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A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to revise the requirements for procurement of products of Federal Prison Industries to meet needs of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 13, 1997

Amends the Federal criminal code to revise the requirements for procurement of products of Federal Prison Industries (FPI). Directs a Federal agency which has a requirement for a specific product listed in the current edition of the FPI catalog to: (1) provide a copy of the notice required under the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to FPI at least 15 days before the issuance of a solicitation of offers for procurement of such product; (2) use competitive procedures (with exceptions); and (3) consider a timely offer from FPI for award in accordance with the specifications and evaluation factors specified in the solicitation. Requires the agency to: (1) negotiate a contract with FPI for a product on a non-competitive basis if the Attorney General determines it is unreasonable to expect that FPI would be selected on a competitive basis and it is necessary to award the contract to FPI to maintain work opportunities that are essential to the safety and effective administration of the penal facility at which the contract would be performed or to permit diversification into the manufacture of a new product that has been approved for sale by the FPI board of directors; and (2) award the contract to FPI if the contracting officer determines that FPI can meet the agency's requirements with respect to the product in a timely manner, at a fair and reasonable price. Directs FPI, to the extent practicable, to concentrate any effort to produce a new product or to expand significantly the production of an existing product on products that are otherwise produced with non-U.S. labor.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI] · D–MI

Committees

  • Judiciary Committee
5 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1404-1405)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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