113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4228 

AN ACT 

To require the Department of Homeland Security to improve 

discipline, accountability, and transparency in acquisition 

program management. 

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 ‘‘DHS Acquisition Ac3 countability and Efficiency Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. 

Sec. 5. Prohibition on additional authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE I—ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES 

Sec. 101. Acquisition authorities for Under Secretary for Management. 

Sec. 102. Acquisition authorities for Chief Financial Officer. 

Sec. 103. Acquisition authorities for Chief Information Officer. 

Sec. 104. Chief Procurement Officer. 

Sec. 105. Requirements to ensure greater accountability for acquisition programs. 

TITLE II—ACQUISITION PROGRAM MANAGEMENT DISCIPLINE 

Sec. 201. Acquisition Review Board. 

Sec. 202. Requirements to reduce duplication in acquisition programs. 

Sec. 203. Government Accountability Office review of Board and of requirements to reduce duplication in acquisition programs. 

Sec. 204. Excluded Party List System waivers. 

Sec. 205. Inspector General oversight of suspension and debarment. 

TITLE III—ACQUISITION PROGRAM MANAGEMENT 

ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 301. Congressional notification and other requirements for major acquisition program breach. 

Sec. 302. Multiyear acquisition strategy. 

Sec. 303. Acquisition reports. 

Sec. 304. Government Accountability Office review of multiyear acquisition 

strategy. 

Sec. 305. Office of Inspector General report. 

6 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Department of Homeland Security does 

9 not consistently implement its policies and Govern-
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1 ment and private sector best practices for acquisi2 tions and procurement. 

3 (2) It is difficult to determine the cost of the 

4 Department’s major acquisition programs because 

5 the Department has not provided consistent, com6 parable updates on an annual basis. As of January 

7 2014, the Department identified over 80 major ac8 quisition programs costing over $300,000,000, and, 

9 based on 2011, estimates it plans to spend about 

10 $170,000,000,000 in the future on major acquisition 

11 programs. 

12 (3) Since 2005, the Government Accountability 

13 Office has placed Department acquisition manage14 ment activities on its ‘‘High-Risk List’’, which iden15 tifies Government operations that have greater sus16 ceptibility to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanage17 ment or greater need for transformation to address 

18 economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. 

19 (4) While the Department has taken actions to 

20 address some high-risk acquisition program manage21 ment issues, many programs continue to experience 

22 challenges with funding instability, workforce short23 falls, reliable cost estimates, realistic schedules, 

24 agreed-upon baseline objectives, and consistent and 
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1 reliable data needed to accurately measure program 

2 performance. 

3 (5) Of the 77 Department major acquisition 

4 programs in 2011, the Government Accountability 

5 Office identified 42 programs that experienced cost 

6 growth, schedule slips, or both. The Department re7 ported that the magnitude of the cost growth for 16 

8 of the 42 programs, which increased from almost 

9 $20,000,000,000 to over $50,000,000,000 in 2011, 

10 had an aggregate increase of 166 percent. 

11 (6) In 2012, the Government Accountability Of12 fice found that only 20 of 63 programs had Depart13 ment-approved acquisition program baselines. The 

14 Government Accountability Office also reported that 

15 the Department planned to spend more than $105 

16 billion on programs lacking acquisition program 

17 baselines. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

20 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

22 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

23 means the Department of Homeland Security. 
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1 (3) 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 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

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

13 the meaning provided in section 131 of title 41, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac16 tices’’, with respect to acquisition, means a knowl17 edge-based approach to capability development that 

18 includes identifying and validating needs; assessing 

19 alternatives to select the most appropriate solution; 

20 clearly establishing well-defined requirements; devel21 oping realistic cost assessments and schedules; se22 curing stable funding that matches resources to re23 quirements; demonstrating technology, design, and 

24 manufacturing maturity; using milestones and exit 

25 criteria or specific accomplishments that dem-
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1 onstrate progress; adopting and executing standard2 ized processes with known success across programs; 

3 establishing an adequate workforce that is qualified 

4 and sufficient to perform necessary functions; and 

5 integrating these capabilities into the Department’s 

6 mission and business operations. 

7 (c) AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS IN HOMELAND

8 SECURITY ACT OF 2002.—Section 2 of the Homeland Se9 curity Act of 2002 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘In this Act,’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

11 IN GENERAL.—In this Act,’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

15 subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(B) The term ‘congressional homeland security 

17 committees’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 of the House of Representatives and the Com20 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern21 mental Affairs of the Senate; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Appropriations of 

23 the House of Representatives and of the Sen24 ate, where appropriate.’’; and 
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION-RELATED DEFINITIONS.—In this 

4 Act, the following definitions apply: 

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

6 the meaning provided in section 131 of title 41, 

7 United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(2) ACQUISITION DECISION AUTHORITY.—The 

9 term ‘acquisition decision authority’ means the au10 thority, held by the Secretary acting through the 

11 Deputy Secretary or Under Secretary for Manage12 ment— 

13 ‘‘(A) to ensure compliance with Federal 

14 law, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and 

15 Department acquisition management directives; 

16 ‘‘(B) to review (including approving, halt17 ing, modifying, or cancelling) an acquisition 

18 program through the life cycle of the program; 

19 ‘‘(C) to ensure that program managers 

20 have the resources necessary to successfully 

21 execute an approved acquisition program; and 

22 ‘‘(D) to ensure good program management 

23 of cost, schedule, risk, and system performance 

24 of the acquisition, including assessing acquisi-
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1 tion program baseline breaches and directing 

2 any corrective action for such breaches. 

3 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITION DECISION EVENT.—The term 

4 ‘acquisition decision event’, with respect to an in5 vestment or acquisition program, means a predeter6 mined point within the acquisition phases of the in7 vestment or acquisition program at which the invest8 ment or acquisition program will undergo a review 

9 prior to commencement of the next phase. 

10 ‘‘(4) ACQUISITION DECISION MEMORANDUM.— 

11 The term ‘acquisition decision memorandum’, with 

12 respect to an acquisition, means the official acquisi13 tion decision event record that includes a docu14 mented record of decisions, exit criteria, and as15 signed actions for the acquisition as determined by 

16 the person exercising acquisition decision authority 

17 for the acquisition. 

18 ‘‘(5) ACQUISITION PROGRAM BASELINE.—The 

19 term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 

20 an acquisition program, means a summary of the 

21 cost, schedule, and performance parameters, ex22 pressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, 

23 which must be met in order to accomplish the goals 

24 of the program. 
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1 ‘‘(6) CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—The 

2 term ‘capability development plan’, with respect to a 

3 proposed acquisition, means the document that the 

4 Acquisition Review Board approves for the first ac5 quisition decision event related to validating the 

6 need of a proposed acquisition. 

