Suspension and Debarment - Part III

Today we continue this short series on suspension and debarment. For the past two days, we've been dealing with "suspensions". A "suspension" is bad enough but being "debarred" is much worse. Debarment is sometimes referred to as the "kiss of death" - it excludes a contractor from Government contracting and Government-approved subcontracting for a specified period - for up to three years.

Contractor actions that can lead to debarment are similar to those that lead to suspension. The Government debarring official may debar a contractor for a conviction of or civil judgment for

• Commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with
• Obtaining
• Attempting to obtain; or
• Performing a public contract or subcontract.
• Violation of Federal or State antitrust statutes relating to the submission of offers;
• Commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion, violating Federal criminal tax laws, or receiving stolen property;
• Intentionally affixing a label bearing a “Made in America” inscription (or any inscription having the same meaning) to a product sold in or shipped to the United States or its outlying areas, when the product was not made in the United States or its outlying areas (see Section 202 of the Defense Production Act (Pub. L. 102-558)); (note the word "intentionally" is in the cause for debarment but not for suspension) or
• Commission of any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty that seriously and directly affects the present responsibility of a Government contractor or subcontractor.

Additionally, the debarring official may debar a contractor based on a preponderance of the evidence for any of the following:

• Violation of the terms of a Government contract or subcontract so serious as to justify debarment, such as
• Willful failure to perform in accordance with the terms of one or more contracts; or
• A history of failure to perform, or of unsatisfactory performance of, one or more contracts.
• Violations of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-690), as indicated by
• Failure to comply with the requirements of the Drug-Free Workplace clause; or
• Such a number of contractor employees convicted of violations of criminal drug statutes occurring in the workplace, as to indicate that the contractor has failed to make a good faith effort to provide a drug-free workplace. 
• Intentionally affixing a label bearing a “Made in America” inscription (or any inscription having the same meaning) to a product sold in or shipped to the United States or its outlying areas, when the product was not made in the United States or its outlying areas (see Section 202 of the Defense Production Act (Pub. L. 102-558)).
• Commission of an unfair trade practice.
• Delinquent Federal taxes in an amount that exceeds $3,000.
• Knowing failure by a principal, until 3 years after final payment on any Government contract awarded to the contractor, to timely disclose to the Government, in connection with the award, performance, or closeout of the contract or a subcontract there-under, credible evidence of—
• Violation of Federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations found in Title 18 of the United States Code;
• Violation of the civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729-3733); or
• Significant overpayment(s) on the contract, other than overpayments resulting from contract financing payments.

Finally, a contractor can be debarred based on a determination by Homeland Security or the Attorney General for failing to comply with the Immigration and Nationally Act employment provisions and for any other cause of so serious or compelling a nature that it affects the present responsibility of the contractor or subcontractor.

Tomorrow we will look at procedures and period of debarment.