Congressional Oversight of Labor Categories in Defense Contracting Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8185 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report on use of time-and-materials and labor contracts and labor category minimums within the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report on use of time-and-materials and labor contracts and labor category minimums within the Department of Defense, 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 ‘‘Congressional Over- 4 sight of Labor Categories in Defense Contracting Act of 5 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8185.IH H8185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8185 IH SEC. 2. REPORT ON USE OF TIME-AND-MATERIALS AND 1 LABOR CONTRACTS AND LABOR CATEGORY 2 MINIMUMS. 3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 5 the United States shall submit to the Committees on 6 Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Represent- 7 atives a report on the use of time-and-materials and labor 8 contracts and labor category minimums within the De- 9 partment of Defense. 10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 11 (a) shall include the following: 12 (1) An assessment on the trends in Department 13 of Defense time-and-materials and labor hour con- 14 tracts, including— 15 (A) the frequency of use; 16 (B) the aggregate and average value; 17 (C) the proposed and actual value; 18 (D) the use of labor category minimums 19 within such contracts; and 20 (E) the dollar value of such contracts 21 awarded using FAR Part 12 procedures. 22 (2) An assessment of the supply and the de- 23 mand available in the workforce for each labor cat- 24 egory used in Department of Defense contracts. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8185.IH H8185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8185 IH (3) An assessment of the sectors in which tech- 1 nology has altered the suitability of time-and-mate- 2 rials and labor hour contracts, including information 3 technology services, cybersecurity services, audit or 4 audit readiness services, health care services and 5 records, telecommunications devices and services, or 6 other knowledge-based professional services. 7 (4) An assessment on the feasibility of using 8 private sector experience to substitute for edu- 9 cational requirements in Department of Defense 10 contracts. 11 (5) Recommendations on improvements that 12 can be made to the minimum requirements in labor 13 categories. 14 (6) Recommendations on changes to Depart- 15 ment of Defense policy regarding time-and-materials 16 and labor hour contracts, including actions to limit 17 or restrict award of such contracts, especially when 18 utilizing FAR Part 12 procedures. 19 (7) Any other matters determined by the Comp- 20 troller General as appropriate. 21 (c) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than May 1, 2021, the 22 Comptroller General shall provide to the committees re- 23 ferred to in subsection (a) one or more briefings on the 24 status of the study required by subsection (a), including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8185.IH H8185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8185 IH any preliminary findings and recommendations of the 1 Comptroller General as a result of the study as of the date 2 of such briefing. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8185.IH H8185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS