118 HRES 1401 IH: 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.
U.S. House of Representatives
2024-08-02
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IV
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1401
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
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.
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.
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.
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.