7 ‘‘(7) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

8 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

9 the senior acquisition official within a Component 

10 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

11 for Management, in consultation with the Compo12 nent head, with authority and responsibility for lead13 ing a process and staff to provide acquisition and 

14 program management oversight, policy, and guid15 ance to ensure that statutory, regulatory, and higher 

16 level policy requirements are fulfilled, including com17 pliance with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition 

18 Regulation, and Department acquisition manage19 ment directives established by the Under Secretary 

20 for Management. 

21 ‘‘(8) LIFE CYCLE COST.—The term ‘life cycle 

22 cost’, with respect to an acquisition program, means 

23 all costs associated with research, development, pro24 curement, operation, integrated logistics support, 

25 and disposal under the program, including sup-
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1 porting infrastructure that plans, manages, and exe2 cutes the program over its full life, and costs of com3 mon support items incurred as a result of the pro4 gram. 

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

6 ‘major acquisition program’ means a Department 

7 acquisition program that is estimated by the Sec8 retary to require an eventual total expenditure of at 

9 least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2014 con10 stant dollars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF 

12 APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 No additional funds are authorized to be appro14 priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

15 by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be car16 ried out using amounts otherwise available for such pur17 poses. 

18 TITLE I—ACQUISITION 

19 AUTHORITIES 

20 SEC. 101. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR UNDER SEC21 RETARY FOR MANAGEMENT. 

22 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

23 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended— 
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1 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘Procure2 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘Acquisition and procurement’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) ACQUISITION AND RELATED RESPONSIBIL6 ITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

8 1702(b) of title 41, United States Code, the Under 

9 Secretary for Management is the Chief Acquisition 

10 Officer of the Department. As Chief Acquisition Of11 ficer, the Under Secretary shall have the authority 

12 and perform the functions as specified in section 

13 1702(b) of such title, and perform all other func14 tions and responsibilities delegated by the Secretary 

15 or described in this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(2) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—In addi17 tion to the authority and functions specified in sec18 tion 1702(b) of title 41, United States Code, the du19 ties and responsibilities of the Under Secretary for 

20 Management related to acquisition include the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(A) Advising the Secretary regarding ac23 quisition management activities, taking into ac24 count risks of failure to achieve cost, schedule, 

25 or performance parameters, to ensure that the 
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1 Department achieves its mission through the 

2 adoption of widely accepted program manage3 ment best practices and standards. 

4 ‘‘(B) Exercising the acquisition decision 

5 authority to approve, halt, modify (including 

6 the rescission of approvals of program mile7 stones), or cancel major acquisition programs, 

8 unless the Under Secretary delegates the au9 thority to a Component Acquisition Executive 

10 pursuant to paragraph (3). 

11 ‘‘(C) Establishing policies for acquisition 

12 that implement an approach that takes into ac13 count risks of failure to achieve cost, schedule, 

14 or performance parameters that all Components 

15 of the Department shall comply with, including 

16 outlining relevant authorities for program man17 agers to effectively manage acquisition pro18 grams. 

19 ‘‘(D) Ensuring that each major acquisition 

20 program has a Department-approved acquisi21 tion program baseline. 

22 ‘‘(E) Ensuring that the heads of Compo23 nents and Component Acquisition Executives 

24 comply with Federal law, the Federal Acquisi-
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1 tion Regulation, and Department acquisition 

2 management directives. 

3 ‘‘(F) Ensuring that grants and financial 

4 assistance are provided only to individuals and 

5 organizations that are not suspended or 

6 debarred. 

7 ‘‘(G) Distributing guidance throughout the 

8 Department to ensure that contractors involved 

9 in acquisitions, particularly companies that ac10 cess the Department’s information systems and 

11 technologies, adhere to internal cybersecurity 

12 policies established by the Department of 

13 Homeland Security. 

14 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF ACQUISITION DECISION

15 AUTHORITY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) LEVEL 3 ACQUISITIONS.—The Under 

17 Secretary for Management may delegate acqui18 sition decision authority in writing to the rel19 evant Component Acquisition Executive for an 

20 acquisition program that has a life cycle cost 

21 estimate of less than $300,000,000. 

22 ‘‘(B) LEVEL 2 ACQUISITIONS.—The Under 

23 Secretary for Management may delegate acqui24 sition decision authority in writing to the rel25 evant Component Acquisition Executive for a 
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1 major acquisition program that has a life cycle 

2 cost estimate of at least $300,000,000 but not 

3 more than $1,000,000,000 if all of the following 

4 requirements are met: 

5 ‘‘(i) The Component concerned pos6 sesses working policies, processes, and pro7 cedures that are consistent with Depart8 ment-level acquisition policy. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The Component Acquisition Ex10 ecutive has adequate, experienced, dedi11 cated program management professional 

12 staff commensurate with the size of the 

13 delegated portfolio. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Each major acquisition program 

15 concerned has written documentation 

16 showing that it has a Department-ap17 proved acquisition program baseline and it 

18 is meeting agreed-upon cost, schedule, and 

19 performance thresholds. 

20 ‘‘(4) EXCLUDED PARTIES LIST SYSTEM CON21 SULTATION.—The Under Secretary for Management 

22 shall require that all Department contracting and 

23 procurement officials consult the Excluded Parties 

24 List System (or successor system) as maintained by 

25 the General Services Administration prior to award-
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1 ing a contract or grant or entering into other trans2 actions to ascertain whether the selected contractor 

3 is excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain 

4 subcontracts, and certain types of Federal financial 

5 and non-financial assistance and benefits. 

6 ‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO UNDER SECRETARY

7 FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.—Nothing in this 

8 subsection shall diminish the authority granted to 

9 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology 

10 under this Act. The Under Secretary for Manage11 ment and the Under Secretary for Science and 

12 Technology shall cooperate in matters related to the 

13 coordination of acquisitions across the Department 

14 so that investments of the Directorate of Science 

15 and Technology can support current and future re16 quirements of the Components.’’. 

17 SEC. 102. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR CHIEF FINAN18 CIAL OFFICER. 

19 Section 702 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

20 (6 U.S.C. 342) is amended by adding at the end of sub21 section (b)(2) the following new subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(J) Notwithstanding section 902 of title 

23 31, United States Code, provide leadership over 

24 financial management policy and programs for 

25 the Department as they relate to the Depart-
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1 ment’s acquisitions programs, in consultation 

2 with the Under Secretary for Management.’’. 

