(a) Preference.—(1) In awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, the Secretary may give a preference to offerors that employ veterans on a full-time basis.
(2) The Secretary 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) Any offeror that is determined by the Secretary to have willfully and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status of the employees of the offeror for purposes of subsection (a) may be debarred from contracting with the Department for a period of not less than five years.
(2) If the Secretary carries out a debarment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—(A) commence debarment action against the offeror by not later than 30 days after determining that the offeror willfully and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status of the employees of the offeror as described in paragraph (1); and
(B) complete debarment actions against such offeror by not later than 90 days after such determination.
(3) The debarment of an offeror under paragraph (1) includes the debarment of all principals in the offeror for a period of not less than five years.
(Added Pub. L. 116–315, title VII, § 7003(a), Jan. 5, 2021, 134 Stat. 5058.)
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