II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2359 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a Joint 

Requirements Council in the Department of Homeland Security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2018 

Mrs. MCCASKILL 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 establish 

a Joint Requirements Council in the Department of 

Homeland Security. 

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 ‘‘DHS Joint Require5 ments Council Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. JOINT REQUIREMENTS COUNCIL. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu8 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 710. JOINT REQUIREMENTS COUNCIL. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF JOINT REQUIREMENT.—In this 

3 section, the term ‘joint requirement’ means a condition or 

4 capability of multiple operating components of the Depart5 ment that is required to be met or possessed by a system, 

6 product, service, result, or component to satisfy a contract, 

7 standard, specification, or other formally imposed docu8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP COUNCILS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may es11 tablish such Department leadership councils as the 

12 Secretary determines necessary to ensure coordina13 tion and improve programs and activities of the De14 partment. 

15 ‘‘(2) FUNCTION.—A Department leadership 

16 council shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) serve as a coordinating forum; 

18 ‘‘(B) advise the Secretary and Deputy Sec19 retary on Department strategy, operations, and 

20 guidance; 

21 ‘‘(C) establish policies to reduce duplica22 tion in programs; and 

23 ‘‘(D) consider and report on such other 

24 matters as the Secretary or Deputy Secretary 

25 may direct. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FORUMS.—The 

2 Secretary or Deputy Secretary may delegate the au3 thority to direct the implementation of any decision 

4 or guidance resulting from the action of a Depart5 ment leadership council to any office, component, co6 ordinator, or other senior official of the Department. 

7 ‘‘(c) JOINT REQUIREMENTS COUNCIL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There Secretary shall 

9 establish within the Department a Joint Require10 ments Council. 

11 ‘‘(2) MISSION.—In addition to other matters 

12 assigned to it by the Secretary and Deputy Sec13 retary, the Joint Requirements Council shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) identify, assess, and validate joint re15 quirements (including existing systems and as16 sociated capability gaps) to meet mission needs 

17 of the Department; 

18 ‘‘(B) ensure that appropriate efficiencies 

19 are made among life-cycle cost, schedule, and 

20 performance objectives, and procurement quan21 tity objectives, in the establishment and ap22 proval of joint requirements; and 

23 ‘‘(C) make prioritized capability rec24 ommendations for the joint requirements vali25 dated under subparagraph (A) to the Secretary, 


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1 the Deputy Secretary, or the chairperson of a 

2 Department leadership council designated by 

3 the Secretary to review decisions of the Joint 

4 Requirements Council. 

5 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall ap6 point a chairperson of the Joint Requirements Coun7 cil, for a term of not more than 2 years, from among 

8 senior officials of the Department as designated by 

9 the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(4) COMPOSITION.—The Joint Requirements 

11 Council shall be composed of senior officials rep12 resenting components of the Department and other 

13 senior officials as designated by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO FUTURE YEARS HOME15 LAND SECURITY PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall en16 sure that the Future Years Homeland Security Pro17 gram required under section 874 is consistent with 

18 the recommendations of the Joint Requirements 

19 Council required under paragraph (2)(C), as af20 firmed by the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, or 

21 the chairperson of a Department leadership council 

22 designated by the Secretary under that paragraph.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

24 The table of sections in section 1(b) of the Homeland Se25 curity Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) 


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1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 709 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 710. Joint Requirements Council.’’. 

Æ 


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