IB 

Union Calendar No. 26 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1249 

[Report No. 115–46] 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a multiyear acquisition strategy of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 

Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

MARCH 20, 2017 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 

a multiyear acquisition strategy of the Department of 

Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 


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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 Multiyear Acqui5 sition Strategy Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

7 Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland Security Act 

8 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

11 ‘‘(a) MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY RE12 QUIRED.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

14 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

15 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congres16 sional committees and the Comptroller General of 

17 the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy to 

18 guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of the 

19 Department while allowing flexibility to deal with 

20 ever-changing threats and risks, and to help indus21 try better understand, plan, and align resources to 

22 meet the future acquisition needs of the Depart23 ment. Such strategy shall be updated and included 

24 in each Future Years Homeland Security Program 

25 required under section 874. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The strategy required under para2 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

3 may include a classified annex for any sensitive or 

4 classified information if necessary. The Secretary 

5 shall publish such strategy in an unclassified format 

6 that is publicly available. 

7 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy re8 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as the 

9 Secretary determines appropriate, consult with head10 quarters, components, employees in the field, and individ11 uals from industry and the academic community. 

12 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy shall 

13 include the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) PRIORITIZED LIST.—A systematic and in15 tegrated prioritized list developed by the Under Sec16 retary for Management in coordination with all of 

17 the Component Acquisition Executives of Depart18 ment major acquisition programs that Department 

19 and component acquisition investments seek to ad20 dress, including the expected security and economic 

21 benefit of the program or system that is the subject 

22 of acquisition and an analysis of how the security 

23 and economic benefit derived from such program or 

24 system will be measured. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INVENTORY.—A plan to develop a reliable 

2 Department-wide inventory of investments and real 

3 property assets to help the Department— 

4 ‘‘(A) plan, budget, schedule, and acquire 

5 upgrades of its systems and equipment; and 

6 ‘‘(B) plan for the acquisition and manage7 ment of future systems and equipment. 

8 ‘‘(3) FUNDING GAPS.—A plan to address fund9 ing gaps between funding requirements for major ac10 quisition programs and known available resources, 

11 including, to the maximum extent practicable, ways 

12 of leveraging best practices to identify and eliminate 

13 overpayment for items to— 

14 ‘‘(A) prevent wasteful purchasing; 

15 ‘‘(B) achieve the greatest level of efficiency 

16 and cost savings by rationalizing purchases; 

17 ‘‘(C) align pricing for similar items; and 

18 ‘‘(D) utilize purchase timing and econo19 mies of scale. 

20 ‘‘(4) IDENTIFICATION OF CAPABILITIES.—An 

21 identification of test, evaluation, modeling, and sim22 ulation capabilities that will be required to— 

23 ‘‘(A) support the acquisition of tech24 nologies to meet the needs of such strategy; 


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1 ‘‘(B) leverage to the greatest extent pos2 sible emerging technological trends and re3 search and development trends within the pub4 lic and private sectors; and 

5 ‘‘(C) identify ways to ensure that appro6 priate technology is acquired and integrated 

7 into the Department’s operating doctrine to im8 prove mission performance. 

9 ‘‘(5) FOCUS ON FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS.—An as10 sessment of ways the Department can improve its 

11 ability to test and acquire innovative solutions to 

12 allow needed incentives and protections for appro13 priate risk-taking in order to meet its acquisition 

14 needs with resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to 

15 assure homeland security and facilitate trade. 

16 ‘‘(6) FOCUS ON INCENTIVES TO SAVE TAX17 PAYER DOLLARS.—An assessment of ways the De18 partment can develop incentives for program man19 agers and senior Department acquisition officials 

20 to— 

21 ‘‘(A) prevent cost overruns; 

22 ‘‘(B) avoid schedule delays; and 

23 ‘‘(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisi24 tion programs. 


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1 ‘‘(7) FOCUS ON ADDRESSING DELAYS AND BID

2 PROTESTS.—An assessment of ways the Department 

3 can improve the acquisition process to minimize cost 

4 overruns in— 

5 ‘‘(A) requirements development; 

6 ‘‘(B) procurement announcements; 

7 ‘‘(C) requests for proposals; 

8 ‘‘(D) evaluation of proposals; 

9 ‘‘(E) protests of decisions and awards; and 

10 ‘‘(F) the use of best practices. 

