41 U.S.C. § 1702 — Chief Acquisition Officers and senior pro-

Page 39 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 1702 efforts to encourage procurements in labor surplus areas with the aim of fostering economic development in labor surplus areas. 1–202. The Administrator shall establish specific labor surplus area procurement targets for Executive agen- cies in consultation with the heads of those agencies. 1–203. In cooperation with the heads of Executive agencies, the Administrator shall encourage the use of set-asides or other appropriate methods for meeting procurement targets in labor surplus areas. 1–204. The Administrator shall report every six months to the President on the progress of the agencies in achieving the procurement targets. 1–3. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES 1–301. The Secretary of Labor shall classify and des- ignate labor markets which are labor surplus areas. The Secretary shall provide labor market data to the heads of agencies and State and local officials in order to promote the development of business opportunities in labor surplus areas. 1–302. The heads of Executive agencies shall cooperate with the Administrator in carrying out his responsibil- ities for labor surplus area programs and shall provide the information necessary for setting procurement tar- gets and recording achievement. They shall keep the Administrator informed of plans and programs which affect labor surplus procurements, with particular at- tention to opportunities for minority firms. 1–303. In accord with Section 6 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405), the Adminis- trator for Federal Procurement Policy shall be respon- sible for the overall direction and oversight of the poli- cies affecting procurement programs for labor surplus areas. JIMMY CARTER. EX. ORD. NO. 12931. FEDERAL PROCUREMENT REFORM Ex. Ord. No. 12931, Oct. 13, 1994, 59 F.R. 52387, 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 ensure effective and efficient spending of public funds through fundamental reforms in Government procurement, it is hereby ordered as fol- lows: SECTION 1. To make procurement more effective in support of mission accomplishment and consistent with recommendations of the National Performance Review, heads of executive agencies engaged in the procure- ment of supplies and services shall: (a) Review agency procurement rules, reporting re- quirements, contractual requirements, certification procedures, and other administrative procedures over and above those required by statute, and, where prac- ticable, replace them with guiding principles that en- courage and reward innovation; (b) Review existing and planned agency programs to assure that such programs meet agency mission needs; (c) Ensure that procurement organizations focus on measurable results and on increased attention to un- derstanding and meeting customer needs; (d) Increase the use of commercially available items where practicable, place more emphasis on past con- tractor performance, and promote best value rather than simply low cost in selecting sources for supplies and services; (e) Ensure that simplified acquisition procedures are used, to the maximum extent practicable, for procure- ments under the simplified acquisition threshold in order to reduce administrative burdens and more effec- tively support the accomplishment of agency missions; (f) Expand the use of the Government purchase card by the agency and take maximum advantage of the micro-purchase authority provided in the Federal Ac- quisition Streamlining Act of 1994 [Pub. L. 103–355, see Short Title of 1994 Act note set out under section 101 of this title] by delegating the authority, to the max- imum extent practicable, to the offices that will be using the supplies or services to be purchased; (g) Establish clear lines of contracting authority and accountability; (h) Establish career education programs for procure- ment professionals, including requirements for success- ful completion of educational requirements or manda- tory training for entry level positions and for pro- motion to higher level positions, in order to ensure a highly qualified procurement work force; (i) Designate a Procurement Executive with agency- wide responsibility to oversee development of procure- ment goals, guidelines, and innovation, measure and evaluate procurement office performance against stat- ed goals, enhance career development of the procure- ment work force, and advise the agency heads whether goals are being achieved; and (j) Review existing and planned information tech- nology acquisitions and contracts to ensure that the agency receives the best value with regard to price and technology, and consider alternatives in cases where best value is not being obtained. SEC. 2. The Director of the Office of Personnel Man- agement, in consultation with the heads of executive agencies, shall ensure that personnel policies and clas- sification standards meet the needs of executive agen- cies for a professional procurement work force. SEC. 3. The Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, after consultation with the Direc- tor of the Office of Management and Budget, shall work jointly with the heads of executive agencies to provide broad policy guidance and overall leadership necessary to achieve procurement reform, including, but not lim- ited to: (a) Coordinating Government-wide efforts; (b) Assisting executive agencies in streamlining guid- ance for procurement processes; (c) Identifying desirable Government-wide procure- ment system criteria; and (d) Identifying major inconsistencies in law and poli- cies relating to procurement that impose unnecessary burdens on the private sector and Federal procurement officials, and, following coordination with executive agencies, submitting necessary legislative initiatives to the Office of Management and Budget for the resolu- tion of such inconsistencies. SEC. 4. Executive Order No. 12352 is revoked. WILLIAM J. CLINTON. § 1702. Chief Acquisition Officers and senior pro- curement executives (a) APPOINTMENT OR DESIGNATION OF CHIEF AC- QUISITION OFFICER.—The head of each executive agency described in section 901(b)(1) (other than the Department of Defense) or 901(b)(2)(C) of title 31 with a Chief Financial Officer appointed or designated under section 901(a) of title 31 shall appoint or designate a non-career em- ployee as Chief Acquisition Officer for the agen- cy. (b) AUTHORITY AND FUNCTIONS OF CHIEF ACQUI- SITION OFFICER.