98 STAT. 1180
Post, p. 1195.
PUBLIC LAW 98-369—JULY 18, 1984
award of a contract shall be made by transmitting written notice of the award to the successful bidder. "(d)(1) The executive agency shall evaluate competitive proposals and may award a contract— "(A) after discussions conducted with the offerors at any time after receipt of the proposals and before the award of the contract; or "(B) without discussions with the offerors (other than discussions conducted for the purpose of minor clarification) when it can be clearly demonstrated from the existence of full and open competition or accurate prior cost experience with the product or service that acceptance of an initial proposal without discussions would result in the lowest overall cost to the Government, "(2) In the case of award of a contract under paragraph (1)(A), the executive agency shall conduct, before such award, written or oral discussions with all responsible sources who submit proposals within the competitive range, considering only price and the other factors included in the solicitation. "(3) In the case of award of a contract under paragraph (1)(B), the executive agency shall award the contract based on the proposals as received (and as clarified, if necessary, in discussions conducted for the purpose of minor clarification). "(4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), the executive agency shall award a contract with reasonable promptness to the responsible source whose proposal is most advantageous to the United States, considering only price and the other factors included in the solicitation. The executive agency shall award the contract by transmitting written notice of the award to such source and shall promptly notify all other offerors of the rejection of their proposals. "(e) If the agency head considers that a bid or proposal evidences a violation of the antitrust laws, such agency head shall refer the bid or proposal to the Attorney General for appropriate action.". (3) Section 309 of such Act (41 U.S.C. 259) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsections: "Oa) The term 'competitive procedures' means procedures under which an executive agency enters into a contract pursuant to full and open competition. Such term also includes— "(1) procurement of architectural or engineering services conducted in accordance with title IX of this Act (40 U.S.C. 541 et seq.); "(2) the competitive selection of basic research proposals resulting from a general solicitation and the peer review or scientific review (as appropriate) of such proposals; and "(3) the procedures established by the Administrator for the multiple awards schedule program of the General Services Administration if— "(A) participation in the program has been open to all responsible sources; and (B) orders and contracts under such procedures result in the lowest overall cost alternative to meet the needs of the Government. "(c) The terms 'full and open competition' and 'responsible source' have the same meanings provided such terms in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403).". (b) The table of contents of such Act is amended by striking out the item relating to section 303 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
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