3 SEC. 103. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR CHIEF INFORMA4 TION OFFICER. 

5 Section 703 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

6 (6 U.S.C. 343) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) ACQUISITION RESPONSIBILITIES.—Notwith9 standing section 11315 of title 40, United States Code, 

10 the acquisition responsibilities of the Chief Information 

11 Officer, in consultation with the Under Secretary for Man12 agement, shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) Serve as the lead technical authority for 

14 information technology programs and establish de15 partmental information technology priorities, poli16 cies, processes, standards, guidelines, and proce17 dures. 

18 ‘‘(2) Oversee the management of the Homeland 

19 Security Enterprise Architecture and ensure that, 

20 before each acquisition decision event, approved in21 formation technology acquisitions comply with de22 partmental information technology management 

23 processes, technical requirements, and the Homeland 

24 Security Enterprise Architecture, and in any case in 

25 which information technology acquisitions do not 
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1 comply with Departmental management directives, 

2 make recommendations to the Acquisition Review 

3 Board regarding such noncompliance. 

4 ‘‘(3) Be responsible for providing recommenda5 tions to the Acquisition Review Board established in 

6 section 836 of this Act on information technology 

7 programs, and be responsible for developing infor8 mation technology acquisition strategic guidance.’’. 

9 SEC. 104. CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu11 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

12 adding at the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 708. CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is a Chief Procurement 

15 Officer of the Department, who shall report directly to the 

16 Under Secretary for Management. The Chief Procurement 

17 Officer is the senior procurement executive for purposes 

18 of section 1702(c) of title 41, United States Code, and 

19 shall perform procurement functions as specified in such 

20 section. The Chief Procurement Officer also shall perform 

21 other functions and responsibilities set forth in this section 

22 and as may be assigned by the Under Secretary for Man23 agement. 

24 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Chief Procurement 

25 Officer shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) exercise leadership and authority to the ex2 tent delegated by the Under Secretary for Manage3 ment over the Department procurement function; 

4 ‘‘(2) issue acquisition regulations and policies; 

5 ‘‘(3) account for the integrity, performance, and 

6 oversight of Department procurement and con7 tracting functions and be responsible for ensuring 

8 that a procurement’s contracting strategy and plans 

9 are consistent with the intent and direction of the 

10 Acquisition Review Board established in section 836 

11 of this Act; 

12 ‘‘(4) serve as the Department’s business advisor 

13 and main liaison to industry on procurement-related 

14 issues by providing advice on industry engagement, 

15 acquisition policy, oversight of the procurement 

16 function, and development of the acquisition work17 force; 

18 ‘‘(5) oversee a centralized certification and 

19 training program, in consultation with the Under 

20 Secretary for Management, for the entire Depart21 ment acquisition workforce while using, to the great22 est extent practicable, best practices and acquisitions 

23 training opportunities already in existence within the 

24 Federal Government, the private sector, or univer25 sities and colleges, as appropriate, and including 
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1 training on how best to identify actions that warrant 

2 referrals for suspension or debarment; 

3 ‘‘(6) delegate or retain contracting authority, as 

4 appropriate, except as provided in section 701(d)(3) 

5 of this Act; 

6 ‘‘(7) participate in the selection, and periodic 

7 performance review, of the head of each contracting 

8 activity within the Department; 

9 ‘‘(8) collect baseline data and establish perform10 ance measures on the impact of strategic sourcing 

11 initiatives on the private sector, including, in par12 ticular, small businesses; and 

13 ‘‘(9) ensure that a fair proportion (as defined 

14 pursuant to the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 

15 et seq.)) of Federal contract and subcontract dollars 

16 are awarded to small businesses, maximize opportu17 nities for small business participation, and ensure, to 

18 the extent practicable, small businesses that achieve 

19 qualified vendor status for security-related tech20 nologies are provided an opportunity to compete for 

21 contracts for such technology.’’. 

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

23 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

24 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by adding after the item 

25 relating to section 707 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 708. Chief Procurement Officer.’’. 
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1 SEC. 105. REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE GREATER ACCOUNT2 ABILITY FOR ACQUISITION PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu4 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is further amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 709. REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE GREATER AC7 COUNTABILITY FOR ACQUISITION PRO8 GRAMS. 

9 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH MECHANISM.— 

10 Within the Management Directorate, the Under Secretary 

11 for Management shall establish a mechanism to prioritize 

12 improving the accountability, standardization, and trans13 parency of major acquisition programs of the Department 

14 in order to increase opportunities for effectiveness and ef15 ficiencies and to serve as the central oversight function 

16 of all Department acquisition programs. 

17 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF EXECUTIVE DIREC18 TOR.—The Under Secretary for Management shall des19 ignate an Executive Director to oversee the requirement 

20 under subsection (a). The Executive Director shall report 

21 directly to the Under Secretary and shall carry out the 

22 following responsibilities: 

23 ‘‘(1) Monitor the performance of Department 

24 acquisition programs regularly between acquisition 

25 decision events to identify problems with cost, per26 formance, or schedule that Components may need to 
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1 address to prevent cost overruns, performance 

2 issues, or schedule delays. 

3 ‘‘(2) Assist the Chief Acquisition Officer in 

4 managing the Department’s acquisition portfolio. 

5 ‘‘(3) Conduct oversight of individual acquisition 

6 programs to implement Department acquisition pro7 gram policy, procedures, and guidance with a pri8 ority on ensuring the data it collects and maintains 

9 from its Components is accurate and reliable. 

10 ‘‘(4) Serve as the focal point within the Depart11 ment for policy, process, and procedure regarding 

12 life cycle cost estimating and analysis. 

13 ‘‘(5) Serve as the focal point and coordinator 

14 for the acquisition life cycle review process and as 

15 the executive secretariat for the Acquisition Review 

16 Board established under section 836 of this Act. 

17 ‘‘(6) Advise the persons having acquisition deci18 sion authority in making acquisition decisions con19 sistent with all applicable laws and in establishing 

20 clear lines of authority, accountability, and responsi21 bility for acquisition decisionmaking within the De22 partment. 

23 ‘‘(7) Engage in the strategic planning and per24 formance evaluation process required under section 

25 306 of title 5, United States Code, and sections 
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1 1105(a)(28), 1115, 1116, and 9703 of title 31, 

2 United States Code, by supporting the Chief Pro3 curement Officer in developing strategies and spe4 cific plans for hiring, training, and professional de5 velopment in order to rectify any deficiency within 

6 the Department’s acquisition workforce. 

7 ‘‘(8) Oversee the Component Acquisition Execu8 tive structure to ensure it has sufficient capabilities 

9 and complies with Department policies. 

