On May 9, the House approved, 296-126, a bill (H.R. 1684) to authorize $39.9 billion for FY2008 for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), $2.1 billion above the president’s request.
The bill would require the chief procurement officer of the DHS to submit a report to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees that, among other provisions, first determines the aggregate value of each DHS contract and then identifies which contracts awarded less than three percent of their total value to disabled veterans, and which awarded less than five percent to women-owned businesses. Ninety days after the submission of the report, the chief procurement officer would be required to submit an action plan identifying the barriers to awarding contracts to disadvantaged businesses and recommending a performance plan with timetables for increasing contract awards to such businesses.
The secretary of DHS would be required to create a Mentor-Protégé program that would encourage large prime contractors to provide developmental assistance to small business concerns of veterans, service-disabled veterans, HUBZones [Historically Underutilized Business Zones], socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and women.
All department policies and programs would be required to “appropriately consider the needs of, and impact upon, children” by incorporating “the needs of schools and other child-centered facilities” into federal, state, local, and tribal disaster preparedness guidelines.
The bill also requires the secretary of DHS to provide information to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to “assist in the location of a missing child or registered sex offender. In providing such information, the secretary shall take reasonable steps to protect the privacy of individuals.”
During consideration of the measure, the House approved, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Nick Lampson (R-TX) to allow an inspector general of DHS to authorize his or her staff to provide assistance on, and conduct reviews of, the inactive case files involving children or offenders outside the U.S., and to develop recommendations for further investigations.
