[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3810 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3810
To prohibit conflict of interests among consulting firms that
simultaneously contract with the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the United States Government, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 27, 2024
Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit conflict of interests among consulting firms that
simultaneously contract with the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the United States Government, 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 ``Time to Choose Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Department of Defense and other agencies in the
United States Government regularly award contracts to firms
such as Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and others who are
simultaneously providing consulting services to the Government
of the People's Republic of China and proxies or affiliates
thereof.
(2) The provision of such consulting services by firms like
Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and others to entities in the
People's Republic of China directly supports efforts by that
nation's government to generate economic and military power
that it can then use to undermine the economic and national
security of the American people, including through economic
coercion and by threatening or using military force against us.
(3) It is a conflict of interest for firms like Deloitte,
McKinsey & Company, and others to simultaneously aid in the
efforts of the Government of the People's Republic of China to
undermine the economic and national security of the United
States while they are simultaneously contracting with the
Department of Defense and other United States Government
agencies responsible for defending the United States from
foreign threats, above all from China.
(4) Firms like Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and others
should no longer be allowed to engage in such a conflict of
interest and should instead be required to choose between
aiding the efforts of the Government of the People's Republic
of China to harm the United States or helping the United States
Government to defend its citizens against such foreign
coercion.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES THAT ARE
SIMULTANEOUSLY AIDING IN THE EFFORTS OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO HARM THE UNITED STATES.
In order to end conflict of interests in Federal contracting among
consulting firms that simultaneously contract with the United States
Government and covered foreign entities, the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation--
(1) to require any entity that provides the services
described in the North American Industry Classification
System's Industry Group code 5416, prior to entering into a
Federal contract, to certify that neither it nor any of its
subsidiaries or affiliates hold a contract with one or more
covered foreign entities; and
(2) to prohibit Federal contracts from being awarded to an
entity that provides the services described under the North
American Industry Classification System's Industry Group code
5416 if the entity or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates are
determined, based on the self-certification required under
paragraph (1) or other information, to be a contractor of, or
otherwise providing services to, a covered foreign entity.
SEC. 4. PENALTIES FOR FALSE INFORMATION ON CONTRACTING WITH THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(a) Termination, Suspension, and Debarment.--If the head of an
executive agency determines that a consulting firm described in section
3 has knowingly submitted a false certification or information on or
after the date on which the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council
amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to such section, the
head of the executive agency shall terminate the contract with the
consulting firm and consider suspending or debarring the firm from
eligibility for future Federal contracts in accordance with subpart 9.4
of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(b) False Claims Act.--A consulting firm described in section 3
that, for the purposes of the False Claims Act, intentionally hides or
misrepresents one or more contracts with covered foreign entities shall
be subject to the penalties and corrective actions described in the
False Claims Act, including liability for three times the amount of
damages which the United States Government sustains, including funds or
other resources expended on or in support of the solicitation,
selection, and performance of such contracts.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered foreign entity.--The term ``covered foreign
entity'' means--
(A) a person, business trust, business association,
company, institution, government agency, university,
partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or
any other individual or organization that can legally
enter into contracts, own properties, or pay taxes on
behalf of, the Government of the People's Republic of
China;
(B) the Chinese Communist Party;
(C) the People's Republic of China's United Front;
(D) an entity owned or controlled by, or that
performs activities on behalf of, a person or entity
described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); and
(E) an individual that is a member of the board of
directors, an executive officer, or a senior official
of an entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C),
or (D).
(2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United
States Code.
(3) False claims act.--The term ``False Claims Act'' means
sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code.
(4) North american industry classification system's
industry group code 5416.--The term ``North American Industry
Classification System's Industry Group code 5416'' refers to
the North American Industry Classification System category that
covers Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting
Services as Industry Group code 5416, including industry codes
54151, 541611, 541612, 541613, 541614, 541618, 54162, 541620,
54169, 541690.
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