10 ‘‘(9) Develop standardized certification stand11 ards in consultation with the Component Acquisition 

12 Executives for all acquisition program managers. 

13 ‘‘(10) In the event that a program manager’s 

14 certification or actions need review for purposes of 

15 promotion or removal, provide input, in consultation 

16 with the relevant Component Acquisition Executive, 

17 into the relevant program manager’s performance 

18 evaluation, and report positive or negative experi19 ences to the relevant certifying authority. 

20 ‘‘(11) Provide technical support and assistance 

21 to Department acquisitions and acquisition per22 sonnel in conjunction with the Chief Procurement 

23 Officer. 

24 ‘‘(12) Prepare the Department’s Comprehensive 

25 Acquisition Status Report, as required by the De-
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1 partment of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 

2 2013 (division D of Public Law 113–6; 127 Stat. 

3 343) and section 840 of this Act, and make such re4 port available to congressional homeland security 

5 committees. 

6 ‘‘(13) Prepare the Department’s Quarterly Pro7 gram Accountability Report as required by section 

8 840 of this Act, and make such report available to 

9 the congressional homeland security committees. 

10 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPONENTS.—Each 

11 head of a Component shall comply with Federal law, the 

12 Federal Acquisition Regulation, and Department acquisi13 tion management directives established by the Under Sec14 retary for Management. For each major acquisition pro15 gram, each head of a Component shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) establish a complete life cycle cost estimate 

17 with supporting documentation, including an acquisi18 tion program baseline; 

19 ‘‘(2) verify each life cycle cost estimate against 

20 independent cost estimates, and reconcile any dif21 ferences; 

22 ‘‘(3) complete a cost-benefit analysis with sup23 porting documentation; 

24 ‘‘(4) develop and maintain a schedule that is 

25 consistent with scheduling best practices as identi-
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1 fied by the Comptroller General of the United 

2 States, including, in appropriate cases, an integrated 

3 master schedule; and 

4 ‘‘(5) ensure that all acquisition program infor5 mation provided by the Component is complete, ac6 curate, timely, and valid.’’. 

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

8 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

9 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

10 the item relating to section 708 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 709. Requirements to ensure greater accountability for acquisition programs.’’. 

11 TITLE II—ACQUISITION PRO12 GRAM MANAGEMENT DIS13 CIPLINE 

14 SEC. 201. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD. 

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

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

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 836. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an 

20 Acquisition Review Board (in this section referred to as 

21 the ‘Board’) to strengthen accountability and uniformity 

22 within the Department acquisition review process, review 

23 major acquisition programs, and review the use of best 

24 practices. 
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1 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The Deputy Secretary or Under 

2 Secretary for Management shall serve as chair of the 

3 Board. The Secretary shall also ensure participation by 

4 other relevant Department officials, including at least two 

5 Component heads or their designees, as permanent mem6 bers of the Board. 

7 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet every time 

8 a major acquisition program needs authorization to pro9 ceed from acquisition decision events through the acquisi10 tion life cycle and to consider any major acquisition pro11 gram in breach as necessary. The Board may also be con12 vened for non-major acquisitions that are deemed high13 risk by the Executive Director referred to in section 

14 709(b) of this Act. The Board shall also meet regularly 

15 for purposes of ensuring all acquisitions processes proceed 

16 in a timely fashion to achieve mission readiness. 

17 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 

18 Board are as follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) Determine whether a proposed acquisition 

20 has met the requirements of key phases of the acqui21 sition life cycle framework and is able to proceed to 

22 the next phase and eventual full production and de23 ployment. 
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1 ‘‘(2) Oversee executable business strategy, re2 sources, management, accountability, and alignment 

3 to strategic initiatives. 

4 ‘‘(3) Support the person with acquisition deci5 sion authority for an acquisition in determining the 

6 appropriate direction for the acquisition at key ac7 quisition decision events. 

8 ‘‘(4) Conduct systematic reviews of acquisitions 

9 to ensure that they are progressing in compliance 

10 with the approved documents for their current acqui11 sition phase. 

12 ‘‘(5) Validate the acquisition documents of each 

13 major acquisition program, including the acquisition 

14 program baseline, to ensure the reliability of under15 lying data. 

16 ‘‘(6) Ensure that practices are adopted and im17 plemented to require consideration of trade-offs 

18 among cost, schedule, and performance objectives as 

19 part of the process for developing requirements for 

20 major acquisition programs prior to the initiation of 

21 the capability development plan, second acquisition 

22 decision event, including, at a minimum, the fol23 lowing practices: 

24 ‘‘(A) Department officials responsible for 

25 acquisition, budget, and cost estimating func-
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1 tions are provided with the appropriate oppor2 tunity to develop estimates and raise cost and 

3 schedule matters before performance objectives 

4 are established for capabilities when feasible. 

5 ‘‘(B) Full consideration of possible trade6 offs among cost, schedule, and performance ob7 jectives for each alternative is considered. 

8 ‘‘(e) ACQUISITION PROGRAM BASELINE REPORT RE9 QUIREMENT.—If the person exercising acquisition decision 

10 authority over a major acquisition program approves the 

11 program to proceed beyond the acquisition decision event 

12 requiring a capability development plan before it has a De13 partment-approved acquisition program baseline, then the 

14 Under Secretary for Management shall create and approve 

15 an acquisition program baseline report on the decision, 

16 and the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) within seven days after an acquisition deci18 sion memorandum is signed, notify in writing the 

19 congressional homeland security committees of such 

20 decision; and 

21 ‘‘(2) within 60 days after the acquisition deci22 sion memorandum is signed, submit a report to such 

23 committees stating the rationale for the decision and 

24 a plan of action to require an acquisition program 

25 baseline for the program. 
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1 ‘‘(f) BEST PRACTICES DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘best practices’ has the meaning provided in sec3 tion 4(b) of the DHS Acquisition Accountability and Effi4 ciency Act.’’. 

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

6 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

7 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

8 the item relating to section 835 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 836. Acquisition Review Board.’’. 

9 SEC. 202. REQUIREMENTS TO REDUCE DUPLICATION IN AC10 QUISITION PROGRAMS. 

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

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

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

14 section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 837. REQUIREMENTS TO REDUCE DUPLICATION IN 

16 ACQUISITION PROGRAMS. 

17 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH POLICIES.—In 

18 an effort to reduce duplication and inefficiency for all De19 partment investments, including major acquisition pro20 grams, the Deputy Secretary, in consultation with the 

21 Under Secretary for Management, shall establish Depart22 ment-wide policies to integrate all phases of the invest23 ment life cycle and help the Department identify, validate, 

24 and prioritize standards for common Component require25 ments for major acquisition program requirements in 
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1 order to increase opportunities for effectiveness and effi2 ciencies. The policies shall also include strategic alter3 natives for developing and facilitating a Department Com4 ponent-driven requirements process that includes over5 sight of a development test and evaluation capability; iden6 tification of priority gaps and overlaps in Department ca7 pability needs; and provision of feasible technical alter8 natives, including innovative commercially available alter9 natives, to meet capability needs. 

