DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act of 2017

Summary: DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act of 2017 (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit a multiyear acquisition strategy that allows flexibility to deal with ever-changing threats and risks and that helps industry align resources to meet DHS needs. Such strategy shall be updated and included in each required Future Years Homeland Security Program. The strategy shall include:   a prioritized list of major acquisition programs that DHS and component acquisition investments seek to address, a plan to develop a reliable DHS-wide inventory of investments and real property assets to help DHS plan and acquire upgrades of its systems and equipment and plan for acquisition and management of future systems and equipment; a plan to address gaps between funding requirements for major acquisition programs and available resources,  identification of capabilities required to support the acquisition of technologies to meet the needs of such strategy,  identification of ways to increase opportunities for outreach to ensure that DHS understands the market to meet its mission needs, a plan to ensure competition for major acquisition programs, and an acquisition workforce plan.  The strategy also shall include assessments of ways DHS can:   improve its ability to test and acquire innovative solutions to allow needed incentives and protections for appropriate risk-taking; develop incentives for program managers and senior DHS acquisition officials to prevent cost overruns, avoid schedule delays, and achieve cost savings; and  improve the acquisition process to minimize cost overruns.  (Sec. 3) The Government Accountability Office shall review the strategy to analyze its effectiveness in meeting specified objectives.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    ``(a) Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Required.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
        the appropriate congressional committees and the Comptroller 
        General of the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy 
        to guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of the 
        Department while allowing flexibility to deal with ever-
        changing threats and risks, and to help industry better 
        understand, plan, and align resources to meet the future 
        acquisition needs of the Department. Such strategy shall be 
        updated and included in each Future Years Homeland Security 
        Program required under section 874.
            ``(2) Form.--The strategy required under paragraph (1) 
        shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a 
        classified annex for any sensitive or classified information if 
        necessary. The Secretary shall publish such strategy in an 
        unclassified format that is publicly available.
    ``(b) Consultation.--In developing the strategy required under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines 
appropriate, consult with headquarters, components, employees in the 
field, and individuals from industry and the academic community.
    ``(c) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) Prioritized list.--A systematic and integrated 
        prioritized list developed by the Under Secretary for 
        Management in coordination with all of the Component 
        Acquisition Executives of Department major acquisition programs 
        that Department and component acquisition investments seek to 
        address, including the expected security and economic benefit 
        of the program or system that is the subject of acquisition and 
        an analysis of how the security and economic benefit derived 
        from such program or system will be measured.
            ``(2) Inventory.--A plan to develop a reliable Department-
        wide inventory of investments and real property assets to help 
        the Department--
                    ``(A) plan, budget, schedule, and acquire upgrades 
                of its systems and equipment; and
                    ``(B) plan for the acquisition and management of 
                future systems and equipment.
            ``(3) Funding gaps.--A plan to address funding gaps between 
        funding requirements for major acquisition programs and known 
        available resources, including, to the maximum extent 
        practicable, ways of leveraging best practices to identify and 
        eliminate overpayment for items to--
                    ``(A) prevent wasteful purchasing;
                    ``(B) achieve the greatest level of efficiency and 
                cost savings by rationalizing purchases;
                    ``(C) align pricing for similar items; and
                    ``(D) utilize purchase timing and economies of 
                scale.
            ``(4) Identification of capabilities.--An identification of 
        test, evaluation, modeling, and simulation capabilities that 
        will be required to--
                    ``(A) support the acquisition of technologies to 
                meet the needs of such strategy;
                    ``(B) leverage to the greatest extent possible 
                emerging technological trends and research and 
                development trends within the public and private 
                sectors; and
                    ``(C) identify ways to ensure that appropriate 
                technology is acquired and integrated into the 
                Department's operating doctrine to improve mission 
                performance.
            ``(5) Focus on flexible solutions.--An assessment of ways 
        the Department can improve its ability to test and acquire 
        innovative solutions to allow needed incentives and protections 
        for appropriate risk-taking in order to meet its acquisition 
        needs with resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to assure 
        homeland security and facilitate trade.