11 ‘‘(8) FOCUS ON IMPROVING OUTREACH.—An 

12 identification and assessment of ways to increase op13 portunities for communication and collaboration with 

14 industry, small and disadvantaged businesses, intra15 government entities, university centers of excellence, 

16 accredited certification and standards development 

17 organizations, and national laboratories to ensure 

18 that the Department understands the market for 

19 technologies, products, and innovation that is avail20 able to meet its mission needs and to inform the De21 partment’s requirements-setting process before en22 gaging in an acquisition, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) methods designed especially to engage 

24 small and disadvantaged businesses, a cost-ben25 efit analysis of the tradeoffs that small and disVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1249.RH H1249

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1 advantaged businesses provide, information re2 lating to barriers to entry for small and dis3 advantaged businesses, and information relating 

4 to unique requirements for small and disadvan5 taged businesses; and 

6 ‘‘(B) within the Department Vendor Com7 munication Plan and Market Research Guide, 

8 instructions for interaction by acquisition pro9 gram managers with such entities to— 

10 ‘‘(i) prevent misinterpretation of ac11 quisition regulations; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) permit, within legal and ethical 

13 boundaries, interacting with such entities 

14 with transparency. 

15 ‘‘(9) COMPETITION.—A plan regarding competi16 tion under subsection (d). 

17 ‘‘(10) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—A plan re18 garding the Department acquisition workforce under 

19 subsection (e). 

20 ‘‘(d) COMPETITION PLAN.—The strategy required 

21 under subsection (a) shall also include a plan to address 

22 actions to ensure competition, or the option of competi23 tion, for major acquisition programs. Such plan may in24 clude assessments of the following measures in appro25 priate cases if such measures are cost effective: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Competitive prototyping. 

2 ‘‘(2) Dual-sourcing. 

3 ‘‘(3) Unbundling of contracts. 

4 ‘‘(4) Funding of next-generation prototype sys5 tems or subsystems. 

6 ‘‘(5) Use of modular, open architectures to en7 able competition for upgrades. 

8 ‘‘(6) Acquisition of complete technical data 

9 packages. 

10 ‘‘(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem up11 grades. 

12 ‘‘(8) Licensing of additional suppliers, including 

13 small businesses. 

14 ‘‘(9) Periodic system or program reviews to ad15 dress long-term competitive effects of program deci16 sions. 

17 ‘‘(e) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE PLAN.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—The strategy 

19 required under subsection (a) shall also include a 

20 plan to address Department acquisition workforce 

21 accountability and talent management that identifies 

22 the acquisition workforce needs of each component 

23 performing acquisition functions and develops op24 tions for filling such needs with qualified individuals, 


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1 including a cost-benefit analysis of contracting for 

2 acquisition assistance. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MATTERS COVERED.—The 

4 acquisition workforce plan under this subsection 

5 shall address ways to— 

6 ‘‘(A) improve the recruitment, hiring, 

7 training, and retention of Department acquisi8 tion workforce personnel, including contracting 

9 officer’s representatives, in order to retain high10 ly qualified individuals who have experience in 

11 the acquisition life cycle, complex procurements, 

12 and management of large programs; 

13 ‘‘(B) empower program managers to have 

14 the authority to manage their programs in an 

15 accountable and transparent manner as such 

16 managers work with the acquisition workforce; 

17 ‘‘(C) prevent duplication within Depart18 ment acquisition workforce training and certifi19 cation requirements through leveraging already20 existing training within the Federal Govern21 ment, academic community, or private industry; 

22 ‘‘(D) achieve integration and consistency 

23 with Government-wide training and accredita24 tion standards, acquisition training tools, and 

25 training facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(E) designate the acquisition positions 

2 that will be necessary to support the Depart3 ment acquisition requirements, including in the 

4 fields of— 

5 ‘‘(i) program management; 

6 ‘‘(ii) systems engineering; 

7 ‘‘(iii) procurement, including con8 tracting; 

9 ‘‘(iv) test and evaluation; 

