The publication is reproduced in full below:
DHS CONTRACT REPORTING ACT OF 2021
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4363) to establish a daily public reporting requirement for covered contract awards of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4363
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 ``DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. DAILY PUBLIC REPORT OF COVERED CONTRACT AWARDS.
(a) Daily Report.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall post, maintain, and update in accordance with paragraph (2), on a publicly available website of the Department, a daily report of all covered contract awards. Each reported covered contract award shall include information relating to--
(A) the contract number, modification number, or delivery order number;
(B) the contract type;
(C) the amount obligated for such award;
(D) the total contract value for such award, including all options;
(E) the description of the purpose for such award;
(F) the number of proposals or bids received;
(G) the name and address of the vendor, and whether such vendor is considered a small business;
(H) the period and each place of performance for such award;
(I) whether such award is multiyear;
(J) whether such award requires a small business subcontracting plan; and
(K) the contracting office and the point of contact for such office.
(2) Update.--Updates referred to in paragraph (1) shall occur not later than two business days after the date on which the covered contract is authorized or modified.
(3) Subscribing to alerts.--The website referred to in paragraph (1) shall provide the option to subscribe to an automatic notification of the publication of each report required under such paragraph.
(4) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section.
(b) Undefinitized Contract Action or Definitized Amount.--If a covered contract award reported pursuant to subsection
(a) includes an undefinitized contract action, the Secretary shall--
(1) report the estimated total contract value for such award and the amount obligated upon award; and
(2) once such award is definitized, update the total contract value and amount obligated.
(c) Exemption.--Each report required under subsection (a) shall not include covered contract awards relating to classified products, programs, or services.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered contract award.--The term ``covered contract award''--
(A) means a contract action of the Department with the total authorized dollar amount of $4,000,000 or greater, including unexercised options; and
(B) includes--
(i) contract awards governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation;
(ii) modifications to a contract award that increase the total value, expand the scope of work, or extend the period of performance;
(iii) orders placed on a multiple award or multiple-agency contract that includes delivery or quantity terms that are indefinite;
(iv) other transaction authority agreements; and
(v) contract awards made with other than full and open competition.
(2) Definitized amount.--The term ``definitized amount'' means the final amount of a covered contract award after agreement between the Department and the contractor at issue.
(3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department of Homeland Security.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(5) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means an entity that qualifies as a small business concern, as such term is described under section 3 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 632).
(6) Total contract value.--The term ``total contract value'' means the total amount of funds expected to be provided to the contractor at issue under the terms of the contract through the full period of performance.
(7) Undefinitized contract action.--The term
``undefinitized contract action'' means any contract action for which the contract terms, specifications, or price is not established prior to the start of the performance of a covered contract award.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi.
General Leave
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Mississippi?
There was no objection.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4363, the DHS Contract Reporting Act of the 2021. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Homeland Security spends billions of dollars each year to acquire goods and services needed to carry out its missions.
It purchases everything from disaster relief supplies to passenger screening equipment to software designed to protect Federal Government networks from cyber threats.
The Department's Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have consistently identified challenges with respect to DHS contract management efforts.
For instance, the DHS Inspector General has identified instances where FEMA awarded contracts to inexperienced vendors that were unable to deliver critical supplies in response to major disasters.
In June 2020, GAO determined that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had misspent funding that Congress specifically appropriated for migrant medical care and related supplies.
H.R. 4363 seeks to improve visibility in DHS' contract awards by requiring daily reporting of contract awards on the Department's public website. The reports are to include key information about the award, such as the purpose of the contract and where work is expected to be performed.
The reports are also to include information about the award recipient, such as the name of the company and whether it is considered a small business.
H.R. 4363 has bipartisan support and was reported out of committee by voice vote. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, the DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021.
The Department of Homeland Security, along with its component agencies, is appropriated billions of dollars every year to carry out its mission. This legislation, authorized by my colleague, Representative Harshbarger, will bring long overdue transparency to the money DHS spends when contracting services from the private sector.
I commend Representative Harshbarger for her legislation to battle waste, fraud, and abuse, and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and transparently.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4363, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I am prepared to close after the gentleman from Mississippi closes. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger).
Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, the DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021.
Improving transparency and accountability is an essential way for the America people to gain and have confidence in their government and the Department of Homeland Security.
Currently, there is no clear line of sight into DHS' purchasing decisions. Even though DHS is required to report some contract awards to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, it is not required to report them to other committees with oversight responsibilities such as ours, the House Committee on Homeland Security.
And most importantly, if the American people want to know where their tax dollars are going, that information is almost impossible to find.
Today, if someone wanted to find a DHS contract award, they would have to know how to use and navigate the cumbersome Federal data systems, and even then they may not be successful if they don't already know some key details about the contract.
Furthermore, DHS acquisition management is still on the Government Accountability Office's high-risk list. GAO reports that although DHS has taken steps to strengthen its acquisition requirements development process, DHS continues to face challenges in effectively executing its acquisition portfolio, with many programs not meeting the cost and schedule goals they establish.
I want to change this. The bill I am putting forward today will increase the transparency into these contracts. The DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021 requires DHS to have a public facing website where it will report all contract awards over $4 million.
To illustrate the current opaqueness of our oversight, I want to ask: Does anybody here know whether all the DHS contracts that should have been awarded competitively actually were? I don't know the answer. But I do know that competition and contract awards helps to lower the cost of services and technologies the Department buys, and to get the best return on investment for the American taxpayer.
To get at this type of information and to have more insight into DHS' awards more generally, this bill also requires DHS to include key aspects of each contract award it reports, such as the total amount it plans to spend; what the contract is for; what type of agreement it is; and whether the government competed the contract award.
According to the government's top 100 contractors report for 2020, DHS alone awarded over $12 billion to its top 100 contractors. And this is an increase in spending of $1 billion from just the previous year.
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This includes everything from drones and IT systems to medical services at the border. With these significant levels of increased spending, it is crucial that Congress have better oversight of DHS contracts.
If this requirement would have been in place last year, the American people and Congress would have had that insight into nearly 1,000 contracts DHS awarded in 2020. We need to put this requirement in place now so that Congress can ensure better stewardship of taxpayer dollars next year.
With increased Federal spending across the board, it is more important than ever that this committee does its job to ensure DHS is being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. More accountability will make the Department a better business partner and a better provider of services to the public, and that is why I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
I would like to thank Ranking Member Katko and Representatives Luria and Slotkin for reaching across the aisle and cosponsoring this bill with me.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, and I am prepared to close.
Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, DHS obligated the $20 billion on goods and services in fiscal year 2020, making it the fourth highest spending civilian agency in the Federal Government.
Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the Department's funds are well spent. Enactment of H.R. 4363 would provide greater transparency into the Department's contract awards and enable better oversight of DHS's spending.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4363, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4363, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 170
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