119-hr2989

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2989 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2989

 To prohibit conflicts of interest among consulting firms that 
 simultaneously contract with China or other covered foreign entities 
 and the United States Government, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 24, 2025

Mr. Bresnahan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To prohibit conflicts of interest among consulting firms that 
 simultaneously contract with China or other covered foreign entities 
 and the United States Government, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Time to Choose Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress makes the following findings:

    (1) The Department of Defense and other agencies in the 
 United States Government regularly award contracts to firms 
 that are simultaneously providing consulting services to 
 foreign governments and proxies or affiliates thereof.

    (2) The provision of such consulting services to covered 
 foreign entities may support efforts by certain foreign 
 governments to generate economic and military power that they 
 can then use to undermine the economic and national security of 
 the American people.

    (3) It is a conflict of interest for consulting firms to 
 simultaneously aid in the efforts of certain foreign 
 governments to undermine the economic and national security of 
 the United States while they are simultaneously contracting 
 with Federal agencies responsible for protecting and defending 
 the United States from foreign threats.

    (4) Firms should be prevented from engaging in such a 
 conflict of interest and should instead be required to choose 
 between aiding the efforts of certain foreign governments or 
 helping the United States Government to support and defend its 
 citizens.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES THAT ARE 
 SIMULTANEOUSLY AIDING IN THE EFFORTS OF COVERED FOREIGN 
 ENTITIES.

    (a) In General.--In order to end conflicts of interest in Federal 
contracting among consulting firms that simultaneously contract with 
the United States Government and covered foreign entities, the Federal 
Acquisition Regulatory Council shall, not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, amend the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation--

    (1) to require any entity that makes an offer or quotation 
 to provide consulting services to an executive agency, 
 including services described in the North American Industry 
 Classification System's Industry Group code 5416, prior to 
 entering into a Federal contract, to certify that neither it 
 nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates hold a consulting 
 contract with one or more covered foreign entities; and

    (2) to prohibit Federal contracts for consulting services 
 from being awarded to an entity that provides consulting 
 services, including services described under the North American 
 Industry Classification System's Industry Group code 5416 if 
 the entity or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates are 
 determined, based on the self-certification required under 
 paragraph

    (1) , to be a contractor of, or are otherwise 
 providing consulting services to, a covered foreign entity.

    (b) Waiver.--

    (1) In general.--Subject to the limitations in paragraph

    (2) , the head of an executive agency may waive the conflict of 
 interest restrictions under this section on a case-by-case 
 basis if--
        (A) the agency head, in consultation with the 
 Secretary of Defense and the Director of National 
 Intelligence, determines the waiver to be in the 
 national security interests of the United States;
        (B) the agency head determines that no other entity 
 without a conflict of interest under this section can 
 perform the work for the Federal contract;
            (C) the head of the executive agency submits to the 
 Director of the Office of Management and Budget a 
 notification of such waiver at least 5 days prior to 
 issuing the waiver;
            (D) the head of the executive agency submits to the 
 appropriate congressional committees a notification of 
 such waiver within 30 days in unclassified form 
 (accompanied by a classified annex if necessary) and 
 offers a briefing to those committees on the 
 information included in the notification; and
        (E) the contracting agency publishes in an easily 
 accessible location on the agency's public website a 
 list of the names of the covered foreign entities to 
 which the entity receiving a waiver provides consulting 
 services, unless the head of the applicable executive 
 agency, with the approval of the Director of the Office 
 of Management and Budget, and in consultation with the 
 Secretary of Defense and Director of National 
 Intelligence, determines that such public disclosure 
 would directly harm the national security interests of 
 the United States.

    (2) Limitations.--
        (A) Duration.--A waiver granted under paragraph

    (1) shall last for a period of not more than 365 days. The 
 head of the applicable executive agency, with the 
 approval of the Director of the Office of Management 
 and Budget, and in consultation with the Secretary of 
 Defense and Director of National Intelligence, may 
 extend a waiver granted under such paragraph one time, 
 for a period up to 180 days after the date on which the 
 waiver would otherwise expire, if such an extension is 
 in the national security interests of the United States 
 and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
 submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
 notification of such waiver and offers a briefing to 
 those committees on the information included in the 
 notification.
        (B) Number.--Not more than one total waiver across 
 all executive agencies may be granted under paragraph

    (1) to a single entity at a given time.
            (C) Notification requirements.--The notification 
 required under subparagraphs
            (C) and
            (D) of paragraph

