; (C) suspending payment under the contract for which the applicant was being considered; (D) terminating the contract under which the applicant was being considered; and (E) referring the contractor to the suspension and debarment office of the agency for consideration of actions pursuant to section 9.4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Conditional offer The term conditional offer means an offer of employment for a position related to work under a contract that is conditioned upon the results of a criminal history inquiry. (2) Criminal history record information The term criminal history record information has the meaning given that term in section 9201 of title 5. . (2) Clerical amendment The table of sections for division C of subtitle I of title 41, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 4712 the following new item: 4713. Prohibition on criminal history inquiries by contractors prior to conditional offer. . (3) Effective date Section 4713(a) of title 41, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), shall apply with respect to contracts awarded pursuant to solicitations issued after the effective date described in section 2(b)(2) of this Act. (b) Defense contracts (1) In general Chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 2338. Prohibition on criminal history inquiries by contractors prior to conditional offer (a) Limitation on criminal history inquiries (1) In general Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the head of an agency— (A) may not require that an individual or sole proprietor who submits a bid for a contract to disclose criminal history record information regarding that individual or sole proprietor before determining the apparent awardee