10 ‘‘(b) MECHANISMS TO CARRY OUT REQUIREMENT.— 

11 The Deputy Secretary, in consultation with the Under 

12 Secretary for Management, shall coordinate the actions 

13 necessary to carry out subsection (a), using such mecha14 nisms as considered necessary by the Secretary to help the 

15 Department reduce duplication and inefficiency for all De16 partment investments, including major acquisition pro17 grams. 

18 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—In coordinating the actions 

19 necessary to carry out subsection (a), the Deputy Sec20 retary shall consult with the Under Secretary for Manage21 ment, Component Acquisition Executives, and any other 

22 Department officials, including the Under Secretary for 

23 Science and Technology or his designee, with specific 

24 knowledge of Department or Component acquisition capa-
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1 bilities to prevent unnecessary duplication of require2 ments. 

3 ‘‘(d) ADVISORS.—The Deputy Secretary, in consulta4 tion with the Under Secretary for Management, shall seek 

5 and consider input within legal and ethical boundaries 

6 from members of Federal, State, local, and tribal govern7 ments, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector, as 

8 appropriate, on matters within their authority and exper9 tise in carrying out the Department’s mission. 

10 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS.—The Deputy Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Under Secretary for Management, shall meet 

12 at least quarterly and communicate with Components 

13 often to ensure that Components do not overlap or dupli14 cate spending or priorities on major investments and ac15 quisition programs within their areas of responsibility. 

16 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying out this sec17 tion, the responsibilities of the Deputy Secretary are as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) To review and validate the requirements 

20 documents of major investments and acquisition pro21 grams prior to acquisition decision events of the in22 vestments or programs. 

23 ‘‘(2) To ensure the requirements and scope of 

24 a major investment or acquisition program are sta25 ble, measurable, achievable, at an acceptable risk 
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1 level, and match the resources planned to be avail2 able. 

3 ‘‘(3) Before any entity of the Department 

4 issues a solicitation for a new contract, coordinate 

5 with other Department entities as appropriate to 

6 prevent duplication and inefficiency and— 

7 ‘‘(A) to implement portfolio reviews to 

8 identify common mission requirements and 

9 crosscutting opportunities among Components 

10 to harmonize investments and requirements and 

11 prevent overlap and duplication among Compo12 nents; and 

13 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, to stand14 ardize equipment purchases, streamline the ac15 quisition process, improve efficiencies, and con16 duct best practices for strategic sourcing. 

17 ‘‘(4) To ensure program managers of major in18 vestments and acquisition programs conduct anal19 yses, giving particular attention to factors such as 

20 cost, schedule, risk, performance, and operational ef21 ficiency in order to determine that programs work as 

22 intended within cost and budget expectations. 

23 ‘‘(5) To propose schedules for delivery of the 

24 operational capability needed to meet each Depart25 ment investment and major acquisition program. 
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1 ‘‘(g) BEST PRACTICES DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘best practices’ has the meaning provided in sec3 tion 4(b) of the DHS Acquisition Accountability and Effi4 ciency Act.’’. 

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

6 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

7 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

8 the item relating to section 836 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 837. Requirements to reduce duplication in acquisition programs.’’. 

9 SEC. 203. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW 

10 OF BOARD AND OF REQUIREMENTS TO RE11 DUCE DUPLICATION IN ACQUISITION PRO12 GRAMS. 

13 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

14 of the United States shall conduct a review of the effec15 tiveness of the Acquisition Review Board established 

16 under section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

17 (as added by section 201) and the requirements to reduce 

18 duplication in acquisition programs established under sec19 tion 837 of such Act (as added by section 202) in improv20 ing the Department’s acquisition management process. 

21 (b) SCOPE OF REPORT.—The review shall include the 

22 following: 

23 (1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

24 Department in increasing program management 

25 oversight, best practices and standards, and dis-
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1 cipline among the Components of the Department, 

2 including in working together and in preventing 

3 overlap and duplication. 

4 (2) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

5 Department in instilling program management dis6 cipline. 

7 (3) A statement of how regularly each major 

8 acquisition program is reviewed by the Board, how 

9 often the Board stops major acquisition programs 

10 from moving forward in the phases of the acquisition 

11 life cycle process, and the number of major acquisi12 tion programs that have been halted because of 

13 problems with operational effectiveness, schedule 

14 delays, or cost overruns. 

15 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

16 shall submit to the congressional homeland security com17 mittees a report on the review required by this section not 

18 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. The report shall be submitted in unclassified form 

20 but may include a classified annex. 

21 SEC. 204. EXCLUDED PARTY LIST SYSTEM WAIVERS. 

22 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide no23 tification to the congressional homeland security commit24 tees within five days after the issuance of a waiver by the 

25 Secretary of Federal requirements that an agency not en-
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1 gage in business with a contractor in the Excluded Party 

2 List System (or successor system) as maintained by the 

3 General Services Administration and an explanation for 

4 a finding by the Secretary that a compelling reason exists 

5 for this action. 

6 SEC. 205. INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT OF SUSPEN7 SION AND DEBARMENT. 

8 The Inspector General of the Department of Home9 land Security— 

10 (1) may audit decisions about grant and pro11 curement awards to identify instances where a con12 tract or grant was improperly awarded to a sus13 pended or debarred entity and whether corrective ac14 tions were taken to prevent recurrence; and 

15 (2) shall review the suspension and debarment 

16 program throughout the Department of Homeland 

17 Security to assess whether suspension and debar18 ment criteria are consistently applied throughout the 

19 Department and whether disparities exist in the ap20 plication of such criteria, particularly with respect to 

21 business size and categories. 
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1 TITLE III—ACQUISITION PRO2 GRAM MANAGEMENT AC3 COUNTABILITY AND TRANS4 PARENCY 

5 SEC. 301. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE6 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO7 GRAM BREACH. 

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

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

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

11 section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 838. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE13 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO14 GRAM BREACH. 

15 ‘‘(a) BREACH DEFINED.—The term ‘breach’, with re16 spect to a major acquisition program, means a failure to 

17 meet any cost, schedule, or performance parameter speci18 fied in the acquisition program baseline. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEPARTMENT IF

20 BREACH OCCURS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL

23 BREACH.—If a major acquisition program has a 

24 potential for a future breach, as determined by 

25 the program manager for that program, the 
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1 program manager shall notify the person exer2 cising acquisition decision authority for the pro3 gram. 

