I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for congressional 

notification regarding major acquisition program breaches, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2017 

Mr. RUTHERFORD (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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing DHS Acqui5 sition Cost Growth Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC7 QUISITION PROGRAMS. 

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

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


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

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 836. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE4 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO5 GRAM BREACH. 

6 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEPARTMENT IN

7 EVENT OF BREACH.— 

8 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF BREACH.—If a 

10 breach occurs in a major acquisition program, 

11 the program manager for such program shall 

12 notify the Component Acquisition Executive for 

13 such program, the head of the component con14 cerned, the Executive Director of the Program 

15 Accountability and Risk Management division, 

16 the Under Secretary for Management, and the 

17 Deputy Secretary not later than 30 calendar 

18 days after such breach is identified. 

19 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION TO SECRETARY.—If a 

20 breach occurs in a major acquisition program 

21 and such breach results in a cost overrun great22 er than 15 percent, a schedule delay greater 

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

24 performance thresholds from the cost, schedule, 

25 or performance parameters specified in the 


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1 most recently approved acquisition program 

2 baseline for such program, the Component Ac3 quisition Executive for such program shall no4 tify the Secretary and the Inspector General of 

5 the Department not later than five business 

6 days after the Component Acquisition Executive 

7 for such program, the head of the component 

8 concerned, the Executive Director of the Pro9 gram Accountability and Risk Management Di10 vision, the Under Secretary for Management, 

11 and the Deputy Secretary are notified of the 

12 breach pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(2) REMEDIATION PLAN AND ROOT CAUSE

14 ANALYSIS.— 

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

16 a major acquisition program, the program man17 ager for such program shall submit to the head 

18 of the component concerned, the Executive Di19 rector of the Program Accountability and Risk 

20 Management division, and the Under Secretary 

21 for Management in writing a remediation plan 

22 and root cause analysis relating to such breach 

23 and program. Such plan and analysis shall be 

24 submitted at a date established at the discretion 

25 of the Under Secretary for Management. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—The remedi2 ation plan required under this subparagraph 

3 (A) shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) explain the circumstances of the 

5 breach at issue; 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide prior cost estimating in7 formation; 

8 ‘‘(iii) include a root cause analysis 

9 that determines the underlying cause or 

10 causes of shortcomings in cost, schedule, 

11 or performance of the major acquisition 

12 program with respect to which such breach 

13 has occurred, including the role, if any, 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(I) unrealistic performance ex16 pectations; 

17 ‘‘(II) unrealistic baseline esti18 mates for cost or schedule or changes 

19 in program requirements; 

20 ‘‘(III) immature technologies or 

21 excessive manufacturing or integra22 tion risk; 

23 ‘‘(IV) unanticipated design, engi24 neering, manufacturing, or technology 


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1 integration issues arising during pro2 gram performance; 

3 ‘‘(V) changes to the scope of such 

4 program; 

5 ‘‘(VI) inadequate program fund6 ing or changes in planned out-year 

7 funding from one 5-year funding plan 

8 to the next 5-year funding plan as 

9 outlined in the Future Years Home10 land Security Program required under 

11 section 874; 

12 ‘‘(VII) legislative, legal, or regu13 latory changes; or 

14 ‘‘(VIII) inadequate program 

15 management personnel, including lack 

16 of sufficient number of staff, training, 

17 credentials, certifications, or use of 

18 best practices; 

19 ‘‘(iv) propose corrective action to ad20 dress cost growth, schedule delays, or per21 formance issues; 

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

23 proposed corrective action is recommended; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(vi) in coordination with the Compo2 nent Acquisition Executive for such pro3 gram, discuss all options considered, in4 cluding the estimated impact on cost, 

5 schedule, or performance of such program 

6 if no changes are made to current require7 ments, the estimated cost of such program 

8 if requirements are modified, and the ex9 tent to which funding from other programs 

10 will need to be reduced to cover the cost 

11 growth of such program. 