10 ‘‘(v) life cycle logistics; 

11 ‘‘(vi) cost estimating and program fi12 nancial management; and 

13 ‘‘(vii) additional disciplines appro14 priate to Department mission needs; 

15 ‘‘(F) strengthen the performance of con16 tracting officers’ representatives (as defined in 

17 subpart 1.602–2 and subpart 2.101 of the Fed18 eral Acquisition Regulation), including by— 

19 ‘‘(i) assessing the extent to which 

20 such representatives are certified and re21 ceive training that is appropriate; 

22 ‘‘(ii) assessing what training is most 

23 effective with respect to the type and com24 plexity of assignment; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) implementing actions to improve 

2 training based on such assessments; and 

3 ‘‘(G) identify ways to increase training for 

4 relevant investigators and auditors of the De5 partment to examine fraud in major acquisition 

6 programs, including identifying opportunities to 

7 leverage existing Government and private sector 

8 resources in coordination with the Inspector 

9 General of the Department. 

10 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

12 the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 

13 41, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

18 of the House of Representatives and the Com19 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern20 mental Affairs of the Senate; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Com23 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

24 ‘‘(3) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac25 tices’, with respect to acquisition, means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a knowledge-based approach to capa2 bility development that includes identifying and 

3 validating needs; 

4 ‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the 

5 most appropriate solution; 

6 ‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re7 quirements; 

8 ‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 

9 and schedules; 

10 ‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 

11 resources to requirements; 

12 ‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, 

13 and manufacturing maturity; 

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

15 specific accomplishments that demonstrate 

16 progress; 

17 ‘‘(H) adopting and executing standardized 

18 processes with known success across programs; 

19 ‘‘(I) establishing an adequate workforce 

20 that is qualified and sufficient to perform nec21 essary functions; and 

22 ‘‘(J) integrating into the mission and busi23 ness operations of the Department of Homeland 

24 Security the capabilities described in subpara25 graphs (A) through (I). 


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1 ‘‘(4) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

2 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

3 the senior acquisition official within a component 

4 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

5 for Management, in consultation with the component 

6 head, with authority and responsibility for leading a 

7 process and staff to provide acquisition and program 

8 management oversight, policy, and guidance to en9 sure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level pol10 icy requirements are fulfilled, including compliance 

11 with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regula12 tion, and Department acquisition management direc13 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man14 agement. 

15 ‘‘(5) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term 

16 ‘major acquisition program’ means a Department 

17 acquisition program that is estimated by the Sec18 retary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 

19 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 con20 stant dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW 

22 OF MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

23 (a) REVIEW.—After submission of the first multiyear 

24 acquisition strategy in accordance with section 836 of the 

25 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as added by section 2 


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1 of this Act) after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

2 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con3 duct a review of such plan within 180 days to analyze the 

4 viability of such plan’s effectiveness in the following: 

5 (1) Complying with the requirements of such 

6 section 836. 

7 (2) Establishing clear connections between De8 partment of Homeland Security objectives and ac9 quisition (as such term is defined in such section) 

10 priorities. 

11 (3) Demonstrating that Department acquisition 

12 policy reflects program management best practices 

13 (as such term is defined in such section) and stand14 ards. 

15 (4) Ensuring competition or the option of com16 petition for major acquisition programs (as such 

17 term is defined in such section). 

18 (5) Considering potential cost savings through 

19 using already-existing technologies when developing 

20 acquisition program requirements. 

21 (6) Preventing duplication within Department 

22 acquisition workforce training requirements through 

23 leveraging already-existing training within the Fed24 eral Government, academic community, or private 

25 industry. 


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1 (7) Providing incentives for acquisition program 

2 managers to reduce acquisition and procurement 

3 costs through the use of best practices and dis4 ciplined program management. 

5 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

6 United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

7 Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home9 land Security and Governmental Affairs and the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate a report on the 

11 review conducted under this section. Such report shall be 

12 submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 

13 annex. 


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Union Calendar No. 26 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1249 

[Report No. 115–46] 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

purposes. Department of Homeland Security, and for other require a multiyear acquisition strategy of the 

MARCH 20, 2017 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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