    (1) shall include the following information:
            (i) Information on the contractor, 
 including--
            (I) the name, address, and 
 corporate structure of the contractor;
            (II) the name, address, and 
 corporate structure of any subsidiaries 
 or subcontractors involved;
            (III) all foreign ownership of the 
 contractor;
            (IV) all foreign real estate owned 
 by the contractor; and
            (V) an employee designated as 
 responsible for managing any conflict 
 of interests that may arise as part of 
 the contract.
            (ii) Information on the covered foreign 
 entities involved to the extent known by the 
 contractor, including--
            (I) the name and address of the 
 covered foreign entity;
            (II) the name and address of any 
 subsidiaries or subcontractors 
 involved;
            (III) a complete history of any 
 contracts between the covered foreign 
 entity and the contractor;
            (IV) all ownership of the covered 
 foreign entity; and
            (V) any legal authorities providing 
 a foreign government with access or 
 control over the covered foreign 
 entity.
            (iii) Information on the nature of the work 
 performed for the covered foreign entities, 
 including--
            (I) the projected and actual dollar 
 value of the contract;
            (II) the projected and actual 
 duration of the contract;
            (III) the projected and actual 
 number of employees to work on the 
 contract;
            (IV) the projected and actual 
 number of employees who are United 
 States citizens who work on the 
 contract;
            (V) the projected and actual number 
 of employees who currently or formerly 
 held security clearances with the 
 United States Government who work on 
 the contract;
            (VI) the subject matter of the 
 contract;
            (VII) any materials provided to the 
 covered foreign entity in order to 
 secure the contract;
            (VIII) any tracking number used by 
 the covered foreign entity to identify 
 the contract;
            (IX) any tracking number or 
 information used by the contractor to 
 identify the contract; and
            (X) any military or intelligence 
 applications that could benefit from 
 the contract.
            (iv) Justification of the executive 
 agency's need for providing the waiver.
            (v) An acceptable management oversight plan 
 to ensure that the work performed for the 
 covered foreign entities does not compromise 
 the work being performed for the Federal 
 Government or harm the national security of the 
 United States, to be approved at not lower than 
 the Deputy Secretary level at the contracting 
 agency.

    (3) Contractor reporting.--The executive agency granting a 
 waiver under this subsection shall require the contractor, in 
 the event the contractor identifies any of the following during 
 the performance of the contract, to report the following 
 information to the executive agency:
        (A) Any human rights violations that are known to 
 the contractor through information provided to the 
 contractor in the course of the contract.
        (B) Any religious liberty violations that are known 
 to the contractor through information provided to the 
 contractor in the course of the contract.
            (C) Any risks to United States economic or national 
 security identified by the contractor in the course of 
 the contract.

SEC. 4. PENALTIES FOR FALSE INFORMATION.

    (a) Termination, Suspension, and Debarment.--If the head of an 
executive agency determines that a consulting firm described in 

section 3

    (a)

    (1) has knowingly submitted a false certification or information on 
or after the date on which the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council 
amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to such section, the 
head of the executive agency shall terminate the contract with the 
consulting firm and consider suspending or debarring the firm from 
eligibility for future Federal contracts in accordance with subpart 9.4 
of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

    (b) False Claims Act.--A consulting firm described in 

section 3

    (a)

    (1) that, for the purposes of the False Claims Act, knowingly hides 
or misrepresents one or more contracts with covered foreign entities, 
or otherwise violates the False Claims Act, shall be subject to the 
penalties and corrective actions described in the False Claims Act, 
including liability for three times the amount of damages which the 
United States Government sustains.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 
 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
 of Representatives.

    (2) Consulting services.--The term ``consulting services'' 
 means advisory or assistance services similar to those defined 
 in Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101, but for the purposes 
 of this Act includes services provided to covered foreign 
 entities, except that the term does not include the provision 
 of products or services related to--
        (A) compliance with legal, audit, accounting, tax, 
 reporting, or other requirements of the laws and 
 standards of countries; or
        (B) participation in a judicial, legal, or 
 equitable dispute resolution proceeding.

    (3) Covered foreign entity.--The term ``covered foreign 
 entity'' means any of the following:
        (A) The Government of the People's Republic of 
 China, the Chinese Communist Party, the People's 
 Liberation Army, the Ministry of State Security, or 
 other security service or intelligence agency of the 
 People's Republic of China.
        (B) The Government of the Russian Federation or any 
 entity sanctioned by the Secretary of the Treasury 
 under Executive Order 13662 titled ``Blocking Property 
 of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in 
 Ukraine'' (79 Fed. Reg. 16169).
            (C) The government of any country if the Secretary 
 of State determines that such government has repeatedly 
 provided support for acts of international terrorism 
 pursuant to any of the following:
            (i) Section 1754
            (c) (1)
        (A) of the Export 
 Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
 4318
            (c) (1)
        (A) ).
            (ii) Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 
 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371).
            (iii) Section 40 of the Arms Export Control 
 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780).
            (iv) Any other provision of law.
            (D) Any entity included on any of the following 
 lists maintained by the Department of Commerce:
            (i) The Entity List set forth in Supplement 
 No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration 
 Regulations.
            (ii) The Denied Persons List as described 
 in 

section 764.3

    (a)

    (2) of the Export 
 Administration Regulations.
            (iii) The Unverified List set forth in 
 Supplement No. 6 to part 744 of the Export 
 Administration Regulations.
            (iv) The Military End User List set forth 
 in Supplement No. 7 to part 744 of the Export 
 Administration Regulations.
        (E) Any entity identified by the Secretary of 
 Defense pursuant to 

section 1237

    (b) of the Strom 
 Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
 Year 1999 (Public Law 105-261; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note).
        (F) Any entity on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-
 Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List) 
 maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of 
 the Department of the Treasury under Executive Order 
 14032 (86 Fed. Reg. 30145; relating to addressing the 
 threat from securities investments that finance certain 
 companies of the People's Republic of China), or any 
 successor order.

    (4) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
 the meaning given the term in 

section 133 of title 41, United 
 States Code.

    (5) False claims act.--The term ``False Claims Act'' means 
 sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code.

    (6) North american industry classification system's 
 industry group code 5416.--The term ``North American Industry 
 Classification System's Industry Group code 5416'' refers to 
 the North American Industry Classification System category that 
 covers Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting 
 Services as Industry Group code 5416, including industry codes 
 54151, 541611, 541612, 541613, 541614, 541618, 54162, 541620, 
 54169, and 541690.

SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the 
purpose of carrying out this Act.
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