4 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF ACTUAL

5 BREACH.—If an actual breach occurs in a 

6 major acquisition program, the program man7 ager for that program shall notify the head of 

8 the Component concerned, the Component Ac9 quisition Executive for the program, the Execu10 tive Director referred to in section 709(b) of 

11 this Act, the Under Secretary for Management, 

12 and the Deputy Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION TO SECRETARY.—If a 

14 major acquisition program has an actual breach 

15 with a cost overrun greater than 20 percent or 

16 a schedule delay greater than 12 months from 

17 the costs or schedule set forth in the acquisition 

18 program baseline for the program, the Sec19 retary and the Inspector General of the Depart20 ment shall be notified not later than five busi21 ness days after the actual breach is identified. 

22 ‘‘(2) REMEDIATION PLAN AND ROOT CAUSE

23 ANALYSIS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an ac25 tual breach with a cost overrun greater than 15 
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1 percent or a schedule delay greater than 180 

2 days from the costs or schedule set forth in the 

3 acquisition program baseline, a remediation 

4 plan and root cause analysis is required, and 

5 the Under Secretary for Management or his 

6 designee shall establish a date for submission 

7 within the Department of a breach remediation 

8 plan and root cause analysis in accordance with 

9 this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—The remedi11 ation plan required under this subsection shall 

12 be submitted in writing to the head of the Com13 ponent concerned, the Executive Director re14 ferred to in section 709(b) of this Act, and the 

15 Under Secretary for Management. The plan 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) explain the circumstances of the 

18 breach; 

19 ‘‘(ii) provide prior cost estimating in20 formation; 

21 ‘‘(iii) propose corrective action to con22 trol cost growth, schedule delays, or per23 formance issues; 

24 ‘‘(iv) in coordination with Component 

25 Acquisition Executive, discuss all options 
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1 considered, including the estimated impact 

2 on cost, schedule, or performance of the 

3 program if no changes are made to current 

4 requirements, the estimated cost of the 

5 program if requirements are modified, and 

6 the extent to which funding from other 

7 programs will need to be reduced to cover 

8 the cost growth of the program; and 

9 ‘‘(v) explain the rationale for why the 

10 proposed corrective action is recommended. 

11 ‘‘(C) ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS.—The root 

12 cause analysis required under this subsection 

13 shall determine the underlying cause or causes 

14 of shortcomings in cost, schedule, or perform15 ance of the program, including the role, if any, 

16 of the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) Unrealistic performance expecta18 tions. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Unrealistic baseline estimates for 

20 cost or schedule or changes in program re21 quirements. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Immature technologies or exces23 sive manufacturing or integration risk. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Unanticipated design, engineer25 ing, manufacturing, or technology integra-
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1 tion issues arising during program per2 formance. 

3 ‘‘(v) Changes in procurement quan4 tities. 

5 ‘‘(vi) Inadequate program funding or 

6 changes in planned out-year funding from 

7 one five-year funding plan to the next five8 year funding plan as outlined in the Fu9 ture Years Homeland Security Program 

10 required under section 874 of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(vii) Legislative, legal, or regulatory 

12 changes. 

13 ‘‘(viii) Inadequate program manage14 ment personnel, including lack of training, 

15 credentials, certifications, or use of best 

16 practices. 

17 ‘‘(3) CORRECTION OF BREACH.—The Under 

18 Secretary for Management or his designee shall es19 tablish a date for submission within the Department 

20 of a program of corrective action that ensures that 

21 one of the following actions has occurred: 

22 ‘‘(A) The breach has been corrected and 

23 the program is again in compliance with the 

24 original acquisition program baseline param25 eters. 
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1 ‘‘(B) A revised acquisition program base2 line has been approved. 

3 ‘‘(C) The program has been halted or can4 celled. 

5 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CONGRESSIONAL

6 NOTIFICATION IF BREACH OCCURS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—If a notifi8 cation is made under subsection (b)(1)(B) for a 

9 breach in a major acquisition program with a cost 

10 overrun greater than 15 percent or a schedule delay 

11 greater than 180 days from the costs or schedule set 

12 forth in the acquisition program baseline, or with an 

13 anticipated failure for any key performance thresh14 old or parameter specified in the acquisition pro15 gram baseline, the Under Secretary for Management 

16 shall notify the congressional homeland security 

17 committees of the breach in the next quarterly Com18 prehensive Acquisition Status Report after the 

19 Under Secretary for Management receives the notifi20 cation from the program manager under subsection 

21 (b)(1)(B). 

22 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIAL 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 set forth 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 (c)(1) a writ4 ten certification, with supporting explanation, that— 

5 ‘‘(A) the acquisition is essential to the ac6 complishment of the Department’s mission; 

7 ‘‘(B) there are no alternatives to such ca8 pability or asset that will provide equal or 

9 greater capability in both a more cost-effective 

10 and timely manner; 

11 ‘‘(C) the new acquisition schedule and esti12 mates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(D) the management structure for the ac15 quisition program is adequate to manage and 

16 control performance, cost, and schedule. 

17 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

18 than 30 calendar days after submission to such com19 mittees of a breach notification under paragraph (1) 

20 of this section for a major acquisition program, the 

21 Under Secretary for Management shall submit to 

22 such committees the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) A copy of the remediation plan and 

24 the root cause analysis prepared under sub25 section (b)(2) for the program. 
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1 ‘‘(B) A statement describing the corrective 

2 action or actions that have occurred pursuant 

3 to subsection (b)(3) for the program, with a 

4 justification for the action or actions. 

5 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS IF BREACH OCCURS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON OBLIGATION OF

7 FUNDS.—During the 90-day period following sub8 mission under subsection (c)(3) of a remediation 

9 plan, root cause analysis, and statement of corrective 

10 actions with respect to a major acquisition program, 

11 the Under Secretary for Management shall submit a 

12 certification described in paragraph (2) of this sub13 section to the congressional homeland security com14 mittees. If the Under Secretary for Management 

15 does not submit such certification by the end of such 

16 90-day period, then funds appropriated to the major 

17 acquisition program shall not be obligated until the 

18 Under Secretary for Management submits such cer19 tification. 

20 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—For purposes of para21 graph (1), the certification described in this para22 graph is a certification that— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Department has adjusted or re24 structured the program in a manner that ad-
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1 dresses the root cause or causes of the cost 

2 growth in the program; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the Department has conducted a 

4 thorough review of the breached program’s ac5 quisition decision event approvals and the cur6 rent acquisition decision event approval for the 

7 breached program has been adjusted as nec8 essary to account for the restructured pro9 gram.’’. 

