[Protests of GSA Requirements Contract Awards]

Two firms protested the award of requirements contracts under solicitations issued by the General Services Administration. Each solicitation provided that award would be made only to manufacturers or regular dealers offering tools made wholly in the United States or its possessions. The protesters contended that: (1) the awardee would use foreign materials in manufacturing its product and, therefore, its bids were nonresponsive; and (2) bid samples submitted by the awardee were not wholly domestic. Both protesters also requested that GAO investigate whether the awardee's bid samples and the items it intended to supply would be wholly manufactured in the United States. GAO held that: (1) there was no basis for it to conclude that the awardee's bids were nonresponsive; (2) it would not review the agency's determination of the awardee's ability to supply products wholly manufactured in the United States, since the protesters did not show possible fraud or bad faith on the part of procuring officials. Further, GAO stated that it does not conduct investigations in connection with its bid protest function for the purpose of establishing the validity of a protester's assertions. Accordingly, the protests were denied in part and dismissed in part.