I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1249 

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 

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. 

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: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

2 ‘‘(a) MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY RE3 QUIRED.— 

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

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

6 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congres7 sional committees and the Comptroller General of 

8 the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy to 

9 guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of the 

10 Department while allowing flexibility to deal with 

11 ever-changing threats and risks, and to help indus12 try better understand, plan, and align resources to 

13 meet the future acquisition needs of the Depart14 ment. Such strategy shall be updated and included 

15 in each Future Years Homeland Security Program 

16 required under section 874. 

17 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The strategy required under para18 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

19 may include a classified annex for any sensitive or 

20 classified information if necessary. The Secretary 

21 shall publish such strategy in an unclassified format 

22 that is publicly available. 

23 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy re24 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as the 

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1 quarters, components, employees in the field, and individ2 uals from industry and the academic community. 

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

4 include the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) PRIORITIZED LIST.—A systematic and in6 tegrated prioritized list developed by the Under Sec7 retary for Management in coordination with all of 

8 the Component Acquisition Executives of Depart9 ment major acquisition programs that Department 

10 and component acquisition investments seek to ad11 dress, including the expected security and economic 

12 benefit of the program or system that is the subject 

13 of acquisition and an analysis of how the security 

14 and economic benefit derived from such program or 

15 system will be measured. 

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

17 Department-wide inventory of investments and real 

18 property assets to help the Department— 

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

20 upgrades of its systems and equipment; and 

21 ‘‘(B) plan for the acquisition and manage22 ment of future systems and equipment. 

23 ‘‘(3) FUNDING GAPS.—A plan to address fund24 ing gaps between funding requirements for major ac25 quisition programs and known available resources, 


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1 including, to the maximum extent practicable, ways 

2 of leveraging best practices to identify and eliminate 

3 overpayment for items to— 

4 ‘‘(A) prevent wasteful purchasing; 

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

6 and cost savings by rationalizing purchases; 

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

8 ‘‘(D) utilize purchase timing and econo9 mies of scale. 

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

11 identification of test, evaluation, modeling, and sim12 ulation capabilities that will be required to— 

13 ‘‘(A) support the acquisition of tech14 nologies to meet the needs of such strategy; 

15 ‘‘(B) leverage to the greatest extent pos16 sible emerging technological trends and re17 search and development trends within the pub18 lic and private sectors; and 

19 ‘‘(C) identify ways to ensure that appro20 priate technology is acquired and integrated 

21 into the Department’s operating doctrine to im22 prove mission performance. 

23 ‘‘(5) FOCUS ON FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS.—An as24 sessment of ways the Department can improve its 

25 ability to test and acquire innovative solutions to 


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1 allow needed incentives and protections for appro2 priate risk-taking in order to meet its acquisition 

3 needs with resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to 

4 assure homeland security and facilitate trade. 

5 ‘‘(6) FOCUS ON INCENTIVES TO SAVE TAX6 PAYER DOLLARS.—An assessment of ways the De7 partment can develop incentives for program man8 agers and senior Department acquisition officials 

9 to— 

10 ‘‘(A) prevent cost overruns; 

11 ‘‘(B) avoid schedule delays; and 

12 ‘‘(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisi13 tion programs. 

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

15 PROTESTS.—An assessment of ways the Department 

16 can improve the acquisition process to minimize cost 

17 overruns in— 

18 ‘‘(A) requirements development; 

19 ‘‘(B) procurement announcements; 

20 ‘‘(C) requests for proposals; 

21 ‘‘(D) evaluation of proposals; 

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

23 ‘‘(F) the use of best practices. 

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

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1 portunities for communication and collaboration with 

2 industry, small and disadvantaged businesses, intra3 government entities, university centers of excellence, 

4 accredited certification and standards development 

5 organizations, and national laboratories to ensure 

6 that the Department understands the market for 

7 technologies, products, and innovation that is avail8 able to meet its mission needs and to inform the De9 partment’s requirements-setting process before en10 gaging in an acquisition, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) methods designed especially to engage 

12 small and disadvantaged businesses, a cost-ben13 efit analysis of the tradeoffs that small and dis14 advantaged businesses provide, information re15 lating to barriers to entry for small and dis16 advantaged businesses, and information relating 

17 to unique requirements for small and disadvan18 taged businesses; and 

19 ‘‘(B) within the Department Vendor Com20 munication Plan and Market Research Guide, 

21 instructions for interaction by acquisition pro22 gram managers with such entities to— 

23 ‘‘(i) prevent misinterpretation of ac24 quisition regulations; and 


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

2 boundaries, interacting with such entities 

3 with transparency. 

4 ‘‘(9) COMPETITION.—A plan regarding competi5 tion under subsection (d). 

6 ‘‘(10) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—A plan re7 garding the Department acquisition workforce under 

8 subsection (e). 

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

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

11 actions to ensure competition, or the option of competi12 tion, for major acquisition programs. Such plan may in13 clude assessments of the following measures in appro14 priate cases if such measures are cost effective: 

15 ‘‘(1) Competitive prototyping. 

16 ‘‘(2) Dual-sourcing. 

17 ‘‘(3) Unbundling of contracts. 

18 ‘‘(4) Funding of next-generation prototype sys19 tems or subsystems. 

