41 U.S.C. § 6501 — Definitions

Page 165 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 6501 1956 (ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 676). Section 1 of the Act of Au- gust 10, 1956 (70A Stat. 1) enacted Title 10, ‘‘Armed Forces’’ and under subtitle D of title 10 the Department of the Air Force remained an independent administra- tive entity in the Department of Defense. Subsection (b)(2)(B) is set out as a separate provision to clarify that the certification applies only to con- tracts other than contracts with the Federal Govern- ment. If the certification were to be construed as ap- plying to all contracts, then the words ‘‘under a con- tract with the United States or’’ in section 2 of the Act of June 22, 1942, would be rendered meaningless. In subsection (b)(2)(B), the words ‘‘Secretary of the Army’’ are substituted for ‘‘Secretary of War’’, and the words ‘‘Secretary of the Air Force’’ are added, because of sections 205(a) and 207(a) and (f) of the National Se- curity Act of 1947 (ch. 343, 61 Stat. 501, 502, 503). Sec- tions 205(a) and 207(a) and (f) were repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 676). Section 1 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (70A Stat. 1) en- acted Title 10, ‘‘Armed Forces’’ and under sections 3010 to 3013 and 8010 to 8013 the Departments of the Army and Air Force remained under the administrative su- pervision of the Secretaries of the Army and Air Force, respectively. The words ‘‘Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating’’ are substituted for ‘‘Secretary of Transportation’’ because of 6:468(b) and (h), 551(d), and 552(d), 14:1 and 3, and the Depart- ment of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of No- vember 25, 2002 (H. Doc. No. 108–16, 108th Cong., 1st Sess. (6 U.S.C. 542 note)). Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283 inserted ‘‘Space Force,’’ after ‘‘Marine Corps,’’. § 6310. Requirement for agencies to buy domesti- cally made United States flags (a) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in sub- sections (b) through (d), funds appropriated or otherwise available to an agency may not be used for the procurement of any flag of the United States, unless such flag has been 100 per- cent manufactured in the United States from ar- ticles, materials, or supplies that have been grown or 100 percent produced or manufactured in the United States. (b) AVAILABILITY EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply to the extent that the head of the agency concerned determines that satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of a flag de- scribed in such subsection cannot be procured as and when needed at United States market prices. (c) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PROCUREMENTS.— Subsection (a) does not apply to the following: (1) Procurements by vessels in foreign wa- ters. (2) Procurements for resale purposes in any military commissary, military exchange, or nonappropriated fund instrumentality oper- ated by an agency. (3) Procurements for amounts less than the simplified acquisition threshold. (d) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive the requirement in subsection (a) if the Presi- dent determines a waiver is necessary to com- ply with any trade agreement to which the United States is a party. (2) NOTICE OF WAIVER.—Not later than 30 days after granting a waiver under paragraph (1), the President shall publish a notice of the waiver in the Federal Register. (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘executive agency’’ in section 102 of title 40. (2) SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD.—The term ‘‘simplified acquisition threshold’’ has the meaning given that term in section 134. (Added Pub. L. 118–74, § 2(a)(1), July 30, 2024, 138 Stat. 1505.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 118–74, § 2(b), July 30, 2024, 138 Stat. 1506, pro- vided that: ‘‘Section 6310 of title 41, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), shall apply with re- spect to any contract entered into on or after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 30, 2024].’’ CHAPTER 65—CONTRACTS FOR MATERIALS, SUPPLIES, ARTICLES, AND EQUIPMENT EXCEEDING $10,000 Sec. 6501. Definitions. 6502. Required contract terms. 6503. Breach or violation of required contract terms. 6504. Three-year prohibition on new contracts in case of breach or violation. 6505. Exclusions. 6506. Administrative provisions. 6507. Hearing authority and procedures. 6508. Authority to make exceptions. 6509. Other procedures. 6510. Manufacturers and regular dealers. 6511. Effect on other law. § 6501. Definitions In this chapter— (1) AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘agency of the United States’’ means an exec- utive department, independent establishment, or other agency or instrumentality of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a corporation in which all stock is beneficially owned by the Federal Government. (2) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associa- tions, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in cases under title 11, or re- ceivers. (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Labor. (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3807.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 6501(1) ........ 41:35 (matter before subsec. (a) related to definition of ‘‘agency of the United States’’). June 30, 1936, ch. 881, § 1 (matter before subsec. (a) related to definition of ‘‘agency of the United States’’), 49 Stat. 2036; Pub. L. 103–355, title VII, § 7201(1), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3378. 6501(2) ........ 41:41. June 30, 1936, ch. 881, § 7, 49 Stat. 2039; Pub. L. 95–598, title III, § 326, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2679. 6501(3) ........ no source. Page 166 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 6502 Executive Documents EX. ORD. NO. 13126. PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY FORCED OR INDENTURED CHILD LABOR Ex. Ord. No. 13126, June 12, 1999, 64 F.R. 32383, pro- vided: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to continue the executive branch’s commitment to fighting abusive child labor practices, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION. 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the United States Government, consistent with the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. 