TITLE V - Transparency in Federal Contracting

Sec. 501. Creation of a public database for performance of contractors and suspension and debarment actions. (2 Comments) subscribe to the comments feed

  1. In General- The Administrator of General Services shall establish and maintain a searchable, sortable, downloadable public database of information regarding integrity and performance of Federal contracts and assistance recipients for use by Federal contracting officers, Federal officials having authority to suspend or debar persons from Federal contracts or assistance, and Federal officials having authority over grant assistance.

  2. Information Included- The database--

    1. shall consist of information regarding civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings initiated or concluded by the Federal Government and State governments against Federal contractors or assistance recipients; and

    2. shall include with respect to each person awarded a Federal contract or assistance--

      1. information regarding all proceedings referred to in paragraph (1) against that person in at least the most recent five-year period;

      2. with respect to each proceeding--

        1. a brief description of the proceeding; and

        2. any amount paid by the person to the Federal Government or a State government;

      3. all Federal contracts and assistance awarded to the person that were terminated in such period due to default;

      4. all Federal suspensions and debarments of the person in that period;

      5. all Federal suspension and debarment show cause orders received by the person in that period; and

      6. all administrative agreements signed with such person in that period.

  3. Input of Data- The Administrator shall design and maintain the database in a manner that allows the appropriate officials of each Federal agency to directly input and update in the database information relating to actions it has taken with regard to contractors or assistance recipients.

  4. Availability- The Administrator shall make the database available to all Federal agencies and to the public by posting the database on the General Services Administration Web site.

2 comments on Sec. 501. Creation of a public database for performance of contractors and suspension and debarment actions.

  • The text requires the GSA to furnish contract performance reports it to the public. Are federal agencies already required to produce such reports? If so, I recommend adding a clause that requires agencies to make GSA database input part of their standard procedure. They will not do it voluntarily.

    posted by matt burton, independent federal contractor at April 1, 2008

  • The term "lobbying contact" needs to be clearly defined. There is little understanding of what constitutes "lobbying," and as a former Senate staffer, I found Executive Branch employees overly concerned about any contact with Congressional staff. There is no better way of learning whether laws are being carried out as intended than talking with those who are directly administering them. I often found that by the time a bill made it through all the layers of the Executive, it bore little resemblance to what we thought we had passed. Fear that one would have to report any outside contact as "lobbying" could further close down communication between Congressional and Executive Branch worker bees and have large unintended consequences.

    posted by Laura Morris (none) at April 7, 2008

Comment on Sec. 501. Creation of a public database for performance of contractors and suspension and debarment actions.

(You may comment anonymously. Moderators may remove offensive or off-topic comments.)

Your Name (and Organization*):

Your Comment: (HTML is not permitted, but links will be automatically linked)

*We encourage you to take credit for your comments by including your name and organization.

Preview Your Comment

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. This Site may contain links to Internet sites that are not operated by Sunlight Foundation. These links are provided as a service and do not imply any endorsement of the activities or content of these sites, nor any association with their operators. Sunlight Foundation does not control these Internet sites and is not responsible for their content, security, or privacy practices. We urge you to review the privacy policy posted on web sites you visit before using the site or providing personal information.