I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5177 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 6, 2018 Mr. Knight (for himself and Mrs. Murphy of Florida ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense, in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, to give a preference to offerors that employ veterans, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Encouraging Veteran Employment Act of 2018 . 2. Preference for offerors employing veterans (a) In general Chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 2339a. Preference for offerors employing veterans (a) Preference In awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services for the Department of Defense, the head of an agency may give a preference to offerors that employ veterans on a full-time basis. The Secretary of Defense shall determine such preference based on the percentage of the full-time employees of the offeror who are veterans. (b) Enforcement penalties for misrepresentation (1) If the head of an agency determines that an offeror willfully and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status of the employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under subsection (a), such head of an agency may suspend or debar such offeror for a period of not less than five years. (2) Not later than 30 days after determining that an offeror should be suspended or debarred under paragraph (1), the head of an agency making such determination shall initiate a suspension or debarment proceeding, as applicable, against the offeror. The head of an agency shall complete such an action not later than 90 days after initiating such action. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2339 the following new item: 2339a. Preference for offerors employing veterans. .