 small business concern that— 3 ‘‘(A) has the ability to assist and commits 4 to assisting a prote´ge´ to compete for Federal 5 prime contracts and subcontracts; and 6 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im- 7 posed by the Secretary. 8 ‘‘(3) MINORITY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU- 9 CATION.—The term ‘minority institution of higher 10 education’ means an institution of higher education 11 with a student body that reflects the composition 12 specified in section 312(b) of the Higher Education 13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(b)). 14 ‘‘(4) PROTE´GE´ FIRM.—The term ‘prote´ge´ firm’ 15 means a small business concern, a historically Black 16 college or university, or a minority institution of 17 higher education that— 18 ‘‘(A) is eligible to enter into a prime con- 19 tract or subcontract with the Department; and 20 ‘‘(B) satisfies any other requirements im- 21 posed by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 23 terms ‘small business concern’, ‘small business con- 24 cern owned and controlled by veterans’, ‘small busi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4251 IS ness concern owned and controlled by service-dis- 1 abled veterans’, ‘qualified HUBZone small business 2 concern’, and ‘small business concern owned and 3 controlled by women’ have the meaning given such 4 terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Small 5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). The term ‘small busi- 6 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 7 economically disadvantaged individuals’ has the 8 meaning given such term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of 9 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 11 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 12 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 13 890A the following new item: 14 ‘‘Sec. 890B. Mentor-prote´ge´ program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4251.IS S4251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS