[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1401 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1401
Directing the Committee on House Administration to take certain actions
to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne
program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code
(commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2024
Ms. Crockett (for herself, Mr. Molinaro, Mr. Loudermilk, and Mr.
Thompson of California) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Directing the Committee on House Administration to take certain actions
to promote the procurement of goods and services from the AbilityOne
program established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code
(commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and for other
purposes.
Whereas, in 1971, Congress passed the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act to advance
employment opportunities for Americans who are blind or who have
significant disabilities by requiring the Federal Government, including
legislative entities, when seeking to procure a product or service, to
first assess whether their needs can be met by products or services
provided by Ability One Participating Agencies and included on the
AbilityOne Procurement List maintained by the AbilityOne Commission; and
Whereas, as a result of the AbilityOne Program, tens of thousands of Americans
who are blind or who have significant disabilities, including a large
and growing number of returning veterans, are employed at competitive
wages providing products and services to the Federal Government, greatly
enhancing their self-sufficiency and providing critical career skills:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. PROMOTING PROCUREMENT OF ABILITYONE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) Update to General Guidelines.--
(1) Procurement by cao.--Not later than January 1, 2025,
the Committee on House Administration shall update the
Committee document entitled ``Guidelines for Procurement of
Goods and Services for the U.S. House of Representatives'' to
direct the Chief Administrative Officer to procure, to the
maximum extent practicable, products and services which are
included on the AbilityOne Procurement List from Participating
AbilityOne Agencies.
(2) Applicability to all products and services procured.--
Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to products and services
procured by the Chief Administrative Officer for the use of
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer or any other office
of the House, including products and services which are
procured by the Chief Administrative Officer and made available
to other offices of the House through the House Supply Store.
(b) Special Requirements for House Supply Store.--Not later than
January 1, 2025, the Committee on House Administration shall take the
following actions with respect to the operation of the House Supply
Store:
(1) Ensuring that on the internal website of the House
Supply Store, AbilityOne products and services are ranked as
the first result in generic product filters and generic product
searches.
(2) Including on the homepage of the internal website of
the House Supply Store a separate hyperlink through which users
may find all of the products and services of the Store which
are AbilityOne products and services.
(3) The placement of permanent signage in prominent
locations in the Store which identifies AbilityOne products and
services.
(c) New Member Orientation Program.--
(1) Inclusion of information in program.--As part of the
orientation program for Members-elect, the Committee on House
Administration, in consultation with the Director of the
Congressional Research Service, shall develop programming and
other events to provide Members-elect with information on--
(A) an overview of the AbilityOne Program;
(B) the economic impact of such program nationally,
and to the best approximation, the economic impact of
the program on the State and congressional district of
each Member-elect; and
(C) maximizing an office's procurement from
AbilityOne Participating Agencies.
(2) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect
to the orientation program for Members-elect to the One Hundred
Nineteenth Congress and each succeeding Congress.
SEC. 2. ABILITYONE REPRESENTATIVE.
(a) Designation of Position.--
(1) Office of the cao.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of the adoption of this resolution, the Chief
Administrative Officer shall designate an employee in the
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer to serve in a
position to be known as the ``AbilityOne Representative''.
(2) Duties.--The employee serving as the AbilityOne
Representative shall carry out the following duties:
(A) Promoting the purchase and use of AbilityOne
products and services within the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer.
(B) Providing the data required for preparing the
annual report required under section 3.
(C) Ensuring compliance with AbilityOne Commission
regulations, as applicable.
(D) Serving as a liaison to Members of the House of
Representatives, AbilityOne Participating Agencies, the
AbilityOne Commission, and the Commission's central
nonprofit coordinating agencies on matters in the
Office which relate to the AbilityOne program.
(E) Developing and monitoring the implementation of
a written strategic plan for increasing procurement by
the Office from the AbilityOne program.
(b) Application to Other Support Offices Upon Direction of
Committee on House Administration.--The Committee on House
Administration may direct a support office of the House to designate an
employee of the office to serve in the position of AbilityOne
Representative in the same manner and subject to the same terms and
conditions which apply under subsection (a) to the Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer.
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than January 1 of each calendar year, beginning with
2025, the Chief Administrative Officer shall submit to the Committee on
House Administration a report on--
(1) the total amount spent on the procurement of products
and services by the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
during the previous fiscal year;
(2) of the amount described in paragraph (1), the total
amount spent on AbilityOne products and services;
(3) of the products and services described in paragraph
(1), a description of the products or services which were
purchased from the AbilityOne program and which were not;
(4) for each product and service described in paragraph (3)
which was not purchased from the AbilityOne program, an
explanation of why the product or service was procured from a
source outside of the AbilityOne program;
(5) qualitative information on efforts to increase
procurement through the AbilityOne program; and
(6) qualitative information on any obstacles faced in
increasing procurement from the AbilityOne program.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this resolution, the following definitions apply:
(1) The term ``AbilityOne Commission'' means the Committee
for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
established under section 8502 of title 41, United States Code.
(2) The term ``AbilityOne Participating Agency'' means a
nonprofit agency for the blind or a nonprofit agency employing
persons with significant disabilities which is authorized by
the AbilityOne Commission to provide products or services
pursuant to chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code
(commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act), and associated
regulations.
(3) The term ``AbilityOne Procurement List'' means the list
of products and services determined by the AbilityOne
Commission to be suitable to be procured by the Federal
Government from AbilityOne Participating Agencies pursuant to
section 8503 of title 41, United States Code.
(4) The term ``AbilityOne program'' means the program
established under chapter 85 of title 41, United States Code
(commonly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act).
(5) The term ``Member of the House of Representatives''
includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
(6) The term ``support office of the House'' means an
office of the House other than the office of a Member of the
House of Representatives, the office of a committee (including
a select committee), or a House leadership office.
<all>