115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing DHS Acqui3 sition Cost Growth Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC5 QUISITION PROGRAMS. 

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

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

8 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 836. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE11 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO12 GRAM BREACH. 

13 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEPARTMENT IN

14 EVENT OF BREACH.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

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

17 breach occurs in a major acquisition program, 

18 the program manager for such program shall 

19 notify the Component Acquisition Executive for 

20 such program, the head of the component con21 cerned, the Executive Director of the Program 

22 Accountability and Risk Management division, 

23 the Under Secretary for Management, and the 

24 Deputy Secretary not later than 30 calendar 

25 days after such breach is identified. 
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1 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION TO SECRETARY.—If a 

2 breach occurs in a major acquisition program 

3 and such breach results in a cost overrun great4 er than 15 percent, a schedule delay greater 

5 than 180 days, or a failure to meet any of the 

6 performance thresholds from the cost, schedule, 

7 or performance parameters specified in the 

8 most recently approved acquisition program 

9 baseline for such program, the Component Ac10 quisition Executive for such program shall no11 tify the Secretary and the Inspector General of 

12 the Department not later than five business 

13 days after the Component Acquisition Executive 

14 for such program, the head of the component 

15 concerned, the Executive Director of the Pro16 gram Accountability and Risk Management Di17 vision, the Under Secretary for Management, 

18 and the Deputy Secretary are notified of the 

19 breach pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(2) REMEDIATION PLAN AND ROOT CAUSE

21 ANALYSIS.— 

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

23 a major acquisition program, the program man24 ager for such program shall submit to the head 

25 of the component concerned, the Executive Di-
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1 rector of the Program Accountability and Risk 

2 Management division, and the Under Secretary 

3 for Management in writing a remediation plan 

4 and root cause analysis relating to such breach 

5 and program. Such plan and analysis shall be 

6 submitted at a date established at the discretion 

7 of the Under Secretary for Management. 

8 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—The remedi9 ation plan required under this subparagraph 

10 (A) shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) explain the circumstances of the 

12 breach at issue; 

13 ‘‘(ii) provide prior cost estimating in14 formation; 

15 ‘‘(iii) include a root cause analysis 

16 that determines the underlying cause or 

17 causes of shortcomings in cost, schedule, 

18 or performance of the major acquisition 

19 program with respect to which such breach 

20 has occurred, including the role, if any, 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(I) unrealistic performance ex23 pectations; 
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1 ‘‘(II) unrealistic baseline esti2 mates for cost or schedule or changes 

3 in program requirements; 

4 ‘‘(III) immature technologies or 

5 excessive manufacturing or integra6 tion risk; 

7 ‘‘(IV) unanticipated design, engi8 neering, manufacturing, or technology 

9 integration issues arising during pro10 gram performance; 

11 ‘‘(V) changes to the scope of such 

12 program; 

13 ‘‘(VI) inadequate program fund14 ing or changes in planned out-year 

15 funding from one 5-year funding plan 

16 to the next 5-year funding plan as 

17 outlined in the Future Years Home18 land Security Program required under 

19 section 874; 

20 ‘‘(VII) legislative, legal, or regu21 latory changes; or 

22 ‘‘(VIII) inadequate program 

23 management personnel, including lack 

24 of sufficient number of staff, training, 
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1 credentials, certifications, or use of 

2 best practices; 

3 ‘‘(iv) propose corrective action to ad4 dress cost growth, schedule delays, or per5 formance issues; 

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

7 proposed corrective action is recommended; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(vi) in coordination with the Compo10 nent Acquisition Executive for such pro11 gram, discuss all options considered, in12 cluding the estimated impact on cost, 

13 schedule, or performance of such program 

14 if no changes are made to current require15 ments, the estimated cost of such program 

16 if requirements are modified, and the ex17 tent to which funding from other programs 

18 will need to be reduced to cover the cost 

19 growth of such program. 

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

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

22 for Management shall review the remediation 

23 plan required under paragraph (2). The Under 

24 Secretary may approve such plan or provide an 

25 alternative proposed corrective action within 30 
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1 days of the submission of such plan under such 

2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not 

4 later than 30 days after the review required 

5 under subparagraph (A) is completed, the 

6 Under Secretary for Management shall submit 

7 to the congressional homeland security commit8 tees the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) A copy of the remediation plan 

10 and the root cause analysis required under 

11 paragraph (2). 