1307, the Fair Labor Standards Act [of 1938], 29 U.S.C. 201 et. seq., and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act [Walsh-Healey Act], [former] 41 U.S.C. 35 et seq. [see 41 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.], that executive agen- cies shall take appropriate actions to enforce the laws prohibiting the manufacture or importation of goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or indentured child labor. SEC. 2. Publication of List. Within 120 days after the date of this order, the Department of Labor, in con- sultation and cooperation with the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of products, identified by their country of origin, that those Departments have a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, pro- duced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. The Department of Labor may conduct hearings to assist in the identification of those products. SEC. 3. Procurement Regulations. Within 120 days after the date of this order, the Federal Acquisition Regu- latory Council shall issue proposed rules to implement the following: (a) Required Solicitation Provisions. Each solicitation of offers for a contract for the procurement of a prod- uct included on the list published under section 2 of this order shall include the following provisions: (1) A provision that requires the contractor to certify to the contracting officer that the contractor or, in the case of an incorporated contractor, a responsible offi- cial of the contractor has made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce, or manufacture any product fur- nished under the contract and that, on the basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware of any such use of child labor; and (2) A provision that obligates the contractor to co- operate fully in providing reasonable access to the con- tractor’s records, documents, persons, or premises if reasonably requested by authorized officials of the con- tracting agency, the Department of the Treasury, or the Department of Justice, for the purpose of deter- mining whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce, or manufacture any product fur- nished under the contract. (b) Investigations. Whenever a contracting officer of an executive agency has reason to believe that forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce, or manufacture a product furnished pursuant to a con- tract subject to the requirements of subsection 3(a) of this order, the head of the executive agency shall refer the matter for investigation to the Inspector General of the executive agency and, as the head of the executive agency or the Inspector General determines appro- priate, to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. (c) Remedies. (1) The head of an executive agency may impose rem- edies as provided in this subsection in the case of a con- tractor under a contract of the executive agency if the head of the executive agency finds that the contractor: (i) Has furnished under the contract products that have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor or uses forced or in- dentured child labor in the mining, production, or manufacturing operations of the contractor; (ii) Has submitted a false certification under sub- section 3(a)(1) of this order; or (iii) Has failed to cooperate in accordance with the obligation imposed pursuant to subsection 3(a)(2) of this order. (2) The head of an executive agency, in his or her sole discretion, may terminate a contract on the basis of any finding described in subsection 3(c)(1) of this order for any contract entered into after the date the regula- tion called for in section 3 of this order is published in final. (3) The head of an executive agency may debar or sus- pend a contractor from eligibility for Federal contracts on the basis of a finding that the contractor has en- gaged in an act described in subsection 3(c)(1) of this order. The provision for debarment may not exceed 3 years. (4) The Administrator of General Services shall in- clude on the List of Parties Excluded from Federal Pro- curement and Nonprocurement Programs (maintained by the Administrator as described in the Federal Ac- quisition Regulation) each party that is debarred, sus- pended, proposed for debarment or suspension, or de- clared ineligible by the head of an agency on the basis that the person has engaged in an act described in sub- section 3(c)(1) of this order. (5) This section shall not be construed to limit the use of other remedies available to the head of an execu- tive agency or any other official of the Federal Govern- ment on the basis of a finding described in subsection 3(c)(1) of this order. SEC. 4. Report. Within 2 years after implementation of any final rule under this order, the Administrator of General Services, with the assistance of other execu- tive agencies, shall submit to the Office of Management and Budget a report on the actions taken pursuant to this order. SEC. 5. Scope. (a) Any proposed rules issued pursuant to section 3 of this order shall apply only to acquisi- tions for a total amount in excess of the micro-pur- chase threshold as defined in section 32(f) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 428(f)). (b) This order does not apply to a contract that is for the procurement of any product, or any article, mate- rial, or supply contained in a product that is mined, produced, or manufactured in any foreign country if: (1) the foreign country is a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement annexed to the WTO Agreement or a party to the North American Free Trade Agreement (‘‘NAFTA’’); and (2) the contract is of a value that is equal to or greater than the United States threshold specified in the Agreement on Government Procurement annexed to the WTO Agreement or NAFTA, whichever is ap- plicable. SEC. 6. Definitions. (a) ‘‘Executive agency’’ and ‘‘agen- cy’’ have the meaning given to ‘‘executive agency’’ in section 4(1) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(1)). (b) ‘‘WTO Agreement’’ means the Agreement Estab- lishing the World Trade Organization, entered into on April 15, 1994. (c) ‘‘Forced or indentured child labor’’ means all work or service (1) exacted from any person under the age of 18 under the menace of any penalty for its non- performance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily; or (2) performed by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a contract the enforce- ment of which can be accomplished by process or pen- alties. SEC. 7. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch and does not create any rights or benefits, sub- stantive or procedural, enforceable by law by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any other person. WILLIAM J. CLINTON. § 6502. Required contract terms A contract made by an agency of the United States for the manufacture or furnishing of ma-