Use of accrued interest by certain consortium managers

Section 4021(c) of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking The authority and inserting (1) The authority; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) (A) A contracting officer or an authorized official with legal authority to enter into an agreement on behalf of the Department of Defense under this section may authorize a consortium management organization to retain the interest accruing on the held amounts of such consortium management organization as payment for any covered costs through an agreement that— (i) authorizes such consortium management organization to make payments to members of a consortium, other than such consortium management organization, on behalf of the Department of Defense; and (ii) requires such consortium management organization to— (I) invest such held amounts in Treasury bills of the Government; and (II) return to the Department any interest earned on such held amounts that exceeds such covered costs. (B) Interest on held amounts of a covered advance payment that is returned to the Department of Defense by a consortium management organization pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be credited to the account from which such covered advance payment was made. Amounts so credited shall be merged with amounts in that account, and shall be available for the same purposes, and subject to the same conditions and limitations, as other amounts in that account. (C) In this paragraph— (i) the term consortium management organization means an entity that is responsible for coordinating, administering, and supporting the activities of a consortium under an agreement described in subparagraph (A); (ii) the term covered advance payment means an advance payment made by the Department of Defense to a consortium management organization under an agreement described in subparagraph (A) for the purposes of such consortium management organization making payments to members of a consortium on behalf of the Department; (iii) the term covered costs means— (I) the fees chargeable to the Government by a consortium management organization under an agreement described in subparagraph (A); and (II) any other costs incurred by a consortium management organization that are directly attributable to the operation or the management of a consortium by a consortium management organization and chargeable to the Government under such agreement; and (iv) the term held amounts means funds provided as a covered advance payment that have not yet been used by the consortium management organization to which such covered advance payment was made to make a payment to a member of a consortium or returned to the Government in accordance with an agreement described in subparagraph (A)..