July 6, 2001

Laurie Duarte
General Services Administration
FAR Secretariat (MVR), Room 4035
1800 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20405

RE:  FAR case 2001-014

Dear Ms. Duarte:

The Office of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the U.S.
Small Business Administration was created in 1976 to
represent the views and interests of small business in
Federal policy making activities.(1) The Chief Counsel
participates in rulemakings and other federal agency
activities when he/she deems it necessary to ensure proper
representation of small business interests.  In addition,
the Chief Counsel has a particular interest in ensuring that
laws and regulations do not have an adverse impact on
competition among businesses of differing sizes.  Finally,
the Chief Counsel monitors agencies' compliance with the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)(2) and works with Federal
agencies to ensure that their rulemakings are supported by
analyses that reveal the impact that their decisions will
have on small businesses.

 I am writing regarding FAR case 2001-014, Contractor
Responsibility, Labor Relations Costs, and Costs Relating to
Legal and Other Proceedings.  This office supports this
proposed rule to revoke the final rule issued on December
20, 2000.

FAR case 2001-014 is an outgrowth of FAR case 99-010 and FAR
case 1999-010.  This office provided comments on both of the
previous FAR cases on November 8, 1999 and on August 30,
2000, respectively.  In FAR case 99-010 this office objected
to the lack of an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA).  In FAR case 1999-010 the FAR Council addressed the
objection raised in Advocacy's comments by preparing an
IRFA, but Advocacy believed the analysis was inadequate and
it raised additional questions about the level of impact on
a substantial number of small entities.  Moreover, it is
still the position of this office that sufficient authority
is already vested in government contracting officers to
prevent contractors that lack responsibility from performing
government contracts.

This office stands ready to assist you in any way it can.
Should you have further questions regarding these comments,
please feel to contact Major Clark, Assistant Advocate for
Procurement, at (202) 205-7150.

Sincerely,

Susan M. Walthall
Acting Chief Counsel


FOOTNOTES

1.  Pub. L. No. 94-305 (codified as amended at 15 U.S.C.
634a-g, 637.)
2.  Pub. L. No. 96-354, 94 Stat. 1164 (1980) (codified as
amended at 5 U.S.C. 601-612.)