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

11 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

12 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

13 the item relating to section 837 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 838. Congressional notification and other requirements for major acquisition program breach.’’. 

14 SEC. 302. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (1) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle D of title VIII of 

17 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 

18 et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end the 

19 following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 839. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

21 ‘‘(a) MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY RE22 QUIRED.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

23 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to 

24 the appropriate homeland security committees a multiyear 
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1 acquisition strategy to guide the overall direction of the 

2 acquisitions of the Department while allowing flexibility 

3 to deal with ever-changing threats and risks and to help 

4 industry better understand, plan, and align resources to 

5 meet the future acquisition needs of the Department. The 

6 strategy shall be updated and included in each Future 

7 Years Homeland Security Program required under section 

8 874 of this Act. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy, 

10 the Secretary shall consult with others as the Secretary 

11 deems appropriate, including headquarters, Components, 

12 employees in the field, and when appropriate, individuals 

13 from industry and the academic community. 

14 ‘‘(c) FORM OF STRATEGY.—The report shall be sub15 mitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 

16 annex for any sensitive or classified information if nec17 essary. The Department also shall publish the plan in an 

18 unclassified format that is publicly available. 

19 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy shall 

20 include the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) PRIORITIZED LIST.—A systematic and in22 tegrated prioritized list developed by the Under Sec23 retary for Management or his designee in coordina24 tion with all of the Component Acquisition Execu25 tives of Department major acquisition programs that 
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1 Department and Component acquisition investments 

2 seek to address, that includes the expected security 

3 and economic benefit of the program or system and 

4 an analysis of how the security and economic benefit 

5 derived from the program or system will be meas6 ured. 

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

8 Department-wide inventory of investments and real 

9 property assets to help the Department plan, budg10 et, schedule, and acquire upgrades of its systems 

11 and equipment and plan for the acquisition and 

12 management of future systems and equipment. 

13 ‘‘(3) FUNDING GAPS.—A plan to address fund14 ing gaps between funding requirements for major ac15 quisition programs and known available resources in16 cluding, to the maximum extent practicable, ways of 

17 leveraging best practices to identify and eliminate 

18 overpayment for items to prevent wasteful pur19 chasing, achieve the greatest level of efficiency and 

20 cost savings by rationalizing purchases, aligning 

21 pricing for similar items, and utilizing purchase tim22 ing and economies of scale. 

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

24 identification of test, evaluation, modeling, and sim25 ulation capabilities that will be required to support 
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1 the acquisition of the technologies to meet the needs 

2 of the plan and ways to leverage to the greatest ex3 tent possible the emerging technology trends and re4 search and development trends within the public and 

5 private sectors and an identification of ways to en6 sure that the appropriate technology is acquired and 

7 integrated into the Department’s operating doctrine 

8 and procured in ways that improve mission perform9 ance. 

10 ‘‘(5) FOCUS ON FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS.—An as11 sessment of ways the Department can improve its 

12 ability to test and acquire innovative solutions to 

13 allow needed incentives and protections for appro14 priate risk-taking in order to meet its acquisition 

15 needs with resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to 

16 assure the Nation’s homeland security and facilitate 

17 trade. 

18 ‘‘(6) FOCUS ON INCENTIVES TO SAVE TAX19 PAYER DOLLARS.—An assessment of ways the De20 partment can develop incentives for program man21 agers and senior Department acquisition officials to 

22 prevent cost overruns, avoid schedule delays, and 

23 achieve cost savings in major acquisition programs. 

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

25 PROTESTS.—An assessment of ways the Department 
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1 can improve the acquisition process to minimize cost 

2 overruns in requirements development, procurement 

3 announcements, requests for proposals, evaluation of 

4 proposals, protests of decisions and awards and 

5 through the use of best practices as defined in sec6 tion 4(b) of the DHS Acquisition Accountability and 

7 Efficiency Act and lessons learned by the Depart8 ment and other Federal agencies. 

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

10 identification and assessment of ways to increase op11 portunities for communication and collaboration with 

12 industry, small and disadvantaged businesses, intra13 government entities, university centers of excellence, 

14 accredited certification and standards development 

15 organizations, and national laboratories to ensure 

16 that the Department understands the market for 

17 technologies, products, and innovation that is avail18 able to meet its mission needs to inform the require19 ments-setting process and before engaging in an ac20 quisition, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) methods designed especially to engage 

22 small and disadvantaged businesses and a cost23 benefit analysis of the tradeoffs that small and 

24 disadvantaged businesses provide, barriers to 

25 entry for small and disadvantaged businesses, 
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1 and unique requirements for small and dis2 advantaged businesses; and 

3 ‘‘(B) within the Department Vendor Com4 munication Plan and Market Research Guide, 

5 instructions for interaction by program man6 agers with such entities to prevent misinter7 pretation of acquisition regulations and to per8 mit freedom within legal and ethical boundaries 

9 for program managers to interact with such 

10 businesses with transparency. 

11 ‘‘(9) COMPETITION.—A plan regarding competi12 tion as described in subsection (e). 

13 ‘‘(10) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—A plan re14 garding the Department acquisition workforce as de15 scribed in subsection (f). 

16 ‘‘(11) FEASIBILITY OF WORKFORCE DEVELOP17 MENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM.—An assessment of 

18 the feasibility of conducting a pilot program to es19 tablish an acquisition workforce development fund as 

20 described in subsection (g). 

21 ‘‘(e) COMPETITION PLAN.—The strategy shall also 

22 include a plan (referred to in subsection (d)(9)) that shall 

23 address actions to ensure competition, or the option of 

24 competition, for major acquisition programs. The plan 
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1 may include assessments of the following measures in ap2 propriate cases if such measures are cost effective: 

3 ‘‘(1) Competitive prototyping. 

4 ‘‘(2) Dual-sourcing. 

5 ‘‘(3) Unbundling of contracts. 

6 ‘‘(4) Funding of next-generation prototype sys7 tems or subsystems. 

8 ‘‘(5) Use of modular, open architectures to en9 able competition for upgrades. 

10 ‘‘(6) Acquisition of complete technical data 

11 packages. 

12 ‘‘(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem up13 grades. 

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

15 small businesses. 

16 ‘‘(9) Periodic system or program reviews to ad17 dress long-term competitive effects of program deci18 sions. 

19 ‘‘(f) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE PLAN.— 

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

21 shall also include a plan (referred to in subsection 

22 (d)(10)) to address Department acquisition work23 force accountability and talent management that 

24 identifies the acquisition workforce needs of each 

25 Component performing acquisition functions and de-
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1 velops options for filling those needs with qualified 

2 individuals, including a cost-benefit analysis of con3 tracting for acquisition assistance. 

