Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act
This bill addresses conflicts of interest in federal acquisitions.
Specifically, the bill directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to (1) identify contracting methods, types, and services that raise heightened concerns for potential organizational conflicts of interest beyond those currently addressed in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); and (2) revise the FAR to address organizational conflicts of interest and require executive agencies to take certain actions.
The council must revise the FAR to
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7602 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7602
To prevent organizational conflicts of interest in Federal acquisition,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 27, 2022
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent organizational conflicts of interest in Federal acquisition,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Organizational Conflicts
of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Federal Government's reliance on contractors for
mission support services can create the potential for conflicts
of interest related to impaired objectivity or undue influence
due to contractor business relationships with regulated or
other entities.
(2) Comptroller General bid protest decisions in recent
years have shown failures in proper identification and
mitigation of organizational conflicts of interest. These
decisions focus on the issue of ``impaired objectivity'' in
contract support, or a situation in which a contractor is
unable to provide impartial recommendations and advice to the
Government due to competing interests of the contractor.
(3) Prior efforts by the Administrator for Federal
Procurement Policy and the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics, undertaken pursuant to the Duncan Hunter National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-
417), have determined that changes are needed to the Federal
Acquisition Regulation to prevent and mitigate conflicts of
interest in Federal contracting.
(4) Protecting against conflicts of interest in Federal
acquisition is vital to the integrity of Government operations.
SEC. 3. PREVENTING ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN FEDERAL
ACQUISITION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council
shall--
(1) identify contracting methods, types, and services that
raise heightened concerns for potential organizational
conflicts of interest beyond those currently addressed in the
Federal Acquisition Regulation; and
(2) revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation to--
(A) address organizational conflicts of interest
with sufficiently rigorous, comprehensive, and
consistent governmentwide policy and guidance to
prevent or effectively mitigate such conflicts of
interest in Federal acquisition;
(B) provide and update definitions related to
organizational conflicts of interest, to include
contractor relationships with public, private,
domestic, and foreign entities that may cause contract
support to be subject to potential conflicts of
interest, including undue influence;
(C) provide executive agencies with solicitation
provisions and contract clauses that require
contractors to disclose information relevant to
potential organizational conflicts of interest and
limit future contracting with respect to potential
conflicts of interest with the work to be performed
under the awarded contract, for agency use as needed;
(D) require executive agencies to tailor the
solicitation and contract clauses described in
subparagraph (C) as necessary to provide specifics on
information required to be disclosed and limitations on
future contracting based on the potential for conflict
with the work to be performed under the awarded
contract; and
(E) require executive agencies to establish or
update agency conflict of interest procedures to
implement the Federal Acquisition Regulation revisions
made under this section, and periodically assess and
update these agency procedures as needed to address
agency-specific conflict of interest issues.
(b) Executive Agency Defined.--In this section, the term
``executive agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 133 of
title 41, United States Code.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 24 - 17.
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