USC - Employment of Indian labor and purchase of products of Indian industry; participation in Mentor-Protege Program

View all text of Chapter 2 [§ 21 - § 68a]

§ 47. Employment of Indian labor and purchase of products of Indian industry; participation in Mentor-Protege Program

(a) DefinitionsIn this section:

(1) Indian economic enterprise

(2) Mentor firm; protege firm

(3) SecretariesThe term “Secretaries” means—

(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and

(B) the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(b) Enterprise Development

(1) In generalUnless determined by one of the Secretaries to be impracticable and unreasonable—

(A) Indian labor shall be employed; and

(B) purchases of Indian industry products (including printing and facilities construction, notwithstanding any other provision of law) may be made in open market by the Secretaries.

(2) Mentor-protege program

(A) In general

(B) Treatment

(1) conduct outreach to Indian industrial entities;

(2) provide training;

(3) promulgate regulations in accordance with this section and with the regulations under part 1480 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), to harmonize the procurement procedures of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services, to the maximum extent practicable;

(4) require regional offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service to aggregate data regarding compliance with this section;

(5) require procurement management reviews by their respective Departments to include a review of the implementation of this section; and

(6) consult with Indian Tribes, Indian industrial entities, and other stakeholders regarding methods to facilitate compliance with—

(A) this section; and

(B) other small business or procurement goals.

(d) Report

(1) In general

(2) ContentsEach report under this subsection shall include, for each fiscal year during the period covered by the report—

(A) the names of each agency under the respective jurisdiction of each of the Secretaries to which this section has been applied, and efforts made by additional agencies within the Secretaries’ respective Departments to use the procurement procedures under this Act;

(B) a summary of the types of purchases made from, and contracts (including any relevant modifications, extensions, or renewals) awarded to, Indian economic enterprises, expressed by agency region;

(C) a description of the percentage increase or decrease in total dollar value and number of purchases and awards made within each agency region, as compared to the totals of the region for the preceding fiscal year;

(D) a description of the methods used by applicable contracting officers and employees to conduct market searches to identify qualified Indian economic enterprises;

(E) a summary of all deviations granted under section 1480.403 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), including a description of—

(i) the types of alternative procurement methods used, including any Indian owned businesses reported under other procurement goals; and

(ii) the dollar value of any awards made pursuant to those deviations;

(F) a summary of all determinations made to provide awards to Indian economic enterprises, including a description of the dollar value of the awards;

(G) a description or summary of the total number and value of all purchases of, and contracts awarded for, supplies, services, and construction (including the percentage increase or decrease, as compared to the preceding fiscal year) from—

(i) Indian economic enterprises; and

(ii) non-Indian economic enterprises;

(H) any administrative, procedural, legal, or other barriers to achieving the purposes of this section, together with recommendations for legislative or administrative actions to address those barriers; and

(I) for each agency region—

(i) the total amount spent on purchases made from, and contracts awarded to, Indian economic enterprises; and

(ii) a comparison of the amount described in clause (i) to the total amount that the agency region would likely have spent on the same purchases made from a non-Indian economic enterprise or contracts awarded to a non-Indian economic enterprise.

(e) Goals

(June 25, 1910, ch. 431, § 23, 36 Stat. 861; Pub. L. 100–581, title II, § 206, Nov. 1, 1988, 102 Stat. 2940; Pub. L. 103–435, § 14, Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4572; Pub. L. 116–261, § 4, Dec. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 3311; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title VIII, § 856(e)(1), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2726.)