,,ii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bjcd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #ae1 #bjbc,ms4 ,ernst 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,kelly1 and ,ms4 ,hassan7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,secretary of ,defense to develop procurement policy and guidance to mitigate consulting company conflict of interests related to national security and foreign policy4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,combating ,obstructive ,national ,security ,underreporting of ,legitimate ,threats ,act of #bjbc or the ,,consult ,act of #bjbc4 #b4 ,organizational conflict of interests relating to national security and foreign policy 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,the reliance by the ,department of ,defense on consultants for mission support services can create potential organizational conflicts of interest related to national security matters due to competing interests as a result of business relationships with foreign adversarial nations and entities4 7#b7 ,it is imperative for consultants providing mission support services to the ,department of ,defense related to national security matters and foreign policy interests to not be providing mission support services to foreign adversaries regarding efforts counter to the national security and foreign policy interests of the ,united ,states4 7#c7 ,protecting against organizational conflicts of interest related to foreign adversarial nations and entities providing ,federal mission support services is essential to the national security and foreign policy interests of the ,united ,states4 7b7 ,prohibition related to certain contracts or grants 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary may not after the date of the enactment of this ,act enter into1 renew1 or extend a contract with1 or award a grant to1 a covered consultancy4 7#b7 ,disclosure ,any individual or entity that submits an offer or bid for a contract to provide consulting services to the ,department of ,defense shall disclose in such offer or bid any information relevant to the individual or entity with respect to the prohibition under paragraph 7#a71 including-- 7,a7 whether the individual or entity has entered into a contract with1 or received grants or other financial awards from1 a covered entity in the five years prior to submitting the offer or bid2 and 7,b7 at the time the contract to provide consulting services to the ,department will be entered into1 whether-- 7i7 any contract entered into by the individual or entity with a covered entity will still be in effect2 and 7ii7 the individual or entity will be receiving funds from1 or have any unobligated or unexpended funds received under1 any grant or other financial award from a covered entity4 7#c7 ,penalties 7,a7 ,in general ,if the ,secretary determines that a contractor of the ,department failed to make the disclosure required by paragraph 7#b71 the ,secretary shall-- 7i7 terminate the applicable contract for cause2 and 7ii7 initiate a suspension and debarment proceeding with respect to the contractor4 7,b7 ,maximum length of debarment ,the maximum length of a debarment of a contractor under this paragraph shall be a period of #e years4 7c7 ,certification 7#a7 ,in general ,after a determination by the ,secretary that a company is a covered consultancy1 such company may submit to the ,secretary a written and signed certification that-- 7,a7 the consultancy no longer is-- 7i7 performing under a contract with a covered entity2 7ii7 carrying out activities under a grant received from a covered entity2 or 7iii7 receiving funds1 or have any unobligated or unexpended funds received1 from a covered entity2 and 7,b7 will not receive or pursue a contract with a covered entity or a grant or other financial award from a covered entity-- 7i7 during the term of a contract with the ,department of ,defense2 or 7ii7 while receiving funds from the ,department of ,defense1 or obligating or expending any such funds4 7#b7 ,status change ,upon the approval by the ,secretary of a certification submitted under paragraph 7#a71 a company is deemed to not be a covered consultancy until the expiration of the certification under paragraph 7#c74 7#c7 ,expiration ,a certification submitted by a company under paragraph 7#a7 shall expire on the earlier of the date on which the company1 after submitting such certification enters into1 extends1 renews1 or performs under a contract with a covered entity for consulting services4 7d7 ,guidance ,the ,secretary shall issue procurement policies for the ,department of ,defense as follows3 7#a7 ,policies to implement the prohibition under subsection 7b77#a74 7#b7 ,best practices to avoid becoming covered consultancies under