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16 Pub. Cont. Newsl. 1 (1980-1981)

handle is hein.journals/procurlw16 and id is 1 raw text is: SECTION OF PUBLIC CONTRACT L AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION Vol. 16, No. 1, October 1 But for... During the past several years, the Public Contract Law Section has been active in proposing or respond- ing to legislation and policies regarding public pro- curement, and particularly federal procurement. Last year, as reported in. an earlier Newsletter, Senator DeConcini (D.-Ariz.) introduced S. 1981- The False Claims Act Amendments bill. This Depart- ment of Justice-sponsored bill to modernize the Civil False Claims Act would have draconic effects on the federal procurement process. The Department's proposed legislation included a should have known test for a false statement; eliminated intent to de- fraud; reduced the burden of proof; added a civil in- vestigation procedure; voided contracts tainted with a gratuity or bribe; was retroactive; and imposed double damages-plus double consequential damages-for any loss suffered by the government that it would not have sustained but for a false statement or but for having entered into a contract because of a false statement. But for the initiative and persistence of the ABA Public Contract Law Section, S. 1981 would have been enacted by the Senate as originally drafted-and might be law today. At the November 1979 quarterly meeting of the Sec- tion Council, Chairman Kostos appointed an ad hoc committee to study S. 1981 and make a report to the Council at its next meeting. Under the leadership of Allan Joseph, the ad hoc committee analyzed the bill, drafted a report and held two meetings with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the staff of the Sub- committee on Improvements in Judicial Machinery of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The report was pre- sented to the Council at its February 3, 1980, meeting and adopted with only minor changes. Pursuant to the Blanket Authority procedure, the Section's position on S. 1981 was communicated to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and others. These efforts ultimately resulted in several senators, including Senator DeConcini, putting a hold on S. 1981, and caused the Department of Defense (DOD) to react to the bill and initiate discussions with DOJ about some of its provisions. It also provided time for industry, which was largely uninformed on the sub- ject, to examine and react to the bill. As of the time this report went to press, the holds are still in effect awaiting a response from DOD and DOJ. This is only one example of the important functions our Section has performed with respect to legislation and policies affecting federal procurement. Another is the Section's efforts to assure that the government regulations implementing the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 and the new disputes clause for government contracts, conform to the act. The final policy state- ment issued by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy is basically compatible with the Section's recommendations. I have highlighted these examples of recent ac- tivities to show that the Section is involved in and ef- fective with respect to legislative and policy actions that are important to the federal procurement pro- cess. However, we must not sit back and relax. There is a great deal to be done. Some of the topics the Sec- tion committees currently are working on are: Legislation on procurement methods and re- quirements * Debarment procedures * Contract Disputes Act Regulations * Federal Uniform Procurement and Management Systems Profit limitation * State and local procurement laws and practices Civil false claims (continued on next page) ARTICLES Annual Meeting Review .............. page 2 On a State Board of Contract Appeals ................... page 7 Developments In Federal Grant Law ......................... page 11 Section Directory ................... page 12 Produced by the ABA Press Sj FEDERAL STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS 980 Copyright © 1980 American Bar Association Martin J. Harty, Editor, 9926 Rand Drive, Burke, VA 22015 Edwin B. Nelll, Assistant Editor The Chairman's Letter COM AW

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