            ``(6) Focus on incentives to save taxpayer dollars.--An 
        assessment of ways the Department can develop incentives for 
        program managers and senior Department acquisition officials 
        to--
                    ``(A) prevent cost overruns;
                    ``(B) avoid schedule delays; and
                    ``(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisition 
                programs.
            ``(7) Focus on addressing delays and bid protests.--An 
        assessment of ways the Department can improve the acquisition 
        process to minimize cost overruns in--
                    ``(A) requirements development;
                    ``(B) procurement announcements;
                    ``(C) requests for proposals;
                    ``(D) evaluation of proposals;
                    ``(E) protests of decisions and awards; and
                    ``(F) the use of best practices.
            ``(8) Focus on improving outreach.--An identification and 
        assessment of ways to increase opportunities for communication 
        and collaboration with industry, small and disadvantaged 
        businesses, intra-government entities, university centers of 
        excellence, accredited certification and standards development 
        organizations, and national laboratories to ensure that the 
        Department understands the market for technologies, products, 
        and innovation that is available to meet its mission needs and 
        to inform the Department's requirements-setting process before 
        engaging in an acquisition, including--
                    ``(A) methods designed especially to engage small 
                and disadvantaged businesses, a cost-benefit analysis 
                of the tradeoffs that small and disadvantaged 
                businesses provide, information relating to barriers to 
                entry for small and disadvantaged businesses, and 
                information relating to unique requirements for small 
                and disadvantaged businesses; and
                    ``(B) within the Department Vendor Communication 
                Plan and Market Research Guide, instructions for 
                interaction by acquisition program managers with such 
                entities to--
                            ``(i) prevent misinterpretation of 
                        acquisition regulations; and
                            ``(ii) permit, within legal and ethical 
                        boundaries, interacting with such entities with 
                        transparency.
            ``(9) Competition.--A plan regarding competition under 
        subsection (d).
            ``(10) Acquisition workforce.--A plan regarding the 
        Department acquisition workforce under subsection (e).
    ``(d) Competition Plan.--The strategy required under subsection (a) 
shall also include a plan to address actions to ensure competition, or 
the option of competition, for major acquisition programs. Such plan 
may include assessments of the following measures in appropriate cases 
if such measures are cost effective:
            ``(1) Competitive prototyping.
            ``(2) Dual-sourcing.
            ``(3) Unbundling of contracts.
            ``(4) Funding of next-generation prototype systems or 
        subsystems.
            ``(5) Use of modular, open architectures to enable 
        competition for upgrades.
            ``(6) Acquisition of complete technical data packages.
            ``(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem upgrades.
            ``(8) Licensing of additional suppliers, including small 
        businesses.
            ``(9) Periodic system or program reviews to address long-
        term competitive effects of program decisions.
    ``(e) Acquisition Workforce Plan.--
            ``(1) Acquisition workforce.--The strategy required under 
        subsection (a) shall also include a plan to address Department 
        acquisition workforce accountability and talent management that 
        identifies the acquisition workforce needs of each component 
        performing acquisition functions and develops options for 
        filling such needs with qualified individuals, including a 
        cost-benefit analysis of contracting for acquisition 
        assistance.
