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[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 886 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 886

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an Acquisition 
  Review Board in the Department of Homeland Security, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Acquisition Review Board Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD.

    (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:

``SEC. 836. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Acquisition.--The term `acquisition' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 131 of title 41, United States Code.
            ``(2) Acquisition decision authority.--The term 
        `acquisition decision authority' means the authority, held by 
        the Secretary acting through the Deputy Secretary or Under 
        Secretary for Management to--
                    ``(A) ensure compliance with Federal law, the 
                Federal Acquisition Regulation, and Department 
                acquisition management directives;
                    ``(B) review (including approving, pausing, 
                modifying, or cancelling) an acquisition program 
                through the life cycle of the program;
                    ``(C) advocate for acquisition program managers to 
                have the resources necessary to successfully execute an 
                approved acquisition program;
                    ``(D) ensure good acquisition program management of 
                cost, schedule, risk, and system performance of the 
                acquisition program at issue, including assessing 
                acquisition program baseline breaches and directing any 
                corrective action for such breaches; and
                    ``(E) monitor, on an ongoing basis, cost, schedule, 
                and performance of acquisition programs in order to 
                manage risk at all phases of the life cycle of such 
                program and direct corrective action for any variances 
                that would lead to baseline breaches.
            ``(3) Acquisition decision event.--The term `acquisition 
        decision event', with respect to an acquisition program, means 
        a predetermined point within each of the acquisition phases at 
        which the acquisition decision authority determines whether the 
        acquisition program shall proceed to the next acquisition 
        phase.
            ``(4) Acquisition decision memorandum.--The term 
        `acquisition decision memorandum', with respect to an 
        acquisition program, means the official acquisition decision 
        event record that includes a documented record of decisions, 
        exit criteria, and assigned actions for the acquisition 
        program, as determined by the person exercising acquisition 
        decision authority for the acquisition.
            ``(5) Acquisition program.--The term `acquisition program' 
        means the process by which the Department acquires, with any 
        appropriated amounts, by contract for purchase or lease, 
        property or services (including construction) that support the 
        missions and goals of the Department.
            ``(6) Acquisition program baseline.--The term `acquisition 
        program baseline', with respect to an acquisition program, 
        means a summary of the cost, schedule, and performance 
        parameters, expressed in standard, measurable, quantitative 
        terms, which must be met in order to accomplish the goals of 
        such program.
            ``(7) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        `appropriate committees of Congress' means--
                    ``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
                House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    ``(B) in the case of notice or a report relating to 
                the Coast Guard, the committees described in 
                subparagraph (A) and the Committee on Transportation 
                and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
                the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
                of the Senate; and
                    ``(C) in the case of notice or a report relating to 
                the Transportation Security Administration, the 
                committees described in subparagraph (A) and the 
                Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
                the Senate.
            ``(8) Best practices.--The term `best practices', with 
        respect to acquisition, means a knowledge-based approach to 
        capability development that includes--
                    ``(A) identifying and validating needs;
                    ``(B) assessing alternatives to select the most 
                appropriate solution;
                    ``(C) clearly establishing well-defined 
                requirements;
                    ``(D) developing realistic cost estimates 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;
                    ``(J) integrating the capabilities described in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the mission and 
                business operations of the Department; and
                    ``(K) any other criteria as determined by the Under 
                Secretary for Management.
            ``(9) Board.--The term `Board' means the Acquisition Review 
        Board required to be established under subsection (b).
            ``(10) 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 not less than $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 
        2017 constant dollars) over the life cycle cost of the 
        acquisition program.
    ``(b) Establishment of Board.--The Secretary shall establish an 
Acquisition Review Board to--
            ``(1) strengthen accountability and uniformity within the 
        Department acquisition review process;
            ``(2) review major acquisition programs; and
            ``(3) review the use of best practices.
    ``(c) Composition.--
            ``(1) Chairperson.--The Under Secretary for Management 
