Congress drops move to halt contractor ethics rules

Congressional leaders have dropped a provision from an appropriations bill that would have blocked implementation of regulations establishing integrity and ethical standards for private companies that want to bid on contracts with the federal government.

The provision was dropped from the conference report for the fiscal 2001 legislative branch spending bill after congressional Republicans decided to add the treasury, postal and general government appropriations bill to it.

The provision was added as an amendment during consideration earlier this month on the House floor to the treasury spending bill. The amendment would have banned the Clinton administration from using funding in the bill to implement the regulations until the General Accounting Office completes a study assessing the extent to which federal agencies have contracted with companies that have violated federal labor, environmental or tax laws. The amendment is opposed by labor groups and others.

The proposed regulations would require contracting officers to consider all "relevant credible information" when deciding whether a company can bid on a federal contract. Contracting officers would have to "give greatest weight" to convictions or civil judgments against a prospective contractor for violations of antitrust, tax, labor and employment, or consumer protection laws, or any other federal or state felony conviction.

High-tech industry groups and others say the proposed rules are an ill-conceived solution to a problem the administration has yet to show exists.

GOP congressional leaders late Wednesday decided to combine the legislative branch and treasury spending bills because they were having trouble moving the treasury bill separately through the Senate. The House was expected to vote on the conference report Thursday. In addition to the amendment blocking the regulations, GOP leaders removed other controversial provisions from the conference report.

Democrats have blasted the move to combine the bills. Rep. James Moran, D-Va., who co-sponsored the amendment blocking the proposed rules with Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., predicted the conference report would not pass. Regardless of what happens with the conference report, both Moran and Davis have said they will continue work to delay implementation of the proposed regulations.

"It's not exactly a non-controversial bill," Moran said of the conference report. "I think this is dead, so why mess around with the contracting language."

Ken Salaets, director of government relations at the Information Technology Industry Council, said he was confident that the issue "will get addressed this session."