— (1) PRIMARY DUTY.—The primary duty of a Chief Acquisition Officer is acquisition man- agement. (2) ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE.—A Chief Acqui- sition Officer shall advise and assist the head of the executive agency and other agency offi- cials to ensure that the mission of the execu- tive agency is achieved through the manage- ment of the agency’s acquisition activities. (3) OTHER FUNCTIONS.—The functions of each Chief Acquisition Officer include— (A) monitoring the performance of acquisi- tion activities and acquisition programs of the executive agency, evaluating the per- formance of those programs on the basis of applicable performance measurements, and Page 40 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 1703 advising the head of the executive agency re- garding the appropriate business strategy to achieve the mission of the executive agency; (B) increasing the use of full and open competition in the acquisition of property and services by the executive agency by es- tablishing policies, procedures, and practices that ensure that the executive agency re- ceives a sufficient number of sealed bids or competitive proposals from responsible sources to fulfill the Federal Government’s requirements (including performance and de- livery schedules) at the lowest cost or best value considering the nature of the property or service procured; (C) increasing appropriate use of perform- ance-based contracting and performance specifications; (D) making acquisition decisions con- sistent with all applicable laws and estab- lishing clear lines of authority, account- ability, and responsibility for acquisition de- cisionmaking within the executive agency; (E) managing the direction of acquisition policy for the executive agency, including implementation of the unique acquisition policies, regulations, and standards of the executive agency; (F) advising the executive agency on the applicability of relevant policy on the con- tracts of the agency for overseas contin- gency operations and ensuring the compli- ance of the contracts and contracting activi- ties of the agency with such policy; (G) developing and maintaining an acquisi- tion career management program in the ex- ecutive agency to ensure that there is an adequate professional workforce; and (H) as part of the strategic planning and performance evaluation process required under section 306 of title 5 and sections 1105(a)(28), 1115, 1116, and 9703 (added by sec- tion 5(a) of Public Law 103–62 (107 Stat. 289)) of title 31— (i) assessing the requirements estab- lished for agency personnel regarding knowledge and skill in acquisition re- sources management and the adequacy of those requirements for facilitating the achievement of the performance goals es- tablished for acquisition management; (ii) developing strategies and specific plans for hiring, training, and professional development to rectify a deficiency in meeting those requirements; and (iii) reporting to the head of the execu- tive agency on the progress made in im- proving acquisition management capa- bility. (c) SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE.— (1) DESIGNATION.—The head of each executive agency shall designate a senior procurement executive. (2) RESPONSIBILITY.—The senior procurement executive is responsible for management di- rection of the procurement system of the exec- utive agency, including implementation of the unique procurement policies, regulations, and standards of the executive agency. (3) WHEN CHIEF ACQUISITION OFFICER AP- POINTED OR DESIGNATED.—For an executive agency for which a Chief Acquisition Officer has been appointed or designated under sub- section (a), the head of the executive agency shall— (A) designate the Chief Acquisition Officer as the senior procurement executive for the executive agency; or (B) ensure that the senior procurement ex- ecutive designated under paragraph (1) re- ports directly to the Chief Acquisition Offi- cer without intervening authority. (d) OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS DE- FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘overseas con- tingency operations’’ means military operations outside the United States and its territories and possessions that are a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10). (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3701; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title VIII, § 849, Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1853.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 1702(a), (b)(1), (2). 41:414(a). Pub. L. 93–400, § 16, as added Pub. L. 98–191, § 7, Dec. 1, 1983, 97 Stat. 1330; Pub. L. 98–369, title VII, § 2732(b)(2), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1199; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title XIV, § 1421(a)(1), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1666. 1702(b)(3) .... 41:414(b). 1702(c) ........ 41:414(c). Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2013—Subsec. (b)(3)(F) to (H). Pub. L. 112–239, § 849(a), added subpar. (F) and redesignated former subpars. (F) and (G) as (G) and (H), respectively. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–239, § 849(b), added subsec. (d). § 1703. Acquisition workforce (a) DESCRIPTION.—For purposes of this section, the acquisition workforce of an agency consists of all employees serving in acquisition positions listed in subsection (g)(1)(A). (b) APPLICABILITY.— (1) NONAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—Except as provided in subsection (i), this section does not apply to an executive agency that is subject to chapter 87 of title 10. (2) APPLICABILITY OF PROGRAMS.—The pro- grams established by this section apply to the acquisition workforce of each executive agen- cy. (c) MANAGEMENT POLICIES.— (1) DUTIES OF HEAD OF EXECUTIVE AGENCY.— (A) ESTABLISH POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— After consultation with the Administrator, the head of each executive agency shall es- tablish policies and procedures for the effec- tive management (including accession, edu- cation, training, career development, and performance incentives) of the acquisition workforce of the agency. The development of acquisition workforce policies under this section shall be carried out consistent with the merit system principles set forth in sec- tion 2301(b) of title 5.