        shall serve as chairperson of the Board.
            ``(2) Other members.--The Secretary shall ensure 
        participation by other relevant Department officials, including 
        not fewer than 2 component heads or their designees, as 
        permanent members of the Board.
    ``(d) Meetings.--
            ``(1) Regular meetings.--The Board shall meet regularly for 
        purposes of ensuring all acquisitions programs proceed in a 
        timely fashion to achieve mission readiness.
            ``(2) Other meetings.--The Board shall convene--
                    ``(A) at the discretion of the Secretary; and
                    ``(B) at any time--
                            ``(i) a major acquisition program--
                                    ``(I) requires authorization to 
                                proceed from one acquisition decision 
                                event to another throughout the 
                                acquisition life cycle;
                                    ``(II) is in breach of the approved 
                                requirements of the major acquisition 
                                program; or
                                    ``(III) requires additional review, 
                                as determined by the Under Secretary 
                                for Management; or
                            ``(ii) a non-major acquisition program 
                        requires review, as determined by the Under 
                        Secretary for Management.
    ``(e) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities of the Board are as 
follows:
            ``(1) Determine whether a proposed acquisition program has 
        met the requirements of phases of the acquisition life cycle 
        framework and is able to proceed to the next phase and eventual 
        full production and deployment.
            ``(2) Oversee whether the business strategy, resources, 
        management, and accountability of a proposed acquisition is 
        executable and is aligned to strategic initiatives.
            ``(3) Support the person with acquisition decision 
        authority for an acquisition program in determining the 
        appropriate direction for the acquisition at key acquisition 
        decision events.
            ``(4) Conduct reviews of acquisitions to ensure that the 
        acquisitions are progressing in compliance with the approved 
        documents for their current acquisition phases.
            ``(5) Review the acquisition program documents of each 
        major acquisition program, including the acquisition program 
        baseline and documentation reflecting consideration of 
        tradeoffs among cost, schedule, and performance objectives, to 
        ensure the reliability of underlying data.
            ``(6) Ensure that practices are adopted and implemented to 
        require consideration of trade-offs among cost, schedule, and 
        performance objectives as part of the process for developing 
        requirements for major acquisition programs prior to the 
        initiation of the second acquisition decision event, including, 
        at a minimum, the following practices:
                    ``(A) Department officials responsible for 
                acquisition, budget, and cost estimating functions are 
                provided with the appropriate opportunity to develop 
                estimates and raise cost and schedule matters before 
                performance objectives are established for capabilities 
                when feasible.
                    ``(B) Full consideration is given to possible 
                trade-offs among cost, schedule, and performance 
                objectives for each alternative.
    ``(f) Acquisition Program Baseline Report Requirement.--If the 
person exercising acquisition decision authority over a major 
acquisition program approves the major acquisition program to proceed 
into the planning phase before the major acquisition program has a 
Department-approved acquisition program baseline, as required by 
Department policy--
            ``(1) the Under Secretary for Management shall create and 
        approve an acquisition program baseline report regarding such 
        approval; and
            ``(2) the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) not later than 7 days after the date on which 
                the acquisition decision memorandum is signed, provide 
                written notice of the decision to the appropriate 
                committees of Congress; and
                    ``(B) not later than 60 days after the date on 
                which the acquisition decision memorandum is signed, 
                submit a report stating the rationale for such decision 
                and a plan of action to require an acquisition program 
                baseline for such program to the appropriate committees 
                of Congress.
    ``(g) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section and every year thereafter through fiscal year 2022, the 
Under Secretary for Management shall provide information to the 
appropriate committees of Congress on the activities of the Board for 
the prior fiscal year that includes information relating to the 
following:
            ``(1) For each meeting of the Board, any acquisition 
        decision memoranda.
            ``(2) Results of the systematic reviews conducted under 
        subsection (e)(4).
            ``(3) Results of acquisition document reviews required 
        under subsection (e)(5).
            ``(4) Activities to ensure that practices are adopted and 
        implemented throughout the Department under subsection 
        (e)(6).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 835 the following:

``Sec. 836. Acquisition Review Board.''.

            Passed the Senate November 9, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
115th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 886

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an Acquisition 
  Review Board in the Department of Homeland Security, and for other 
                               purposes.
```