this section and for covered consultancies to end their status as such4 7#c7 ,a policy articulating the exact provisions and terms relating to the requirements of paragraphs 7#b7 and 7#c7 of subsection 7b7 to be included in solicitations1 contracts1 and grants of the ,department4 7e7 ,revision of ,department of ,defense acquisition regulation ,not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary shall revise the ,defense ,federal ,acquisition ,regulation ,supplement to implement this section4 7f7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,consulting services ,the term consulting services has the meaning given the term advisory and assistance services in section #b4aja of the ,federal ,acquisition ,regulation1 except that-- 7,a7 the term does not include the services described in paragraph 7#c7 of such section2 and 7,b7 each instance of the term ,federal is replaced with client4 7#b7 ,covered consultancy ,the term covered consultancy means a company that1 itself or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof1 in immediately preceding one year period entered into1 extended1 renewed1 or performed under a contract with a covered entity for consulting services4 7#c7 ,covered entity ,the term covered entity means any of the following3 7,a7 ,the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china4 7,b7 ,the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 7,c7 ,the ,people's ,liberation ,army1 the ,ministry of ,state ,security1 or other security service or intelligence agency of the ,people's ,republic of ,china4 7,d7 ,any entity on the ,non-,,sdn ,chinese ,military-,industrial ,complex ,companies ,list 7,,ns-,,cmic-,list7 maintained by the ,office of ,foreign ,assets ,control of the ,department of the ,treasury under ,executive ,order #adjcb 7#hf ,fed4 ,reg4 #cjade2 relating to addressing the threat from securities investments that finance certain companies of the ,people's ,republic of ,china71 or any successor order4 7,e7 ,any ,chinese military company identified by the ,secretary of ,defense pursuant to section #abcg7;b7 of the ,strom ,thurmond ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #aiii 7,public ,law #aje-bfa2 #ej ,u4,s4,c4 #agja note74 7,f7 ,any ,chinese ,state-owned entity or other entity under the ownership1 or control1 directly or indirectly1 of the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china or the ,chinese ,communist ,party that is engaged in one or more national security industries4 7,g7 ,the ,government of the ,russian ,federation1 any ,russian ,state-owned entity1 or any entity sanctioned by the ,secretary of the ,treasury under ,executive ,order #acffb titled ,blocking ,property of ,additional ,persons ,contributing to the ,situation in ,ukraine7#gi ,fed4 ,reg4 #afafi74 7,h7 ,the government or any ,state-owned entity of any country if the ,secretary of ,state determines that such government has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism pursuant to-- 7i7 section #aged7;c77#a77;,a7 of the ,export ,control ,reform ,act of #bjah 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #dcah7;c77#a77;,a772 7ii7 section #fbj;,a of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bcga72 7iii7 section #dj of the ,arms ,export ,control ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bghj72 or 7iv7 any other provision of law4 7,i7 ,any entity included on any of the following lists maintained by the ,department of ,commerce3 7i7 ,the ,entity ,list set forth in ,supplement ,no4 #d to part #gdd of the ,export ,administration ,regulations4 7ii7 ,the ,denied ,persons ,list as described in section #gfd4c7;a77#b7 of the ,export ,administration ,regulations4 7iii7 ,the ,unverified ,list set forth in ,supplement ,no4 #f to part #gdd of the ,export ,administration ,regulations4 7,j7 ,the ,military ,end ,user ,list set forth in ,supplement ,no4 #g to part #gdd of the ,export ,administration ,regulations4 7#d7 ,export ,administration ,regulations ,the term ,export ,administration ,regulations means the regulations set forth in subchapter ,c of chapter ,,vii of title #ae1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations4 7#e7 ,national security industry ,the term national security industry means-- 7,a7 a military-related industry2 7,b7 semiconductor production2 7,c7 researching or commercializing quantum computing2 7,d7 producing products or services that use artificial intelligence2 7,e7 the biotechnology industry2 7,f7 the cybersecurity industry2 or 7,g7 the mining1 processing1 or refining of critical minerals 7as such term is defined in section #gjjb7;a7 of the ,energy ,act of #bjbj 7#cj ,u4,s4,c4 #afjf7;a777 for use by a covered entity4 7#f7 ,secretary ,the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,defense4