II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 906 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for congressional 

notification regarding major acquisition program breaches, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2017 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide 

for congressional notification regarding major acquisition 

program breaches, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing DHS Acqui5 sition Cost Growth Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC2 QUISITION PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title VIII of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 836. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE7 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO8 GRAM BREACH. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ACQUISITION.—The term ‘acquisition’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 131 of title 

12 41, United States Code. 

13 ‘‘(2) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acqui14 sition program’ means the process by which the De15 partment acquires, with any appropriated amounts, 

16 by contract for purchase or lease, property or serv17 ices (including construction) that support the mis18 sions and goals of the Department. 

19 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITION PROGRAM BASELINE.—The 

20 term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 

21 an acquisition program, means a summary of the 

22 cost, schedule, and performance parameters, ex23 pressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, 

24 which shall be met in order to accomplish the goals 

25 of the program. 


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1 ‘‘(4) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’ has the meaning given the term in section 

4 226(a). 

5 ‘‘(5) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac6 tices’, with respect to acquisition, means a knowl7 edge-based approach to capability development that 

8 includes— 

9 ‘‘(A) identifying and validating needs; 

10 ‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the 

11 most appropriate solution; 

12 ‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re13 quirements; 

14 ‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 

15 and schedules; 

16 ‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 

17 resources to requirements; 

18 ‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, 

19 and manufacturing maturity; 

20 ‘‘(G) using milestones and exit criteria or 

21 specific accomplishments that demonstrate 

22 progress; 

23 ‘‘(H) adopting and executing standardized 

24 processes with known success across programs; 


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1 ‘‘(I) establishing an adequate workforce 

2 that is qualified and sufficient to perform nec3 essary functions; and 

4 ‘‘(J) integrating the capabilities described 

5 in subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the mis6 sion and business operations of the Depart7 ment. 

8 ‘‘(6) BREACH.—The term ‘breach’, with respect 

9 to a major acquisition program, means a failure to 

10 meet any cost, schedule, or performance threshold 

11 specified in the most recently approved acquisition 

12 program baseline. 

13 ‘‘(7) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

14 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

15 the senior acquisition official within a component 

16 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

17 for Management, in consultation with the component 

18 head, with authority and responsibility for leading a 

19 process and staff to provide acquisition and program 

20 management oversight, policy, and guidance to en21 sure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level pol22 icy requirements are fulfilled, including compliance 

23 with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regula24 tion, and Department acquisition management direcVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Apr 18, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S906.IS S906

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1 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man2 agement. 

3 ‘‘(8) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term 

4 ‘major acquisition program’ means an acquisition 

5 program of the Department that is estimated by the 

6 Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of 

7 at least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 

8 constant dollars) over the life cycle cost of the pro9 gram. 

10 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEPARTMENT IN

11 EVENT OF BREACH.— 

12 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF BREACH.—If a 

14 breach occurs in a major acquisition program, 

15 the program manager for the program shall no16 tify the Component Acquisition Executive for 

17 the program, the head of the component con18 cerned, the Executive Director of the Program 

19 Accountability and Risk Management division, 

20 the Under Secretary for Management, and the 

21 Deputy Secretary not later than 30 calendar 

22 days after the date on which the breach is iden23 tified. 

24 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION TO SECRETARY.—If a 

25 breach occurs in a major acquisition program 


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1 and the breach results in a cost overrun greater 

2 than 15 percent, a schedule delay greater than 

3 180 days, or a failure to meet any of the per4 formance thresholds from the cost, schedule, or 

5 performance parameters specified in the most 

6 recently approved acquisition program baseline 

7 for the program, the Component Acquisition 

8 Executive for the program shall notify the Sec9 retary and the Inspector General of the Depart10 ment not later than 5 business days after the 

11 date on which the Component Acquisition Exec12 utive for the program, the head of the compo13 nent concerned, the Executive Director of the 

14 Program Accountability and Risk Management 

15 Division, the Under Secretary for Management, 

16 and the Deputy Secretary are notified of the 

17 breach under subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(2) REMEDIATION PLAN AND ROOT CAUSE

19 ANALYSIS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a breach occurs in 

21 a major acquisition program, the program man22 ager for the program shall submit in writing to 

23 the head of the component concerned, the Exec24 utive Director of the Program Accountability 

25 and Risk Management division, and the Under 


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1 Secretary for Management, at a date estab2 lished by the Under Secretary for Management, 

3 a remediation plan and root cause analysis re4 lating to the breach and program. 