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

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

14 for Management shall review the remediation 

15 plan required under paragraph (2). The Under 

16 Secretary may approve such plan or provide an 

17 alternative proposed corrective action within 30 

18 days of the submission of such plan under such 

19 paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not 

21 later than 30 days after the review required 

22 under subparagraph (A) is completed, the 

23 Under Secretary for Management shall submit 

24 to the congressional homeland security commit25 tees the following: 


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

2 and the root cause analysis required under 

3 paragraph (2). 

4 ‘‘(ii) A statement describing the cor5 rective action or actions that have occurred 

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

7 major acquisition program at issue, with a 

8 justification for such action or actions. 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONGRESSIONAL

10 NOTIFICATION IF BREACH OCCURS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—If a notifi12 cation to the Secretary is made under subsection 

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

14 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

15 notify the congressional homeland security commit16 tees of such breach in the next quarterly Com17 prehensive Acquisition Status Report, as required by 

18 title I of division D of the Consolidated Appropria19 tions Act, 2016, (Public Law 114–113) following re20 ceipt by the Under Secretary of notification under 

21 such subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) SIGNIFICANT VARIANCES IN COSTS OR

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

24 20 percent or a likely delay is greater than 12 

25 months from the costs and schedule specified in the 


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1 acquisition program baseline for a major acquisition 

2 program, the Under Secretary for Management shall 

3 include in the notification required in paragraph (1) 

4 a written certification, with supporting explanation, 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(A) such program is essential to the ac7 complishment of the Department’s mission; 

8 ‘‘(B) there are no alternatives to the capa9 bility or asset provided by such program that 

10 will provide equal or greater capability in both 

11 a more cost-effective and timely manner; 

12 ‘‘(C) the new acquisition schedule and esti13 mates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) the management structure for such 

16 program is adequate to manage and control 

17 cost, schedule, and performance. 

18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

20 the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 

21 41, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(2) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acqui23 sition program’ means the process by which the De24 partment acquires, with any appropriated amounts, 

25 by contract for purchase or lease, property or servVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Mar 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1294.IH H1294

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1 ices (including construction) that support the mis2 sions and goals of the Department. 

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

4 term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 

5 an acquisition program, means a summary of the 

6 cost, schedule, and performance parameters, ex7 pressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, 

8 which must be met in order to accomplish the goals 

9 of such program. 

10 ‘‘(4) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac11 tices’, with respect to acquisition, means a knowl12 edge-based approach to capability development that 

13 includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) identifying and validating needs; 

15 ‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the 

16 most appropriate solution; 

17 ‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re18 quirements; 

19 ‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 

20 and schedules; 

21 ‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 

22 resources to requirements; 

23 ‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, 

24 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 the capabilities described 

10 in subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the De11 partment’s mission and business operations. 

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

13 to a major acquisition program, means a failure to 

14 meet any cost, schedule, or performance threshold 

15 specified in the most recently approved acquisition 

16 program baseline. 

17 ‘‘(6) CONGRESSIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY

18 COMMITTEES.—The term ‘congressional homeland 

19 security committees’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 of the House of Representatives and the Com22 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern23 mental Affairs of the Senate; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives and of the Sen3 ate. 

4 ‘‘(7) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

5 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

6 the senior acquisition official within a component 

7 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

8 for Management, in consultation with the component 

9 head, with authority and responsibility for leading a 

10 process and staff to provide acquisition and program 

11 management oversight, policy, and guidance to en12 sure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level pol13 icy requirements are fulfilled, including compliance 

14 with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regula15 tion, and Department acquisition management direc16 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man17 agement. 

18 ‘‘(8) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term 

19 ‘major acquisition program’ means a Department 

20 acquisition program that is estimated by the Sec21 retary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 

22 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 con23 stant dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

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

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


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 835 the following new item: 

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

Æ 


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