CONTRACTING WITH FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES.

SEC. 819. CONTRACTING WITH FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES. (a) Assurance of Best Value for National Defense.—(1) Section 2410n of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) by amending the heading to read as follows: “Market Research.—”; and (ii) by striking “comparable in price, quality, and time of delivery to products available from the private sector” and inserting “comparable to products available from the private sector that best meet the Department’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of delivery”; (B) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: “(b) Competition Requirement.—If the Secretary determines that a Federal Prison Industries product is not comparable in price, quality, or time of delivery to products available from the private sector that best meet the Department’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of delivery, the Secretary shall use competitive procedures for the procurement of the product or shall make an individual purchase under a multiple award contract. In conducting such a compeititon or making such a purchase, the Secretary shall consider a timely offer from Federal Prison Industries.”; and (C) by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(c) Implementation by Secretary of Defense.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that— “(1) the Department of Defense does not purchase a Federal Prison Industries product or service unless a contracting officer of the Department determines that the product or service is comparable to products or services available from the private sector that best meet the Department’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of delivery; and “(2) Federal Prison Industries performs its contractual obligations to the same extent as any other contractor for the Department of Defense. “(d) Market Research Determination Not Subject to Review.—A determination by a contracting officer regarding whether a product or service offered by Federal Prison Industries is comparable to products or services available from the private sector that best meet the Department’s needs in terms of price, quality, and time of delivery shall not be subject to review pursuant to section 4124(b) of title 18. “(e) Performance as a Subcontractor.—(1) A contractor or potential contractor of the Department of Defense may not be required to use Federal Prison Industries as a subcontractor or supplier of products or provider of services for the performance of a Department of Defense contract by any means, including means such as— “(A) a contract solicitation provision requiring a contractor to offer to make use of products or services of Federal Prison Industries in the performance of the contract;116 STAT. 2613 “(B) a contract specification requiring the contractor to use specific products or services (or classes of products or services) offered by Federal Prison Industries in the performance of the contract; or “(C) any contract modification directing the use of products or services of Federal Prison Industries in the performance of the contract. “(2) In this subsection, the term ‘contractor’, with respect to a contract, includes a subcontractor at any tier under the contract. “(f) Protection of Classified and Sensitive Information.—The Secretary of Defense may not enter into any contract with Federal Prison Industries under which an inmate worker would have access to— “(1) any data that is classified; “(2) any geographic data regarding the location of— “(A) surface and subsurface infrastructure providing communications or water or electrical power distribution; “(B) pipelines for the distribution of natural gas, bulk petroleum products, or other commodities; or “(C) other utilities; or “(3) any personal or financial information about any individual private citizen, including information relating to such person’s real property however described, without the prior consent of the individual. “(g) Definitions.—In this section: “(1) The term ‘competitive procedures’ has the meaning given such term in section 2302(2) of this title. “(2) The term ‘market research’ means obtaining specific information about the price, quality, and time of delivery of products available in the private sector through a variety of means, which may include— “(A) contacting knowledgeable individuals in government and industry; “(B) interactive communication among industry, acquisition personnel, and customers; and “(C) interchange meetings or pre-solicitation conferences with potential offerors.”. (2) Paragraph (1) and the amendments made by such paragraph shall take effect as of October 1, 2001. (b) Regulatory Implementation.—(1) Proposed revisions to the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this section shall be published not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less than 60 days shall be provided for public comment on the proposed revisions. (2) Final regulations shall be published not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that is 30 days after the date of the publication.