5 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—The remedi6 ation plan required under subparagraph (A) 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) explain the circumstances of the 

9 breach at issue; 

10 ‘‘(ii) provide prior cost estimating in11 formation; 

12 ‘‘(iii) include a root cause analysis 

13 that determines the underlying cause or 

14 causes of shortcomings in cost, schedule, 

15 or performance of the major acquisition 

16 program with respect to which the breach 

17 has occurred, including the role, if any, 

18 of— 

19 ‘‘(I) unrealistic performance ex20 pectations; 

21 ‘‘(II) unrealistic baseline esti22 mates for cost or schedule or changes 

23 in program requirements; 


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1 ‘‘(III) immature technologies or 

2 excessive manufacturing or integra3 tion risk; 

4 ‘‘(IV) unanticipated design, engi5 neering, manufacturing, or technology 

6 integration issues arising during pro7 gram performance; 

8 ‘‘(V) changes to the scope of the 

9 program; 

10 ‘‘(VI) inadequate program fund11 ing or changes in planned out-year 

12 funding from one 5-year funding plan 

13 to the next 5-year funding plan as 

14 outlined in the Future Years Home15 land Security Program required under 

16 section 874; 

17 ‘‘(VII) legislative, legal, or regu18 latory changes; or 

19 ‘‘(VIII) inadequate program 

20 management personnel, including lack 

21 of sufficient number of staff, training, 

22 credentials, certifications, or use of 

23 best practices; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) propose corrective action to ad2 dress cost growth, schedule delays, or per3 formance issues; 

4 ‘‘(v) explain the rationale for why a 

5 proposed corrective action is recommended; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(vi) in coordination with the Compo8 nent Acquisition Executive for the pro9 gram, discuss all options considered, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(I) the estimated impact on 

12 cost, schedule, or performance of the 

13 program if no changes are made to 

14 current requirements; 

15 ‘‘(II) the estimated cost of the 

16 program if requirements are modified; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(III) the extent to which fund19 ing from other programs will need to 

20 be reduced to cover the cost growth of 

21 the program. 

22 ‘‘(3) REVIEW OF CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

24 for Management— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall review each remediation 

2 plan required under paragraph (2); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) not later than 30 days after sub4 mission of a remediation plan under para5 graph (2), may approve the plan or provide 

6 an alternative proposed corrective action. 

7 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not 

8 later than 30 days after the date on which the 

9 Under Secretary for Management completes a 

10 review of a remediation plan under subpara11 graph (A), the Under Secretary for Manage12 ment shall submit to the appropriate commit13 tees of Congress— 

14 ‘‘(i) a copy of the remediation plan; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a statement describing the cor17 rective action or actions that have occurred 

18 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B)(iv) for the 

19 major acquisition program at issue, with a 

20 justification for each action. 

21 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONGRESSIONAL

22 NOTIFICATION IF BREACH OCCURS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—If a notifi24 cation to the Secretary is made under subsection 

25 (b)(1)(B) relating to a breach in a major acquisition 


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1 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

2 notify the appropriate committees of Congress of the 

3 breach in the next quarterly Comprehensive Acquisi4 tion Status Report, as required in the matter under 

5 the heading ‘OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY

6 FOR MANAGEMENT’ in title I of division F of the 

7 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public 

8 Law 114–113; 129 Stat. 2493), after receipt by the 

9 Under Secretary for Management of notification 

10 under that subsection. 

11 ‘‘(2) SIGNIFICANT VARIANCES IN COSTS OR

12 SCHEDULE.—If a likely cost overrun is greater than 

13 20 percent or a likely delay is greater than 12 

14 months from the costs and schedule specified in the 

15 acquisition program baseline for a major acquisition 

16 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

17 include in the notification required in paragraph (1) 

18 a written certification, with supporting explanation, 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) the program is essential to the ac21 complishment of the mission of the Depart22 ment; 

23 ‘‘(B) there are no alternatives to the capa24 bility or asset provided by the program that will 


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1 provide equal or greater capability in a more 

2 cost-effective and timely manner; 

3 ‘‘(C) the new acquisition schedule and esti4 mates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(D) the management structure for the 

7 program is adequate to manage and control 

8 cost, schedule, and performance.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

11 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by in12 serting after the item relating to section 835 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 836. Congressional notification and other requirements for major acquisition program breach.’’. 

Æ 


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