20 ‘‘(5) Use of modular, open architectures to en21 able competition for upgrades. 

22 ‘‘(6) Acquisition of complete technical data 

23 packages. 

24 ‘‘(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem up25 grades. 


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

2 small businesses. 

3 ‘‘(9) Periodic system or program reviews to ad4 dress long-term competitive effects of program deci5 sions. 

6 ‘‘(e) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE PLAN.— 

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

8 required under subsection (a) shall also include a 

9 plan to address Department acquisition workforce 

10 accountability and talent management that identifies 

11 the acquisition workforce needs of each component 

12 performing acquisition functions and develops op13 tions for filling such needs with qualified individuals, 

14 including a cost-benefit analysis of contracting for 

15 acquisition assistance. 

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

17 acquisition workforce plan under this subsection 

18 shall address ways to— 

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

20 training, and retention of Department acquisi21 tion workforce personnel, including contracting 

22 officer’s representatives, in order to retain high23 ly qualified individuals who have experience in 

24 the acquisition life cycle, complex procurements, 

25 and management of large programs; 


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1 ‘‘(B) empower program managers to have 

2 the authority to manage their programs in an 

3 accountable and transparent manner as such 

4 managers work with the acquisition workforce; 

5 ‘‘(C) prevent duplication within Depart6 ment acquisition workforce training and certifi7 cation requirements through leveraging already8 existing training within the Federal Govern9 ment, academic community, or private industry; 

10 ‘‘(D) achieve integration and consistency 

11 with Government-wide training and accredita12 tion standards, acquisition training tools, and 

13 training facilities; 

14 ‘‘(E) designate the acquisition positions 

15 that will be necessary to support the Depart16 ment acquisition requirements, including in the 

17 fields of— 

18 ‘‘(i) program management; 

19 ‘‘(ii) systems engineering; 

20 ‘‘(iii) procurement, including con21 tracting; 

22 ‘‘(iv) test and evaluation; 

23 ‘‘(v) life cycle logistics; 

24 ‘‘(vi) cost estimating and program fi25 nancial management; and 


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1 ‘‘(vii) additional disciplines appro2 priate to Department mission needs; 

3 ‘‘(F) strengthen the performance of con4 tracting officers’ representatives (as defined in 

5 subpart 1.602–2 and subpart 2.101 of the Fed6 eral Acquisition Regulation), including by— 

7 ‘‘(i) assessing the extent to which 

8 such representatives are certified and re9 ceive training that is appropriate; 

10 ‘‘(ii) assessing what training is most 

11 effective with respect to the type and com12 plexity of assignment; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) implementing actions to improve 

14 training based on such assessments; and 

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

16 relevant investigators and auditors of the De17 partment to examine fraud in major acquisition 

18 programs, including identifying opportunities to 

19 leverage existing Government and private sector 

20 resources in coordination with the Inspector 

21 General of the Department. 

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

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

24 the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 

25 41, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’ 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 the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

11 ‘‘(3) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac12 tices’, with respect to acquisition, means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a knowledge-based approach to capa14 bility development that includes identifying and 

15 validating needs; 

16 ‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the 

17 most appropriate solution; 

18 ‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re19 quirements; 

20 ‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 

21 and schedules; 

22 ‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 

23 resources to requirements; 

24 ‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, 

25 and manufacturing maturity; 


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

2 specific accomplishments that demonstrate 

3 progress; 

4 ‘‘(H) adopting and executing standardized 

5 processes with known success across programs; 

6 ‘‘(I) establishing an adequate workforce 

7 that is qualified and sufficient to perform nec8 essary functions; and 

9 ‘‘(J) integrating into the mission and busi10 ness operations of the Department of Homeland 

11 Security the capabilities described in subpara12 graphs (A) through (I). 

13 ‘‘(4) 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 

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1 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man2 agement. 

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

4 ‘major acquisition program’ means a Department 

5 acquisition program that is estimated by the Sec6 retary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 

7 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 con8 stant dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW 

10 OF MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

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

12 acquisition strategy in accordance with section 836 of the 

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

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

15 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con16 duct a review of such plan within 180 days to analyze the 

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

18 (1) Complying with the requirements of such 

19 section 836. 

20 (2) Establishing clear connections between De21 partment of Homeland Security objectives and ac22 quisition (as such term is defined in such section) 

23 priorities. 

24 (3) Demonstrating that Department acquisition 

25 policy reflects program management best practices 


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1 (as such term is defined in such section) and stand2 ards. 

3 (4) Ensuring competition or the option of com4 petition for major acquisition programs (as such 

5 term is defined in such section). 

6 (5) Considering potential cost savings through 

7 using already-existing technologies when developing 

8 acquisition program requirements. 

9 (6) Preventing duplication within Department 

10 acquisition workforce training requirements through 

11 leveraging already-existing training within the Fed12 eral Government, academic community, or private 

13 industry. 

14 (7) Providing incentives for acquisition program 

15 managers to reduce acquisition and procurement 

16 costs through the use of best practices and dis17 ciplined program management. 

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

19 United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

20 Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home22 land Security and Governmental Affairs and the Com23 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate a report on the 

24 review conducted under this section. Such report shall be 


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1 submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 

2 annex. 

Æ 


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