United States Congressional Serial Set

ESTABLISH UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS AFFECTING GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

FEBRUARY 21, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. GRAHAM, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 5568]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 5568, after hearings (serial 4, pts. 1 and 2) and consideration, reports the same favorably with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

The committee amendments are as follows:

Page 1, line 3, after the word "as" strike out the word "the". Page 1, line 4, strike out the figures "1930" and insert in lieu thereof the figures "1931".

Page 2, line 18, after the word "corporation" insert a comma. Page 4, line 8, strike out the semicolon, insert a comma, and add the following words:

(U. S. C. title 25, sec. 99);

Page 4, following subsection (g) of section 3, insert the following new subsection:

(h) When appropriations have been made for the commencement or continuation of construction of irrigation projects under the reclamation laws, act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. L. 388), and amendments thereof, the Secretary of the Interior may enter into contracts for the construction of such projects, including contracts for labor, equipment, materials, supplies, and services, which may cover such periods of time as may be necessary and be conditioned upon appropriations being made therefor.

Page 4, line 12, strike our the letter "(h)" and insert in lieu thereof the letter "(i).”

Page 5, line 19, after the word "supplies" insert the words "to be" and after the word "and" in the same line strike out the words "to be".

Page 6, following subsection (k) of section 5, insert a new subsection as follows:

(1) For supplies, services, and other accommodations furnished by concessionaires in the national parks and national monuments, and for the hire, with or without personal services, of work animals, and animal-drawn and motorpropelled vehicles and equipment for services in the national parks and national monuments.

Page 6, line 7, strike out the letter "(1)" and insert in lieu thereof the letter "(m)" and in the same line after the word "otherwise" insert the word "specifically" and strike out the word "law" and insert the word "statute."

Pages 6 and 7, strike out all of section 7, beginning at line 19 on page 6 down to and including line 13 on page 7, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

SEC. 7. AWARD OF CONTRACTS.-All bids shall be publicly opened at the time and place stated in the advertisement and award made with reasonable promptness by written notice to the lowest responsible bidder whose bid conforms to the specifications: Provided, That all bids may be rejected in the public interest. Page 8, line 6, following the word "delay" insert the words "the Comptroller General of the United States, on the written recommendation of."

Page 8, line 7, strike out the words "stating his reasons in writing therefore."

Page 8, line 8, after the word "damages" insert the following words "that have accrued."

Page 8, strike out all of section 10, beginning with line 10 down to and including line 17, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

SEC. 10. FILING OF CONTRACTS.-The original of each contract by any department, together with all bids, offers, and proposals made by persons to obtain said contract, with copy of advertisement inviting same, shall be forwarded by the department to the General Accounting Office as soon as practicable, and within not more than 30 days after award of contract, unless the time of filing be extended by the Comptroller General and no payment shall be made upon a formal contract until such contract and the related papers are filed in the General Accounting Office. All contracts so forwarded shall be accompanied by the performance bond, if any.

Page 9, line 5, after the word "countries" insert the words "communication services,"

Page 10, line 1, after the words "and he" insert the following "and the sureties of this bond".

Page 11 following subsection (c) of section 13 insert the following language:

(d) Performance bonds may be waived for work to be done in a foreign country when the head of the department finds that the procurement of a bond is impracticable.

Page 14, line 1, strike out the words "persons" and insert in lieu thereof the words "laborers or mechanics."

Page 14, line 13, strike out the word "person" and insert in lieu thereof the word "party".

Page 14, line 19, strike out the word "and" and insert in lieu thereof the word "or".

Page 15, lines 15 and 16, strike out the following figures and words: "230 (United States Code, title 5, section 217);"

Page 16, line 15, following the figure "136)" add the following "and the act of December 11, 1906 (34 Stat. at Large, page 841)".

Page 17, line 24, strike out the figure "23" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "323".

Page 18, line 7, strike out the figure "39" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "40".

Page 18, line 8, strike out the figure "230" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "270".

Page 18, lines 10, 11, and 12, strike out the following:

Act of April 28, 1904 (Thirty-third Statutes at Large, page 518) (United States Code, title 10, section 1365).

Page 19, line 12, strike out the figure "668" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "688".

Page 20, following subsection (5) of section 19, add the following new subsection:

(6) Section 26 of the act of February 5, 1917, entitled "An act to regulate the immigration of aliens to, and the residence of aliens in, the United States." (39 Stat. L. 874.)

Page 20, line 20, strike out the figure "1930" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "1931".

The bill under consideration has been drawn by the interdepartmental board on contracts of the Bureau of the Budget. This board

is one which has been set up in the office of the Director of the Budget, having representatives upon it of the various Government departments, for the purpose of making studies leading to uniformity of conditions.

A somewhat similar bill was introduced in the Seventieth Congress, H. R. 5767, upon which hearings were held on March 27 and 30, 1928 (serial 16, pts. 1 and 2). A number of amendments were suggested at that time and those amendments were referred back to the interdepartmental board, given study and resulted in a new draft of a bill which was introduced on January 3, 1929, being H. R. 15713 of the Seventieth Congress. Hearings were again had upon that bill (serial 16, pt. 3), and again numerous amendments were suggested and those were again referred back to this board. As a result of these hearings and suggested amendments, the present bill (H. R. 5568) has been drawn with a view to meeting the objections of the various departments of the Government. The various representatives of the Government have written letters or have appeared before subcommittee No. 2 of this committee (hearings, serial 4, pt. 1) on January 17, 1930. These various suggestions were again referred to the board which has made its recommendations to this committee and has had the committee's careful consideration.

The bill H. R. 5568 has to do with the requirements concerning the making, form, and construction of contracts with the Government. The making of these contracts is naturally a great problem as the Government has an expenditure of something like $5,000,000,000 a year, with world-wide activities in all kinds of diversified conditions to the transaction of business.

The requirements that Congress has sought to impose upon the executive branch of the Government have grown up piecemeal for to-day there are over 240 such statutes. These statutes prescribe various requirements as to the same matter not only in different departments but as to different bureaus in the same department.