12 ‘‘(ii) A statement describing the cor13 rective action or actions that have occurred 

14 pursuant to paragraph (2)(b)(iv) for the 

15 major acquisition program at issue, with a 

16 justification for such action or actions. 

17 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONGRESSIONAL

18 NOTIFICATION IF BREACH OCCURS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—If a notifi20 cation to the Secretary is made under subsection 

21 (a)(1)(B) relating to a breach in a major acquisition 

22 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

23 notify the congressional homeland security commit24 tees of such breach in the next quarterly Com25 prehensive Acquisition Status Report, as required by 
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1 title I of division D of the Consolidated Appropria2 tions Act, 2016, (Public Law 114–113) following re3 ceipt by the Under Secretary of notification under 

4 such subsection. 

5 ‘‘(2) SIGNIFICANT VARIANCES IN COSTS OR

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

7 20 percent or a likely delay is greater than 12 

8 months from the costs and schedule specified in the 

9 acquisition program baseline for a major acquisition 

10 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

11 include in the notification required in paragraph (1) 

12 a written certification, with supporting explanation, 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) such program is essential to the ac15 complishment of the Department’s mission; 

16 ‘‘(B) there are no alternatives to the capa17 bility or asset provided by such program that 

18 will provide equal or greater capability in both 

19 a more cost-effective and timely manner; 

20 ‘‘(C) the new acquisition schedule and esti21 mates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(D) the management structure for such 

24 program is adequate to manage and control 

25 cost, schedule, and performance. 
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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

3 the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 

4 41, United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(2) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acqui6 sition program’ means the process by which the De7 partment acquires, with any appropriated amounts, 

8 by contract for purchase or lease, property or serv9 ices (including construction) that support the mis10 sions and goals of the Department. 

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

12 term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 

13 an acquisition program, means a summary of the 

14 cost, schedule, and performance parameters, ex15 pressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, 

16 which must be met in order to accomplish the goals 

17 of such program. 

18 ‘‘(4) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac19 tices’, with respect to acquisition, means a knowl20 edge-based approach to capability development that 

21 includes— 

22 ‘‘(A) identifying and validating needs; 

23 ‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the 

24 most appropriate solution; 
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1 ‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re2 quirements; 

3 ‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 

4 and schedules; 

5 ‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 

6 resources to requirements; 

7 ‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, 

8 and manufacturing maturity; 

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

10 specific accomplishments that demonstrate 

11 progress; 

12 ‘‘(H) adopting and executing standardized 

13 processes with known success across programs; 

14 ‘‘(I) establishing an adequate workforce 

15 that is qualified and sufficient to perform nec16 essary functions; and 

17 ‘‘(J) integrating the capabilities described 

18 in subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the De19 partment’s mission and business operations. 

20 ‘‘(5) BREACH.—The term ‘breach’, with respect 

21 to a major acquisition program, means a failure to 

22 meet any cost, schedule, or performance threshold 

23 specified in the most recently approved acquisition 

24 program baseline. 
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1 ‘‘(6) CONGRESSIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY

2 COMMITTEES.—The term ‘congressional homeland 

3 security committees’ means— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 of the House of Representatives and the Com6 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern7 mental Affairs of the Senate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

9 the House of Representatives and of the Sen10 ate. 

11 ‘‘(7) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

12 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

13 the senior acquisition official within a component 

14 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

15 for Management, in consultation with the component 

16 head, with authority and responsibility for leading a 

17 process and staff to provide acquisition and program 

18 management oversight, policy, and guidance to en19 sure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level pol20 icy requirements are fulfilled, including compliance 

21 with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regula22 tion, and Department acquisition management direc23 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man24 agement. 
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1 ‘‘(8) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘major acquisition program’ means a Department 

3 acquisition program that is estimated by the Sec4 retary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 

5 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 con6 stant dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

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

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

9 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

10 835 the following new item: 

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

Passed the House of Representatives March 20, 

2017. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 

AN ACT 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

other purposes. major acquisition program breaches, and for provide for congressional notification regarding