            ``(2) Additional matters covered.--The acquisition 
        workforce plan under this subsection shall address ways to--
                    ``(A) improve the recruitment, hiring, training, 
                and retention of Department acquisition workforce 
                personnel, including contracting officer's 
                representatives, in order to retain highly qualified 
                individuals who have experience in the acquisition life 
                cycle, complex procurements, and management of large 
                programs;
                    ``(B) empower program managers to have the 
                authority to manage their programs in an accountable 
                and transparent manner as such managers work with the 
                acquisition workforce;
                    ``(C) prevent duplication within Department 
                acquisition workforce training and certification 
                requirements through leveraging already-existing 
                training within the Federal Government, academic 
                community, or private industry;
                    ``(D) achieve integration and consistency with 
                Government-wide training and accreditation standards, 
                acquisition training tools, and training facilities;
                    ``(E) designate the acquisition positions that will 
                be necessary to support the Department acquisition 
                requirements, including in the fields of--
                            ``(i) program management;
                            ``(ii) systems engineering;
                            ``(iii) procurement, including contracting;
                            ``(iv) test and evaluation;
                            ``(v) life cycle logistics;
                            ``(vi) cost estimating and program 
                        financial management; and
                            ``(vii) additional disciplines appropriate 
                        to Department mission needs;
                    ``(F) strengthen the performance of contracting 
                officers' representatives (as defined in subpart 1.602-
                2 and subpart 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition 
                Regulation), including by--
                            ``(i) assessing the extent to which such 
                        representatives are certified and receive 
                        training that is appropriate;
                            ``(ii) assessing what training is most 
                        effective with respect to the type and 
                        complexity of assignment; and
                            ``(iii) implementing actions to improve 
                        training based on such assessments; and
                    ``(G) identify ways to increase training for 
                relevant investigators and auditors of the Department 
                to examine fraud in major acquisition programs, 
                including identifying opportunities to leverage 
                existing Government and private sector resources in 
                coordination with the Inspector General of the 
                Department.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Acquisition.--The term `acquisition' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 131 of title 41, United States Code.
            ``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        `appropriate congressional committees' means--
                    ``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
                House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
                of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations 
                of the Senate.
            ``(3) Best practices.--The term `best practices', with 
        respect to acquisition, means--
                    ``(A) a knowledge-based approach to capability 
                development that includes identifying and validating 
                needs;
                    ``(B) assessing alternatives to select the most 
                appropriate solution;
                    ``(C) clearly establishing well-defined 
                requirements;
                    ``(D) developing realistic cost assessments and 
                schedules;
                    ``(E) securing stable funding that matches 
                resources to requirements;
                    ``(F) demonstrating technology, design, and 
                manufacturing maturity;
                    ``(G) using milestones and exit criteria or 
                specific accomplishments that demonstrate progress;
                    ``(H) adopting and executing standardized processes 
                with known success across programs;
                    ``(I) establishing an adequate workforce that is 
                qualified and sufficient to perform necessary 
                functions; and
                    ``(J) integrating into the mission and business 
                operations of the Department of Homeland Security the 
                capabilities described in subparagraphs (A) through 
                (I).
            ``(4) Component acquisition executive.--The term `Component 
        Acquisition Executive' means the senior acquisition official 
        within a component who is designated in writing by the Under 
        Secretary for Management, in consultation with the component 
        head, with authority and responsibility for leading a process 
        and staff to provide acquisition and program management 
        oversight, policy, and guidance to ensure that statutory, 
        regulatory, and higher level policy requirements are fulfilled, 
        including compliance with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation, and Department acquisition management directives 
        established by the Under Secretary for Management.
            ``(5) Major acquisition program.--The term `major 
        acquisition program' means a Department acquisition program 
        that is estimated by the Secretary to require an eventual total 
        expenditure of at least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 
        constant dollars) over its life cycle cost.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 835 the following new item:

``Sec. 836. Multiyear acquisition strategy.''.

SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW OF MULTIYEAR 
              ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    (a) Review.--After submission of the first multiyear acquisition 
strategy in accordance with section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (as added by section 2 of this Act) after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a review of such plan within 180 days to analyze the 
viability of such plan's effectiveness in the following:
            (1) Complying with the requirements of such section 836.
            (2) Establishing clear connections between Department of 
        Homeland Security objectives and acquisition (as such term is 
        defined in such section) priorities.
            (3) Demonstrating that Department acquisition policy 
        reflects program management best practices (as such term is 
        defined in such section) and standards.
            (4) Ensuring competition or the option of competition for 
        major acquisition programs (as such term is defined in such 
        section).
            (5) Considering potential cost savings through using 
        already-existing technologies when developing acquisition 
        program requirements.
            (6) Preventing duplication within Department acquisition 
        workforce training requirements through leveraging already-
        existing training within the Federal Government, academic 
        community, or private industry.
            (7) Providing incentives for acquisition program managers 
        to reduce acquisition and procurement costs through the use of 
        best practices and disciplined program management.
    (b) Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate a report on the review conducted under 
this section. Such report shall be submitted in unclassified form but 
may include a classified annex.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 20, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.