Official Summaries

Ensuring Accountability and Dignity in Government Contracting Act of 2025

This bill expands executive agency requirements to counter human trafficking connected to recipients of federal contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements.

Federal law currently prohibits an executive agency from entering into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement if the estimated value of the services to be performed outside the United States exceeds $500,000 unless a designated representative of the recipient certifies that the recipient has taken certain actions, including implementing a plan to prevent human trafficking.

This bill requires that the recipient provide a copy of such plan to the contracting or grant office at the time of certification.

The designated representative of the recipient must report to the contracting or grant office if the recipient or the recipient's subcontractor, subgrantee, or agent engages in trafficking activities. The report must include the circumstances surrounding such activities and any remedial actions taken. The agency's office of the inspector general must conduct an investigation of the reported activities and remedial actions and must also notify the agency head office and the agency suspension and debarment office if an investigation was not completed because the recipient acknowledged the activity and took appropriate remedial action.

Additionally, the bill specifies that (1) the recipient's failure to take appropriate remedial action constitutes grounds for imposing certain penalties, and (2) the agency must suspend grant, contract, or cooperative agreement payments to the recipient until the recipient takes appropriate remedial action (under current law, suspending payments is optional). 

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 426 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 426

   To provide for modifications to ending trafficking in government 
                  contracting, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 5, 2025

 Mr. Lankford (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, and Ms. Hassan) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
             on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for modifications to ending trafficking in government 
                  contracting, 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 ``Ensuring Accountability and Dignity 
in Government Contracting Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO ENDING TRAFFICKING IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING.

    (a) Compliance Plan and Certification Requirement.--Section 1703 of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (22 U.S.C. 
7104a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``upon request'' and 
        inserting ``at the time each certification required under 
        subsection (a) is made and upon request''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Incident Reporting.--If, after a grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement is provided or entered into, the duly designated 
representative of the recipient determines that the recipient, 
subcontractor or subgrantee, or agent of the recipient or of a 
subcontractor or subgrantee has engaged in any of the activities 
described in section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)) during the term of the grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement, the representative shall promptly submit to the 
relevant contracting or grant officer a report that describes the 
circumstances relating to such activities and the remedial actions 
taken to address such activities.''.
    (b) Monitoring and Investigation of Trafficking in Persons.--
Section 1704 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2013 (22 U.S.C. 7104b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting after the first 
        sentence the following: ``In the event that a duly designated 
        representative of the recipient submits a report described in 
        section 1703(e), the Inspector General shall conduct an 
        investigation of the activities and remedial actions described 
        in the report.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``If the rationale for not completing an investigation includes 
        that a recipient acknowledged the activity occurred and has, 
        according to the Inspector General, taken appropriate 
        corrective action to remediate it, the Inspector General shall 
        notify the head of the executive agency that awarded the 
        contract, grant, or cooperative agreement and the relevant 
        agency suspension and debarment official.''; and
            (3) in subsection (c)(1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``, as amended by section 
                        1702,'' and inserting ``or failed to take 
                        appropriate corrective action to address such 
                        activities,''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, suspend payments 
                        under the grant, contract, or cooperative 
                        agreement until the recipient has taken 
                        appropriate remedial action,'' after 
                        ``debarment official'';
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (C); and
                    (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), and 
                (F) as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), respectively.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET REPORT.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit 
to Congress a report on the feasibility of--
            (1) amending section 1703 of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (22 U.S.C. 7104a), as 
        amended by section 2(a) of this Act, to require contracting 
        officials, including those at the Department of Homeland 
        Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, 
        and the United States Agency for International Development, to 
        assess compliance of contractor anti-trafficking plans for 
        product and service categories and geographic locations that 
        Federal agencies identify as higher risk for human trafficking;
            (2) streamlining agency reporting required by Federal 
        trafficking victims protection laws to promote efficiency while 
        meeting congressional information needs; and
            (3) requiring Federal agencies, such as the Department of 
        Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of 
        State, and the United States Agency for International 
        Development, to track and report whether contracting personnel 
        have taken anti-trafficking acquisition training explaining 
        their responsibilities to combat human trafficking.
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