,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fcbh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #aj1 #bjah,mr4 
,espaillat introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a      
,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of   
,defense to recognize associations of   
procurement technical assistance centers
 under certain circumstances1 and for   
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,advancing     
,procurement ,technical ,assistance     
,centers ,act4  #b4 ,procurement        
,technical ,assistance ,centers  7a7    
,authorization ,to form association     
,procurement ,technical ,assistance     
,centers are authorized to form an      
association to pursue matters of common 
concern4  7b7 ,recognition by ,secretary
 of ,defense ,if more than a majority of
 the ,procurement ,technical ,assistance
 ,centers which are operating pursuant  
to agreements with the ,department of   
,defense are members of such an         

association1 the ,secretary of ,defense 
is authorized and directed to--  7#a7   
recognize the existence and activities  
of such an association2 and  7#b7       
consult with it and develop documents-- 
7,a7 announcing the annual scope of     
activities pursuant to this section2    
7,b7 requesting proposals to deliver    
assistance as provided in this section2 
and  7,c7 governing the general         
operations and administration of the    
,procurement ,technical ,assistance     
,program1 specifically including the    
development of regulations and a uniform
 negotiated cooperative agreement for   
use on an annual basis when entering    
into individual negotiated agreements   
with ,procurement ,technical ,assistance
 ,centers4