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

5 acquisition workforce plan 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 that 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 they 

16 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 officer’s 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 con20 tracting officer’s representatives are cer21 tified and receive training that is appro22 priate; 

23 ‘‘(ii) determining what training is 

24 most effective with respect to the type and 

25 complexity of assignment; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) implementing actions to improve 

2 training based on such assessment; and 

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

4 relevant investigators and auditors to examine 

5 fraud in major acquisition programs, including 

6 identifying opportunities to leverage existing 

7 Government and private sector resources in co8 ordination with the Inspector General of the 

9 Department. 

10 ‘‘(g) FEASIBILITY OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

11 FUND PILOT PROGRAM.—The strategy shall also include 

12 an assessment (referred to in subsection (d)(11)) of the 

13 feasibility of conducting a pilot program to establish a 

14 Homeland Security Acquisition Workforce Development 

15 Fund (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’) to en16 sure the Department acquisition workforce has the capac17 ity, in both personnel and skills, needed to properly per18 form its mission and ensure that the Department receives 

19 the best value for the expenditure of public resources. The 

20 assessment shall address the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) Ways to fund the Fund, including the use 

22 of direct appropriations, or the credit, transfer, or 

23 deposit of unobligated or unused funds from Depart24 ment Components into the Fund to remain available 

25 for obligation in the fiscal year for which credited, 
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1 transferred, or deposited and to remain available for 

2 successive fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(2) Ways to reward the Department acquisi4 tion workforce and program managers for good pro5 gram management in controlling cost growth, lim6 iting schedule delays, and ensuring operational effec7 tiveness through providing a percentage of the sav8 ings or general acquisition bonuses. 

9 ‘‘(3) Guidance for the administration of the 

10 Fund that includes provisions to do the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Describe the costs and benefits asso12 ciated with the use of direct appropriations or 

13 credit, transfer, or deposit of unobligated or un14 used funds to finance the Fund. 

15 ‘‘(B) Describe the manner and timing for 

16 applications for amounts in the Fund to be sub17 mitted. 

18 ‘‘(C) Explain the evaluation criteria to be 

19 used for approving or prioritizing applications 

20 for amounts in the Fund in any fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(D) Explain the mechanism to report to 

22 Congress on the implementation of the Fund on 

23 an ongoing basis. 

24 ‘‘(E) Detail measurable performance 

25 metrics to determine if the Fund is meeting the 
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1 objective to improve the acquisition workforce 

2 and to achieve cost savings in acquisition man3 agement.’’. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

6 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended 

7 by adding after the item relating to section 838 the 

8 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 839. Multiyear acquisition strategy.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FUTURE YEARS

10 HOMELAND SECURITY PROGRAM.—Section 874(b) of the 

11 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 454(b)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (2); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) include the multiyear acquisition strategy 

20 required under section 839 of this Act.’’. 

21 SEC. 303. ACQUISITION REPORTS. 

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

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

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

25 section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 840. ACQUISITION REPORTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE ACQUISITION STATUS RE3 PORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for 

5 Management each year shall submit to the congres6 sional homeland security committees, at the same 

7 time as the President’s budget is submitted for a fis8 cal year under section 1105(a) of title 31, United 

9 States Code, a comprehensive acquisition status re10 port. The report shall include the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) The information required under the 

12 heading ‘Office of the Under Secretary for 

13 Management’ under Title I of division D of the 

14 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public 

15 Law 112–74) (as required under the Depart16 ment of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 

17 2013 (Public Law 113–6). 

18 ‘‘(B) A listing of programs that have been 

19 cancelled, modified, paused, or referred to the 

20 Under Secretary for Management or Deputy 

21 Secretary for additional oversight or action by 

22 the Board, Department Office of Inspector 

23 General, or the Comptroller General. 

24 ‘‘(C) A listing of established Executive 

25 Steering Committees, which provide governance 

26 of a program or related set of programs and 
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1 lower-tiered oversight, and support between ac2 quisition decision events and Component re3 views, including the mission and membership 

4 for each. 

5 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION

6 PROGRAMS.—For each major acquisition program, 

7 the report shall include the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) A narrative description, including 

9 current gaps and shortfalls, the capabilities to 

10 be fielded, and the number of planned incre11 ments or units. 

12 ‘‘(B) Acquisition Review Board (or other 

13 board designated to review the acquisition) sta14 tus of each acquisition, including the current 

15 acquisition phase, the date of the last review, 

16 and a listing of the required documents that 

17 have been reviewed with the dates reviewed or 

18 approved. 

19 ‘‘(C) The most current, approved acquisi20 tion program baseline (including project sched21 ules and events). 

22 ‘‘(D) A comparison of the original acquisi23 tion program baseline, the current acquisition 

24 program baseline, and the current estimate. 
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1 ‘‘(E) Whether or not an independent 

2 verification and validation has been imple3 mented, with an explanation for the decision 

4 and a summary of any findings. 

5 ‘‘(F) A rating of cost risk, schedule risk, 

6 and technical risk associated with the program 

7 (including narrative descriptions and mitigation 

8 actions). 

9 ‘‘(G) Contract status (including earned 

10 value management data as applicable). 

11 ‘‘(H) A lifecycle cost of the acquisition, 

12 and time basis for the estimate. 

13 ‘‘(3) UPDATES.—The Under Secretary shall 

14 submit quarterly updates to such report not later 

15 than 45 days after the completion of each quarter. 

16 ‘‘(b) QUARTERLY PROGRAM ACCOUNTABILITY RE17 PORT.—The Under Secretary for Management shall pre18 pare a quarterly program accountability report to meet the 

19 Department’s mandate to perform program health assess20 ments and improve program execution and governance. 

21 The report shall be submitted to the congressional home22 land security committees.’’. 

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

24 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
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1 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after 

2 the item relating to section 839 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 840. Acquisition reports.’’. 

3 SEC. 304. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW 

4 OF MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 

5 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—After submission to Con6 gress of the first multiyear acquisition strategy (pursuant 

7 to section 839 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002) 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp9 troller General of the United States shall conduct a review 

10 of the plan within 180 days to analyze the viability of the 

11 plan’s effectiveness in the following: 

12 (1) Complying with the requirements in section 

13 839 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

14 added by section 302 of this Act. 

15 (2) Establishing clear connections between De16 partment objectives and acquisition priorities. 

17 (3) Demonstrating that Department acquisition 

18 policy reflects program management best practices 

19 and standards. 

20 (4) Ensuring competition or the option of com21 petition for major acquisition programs. 

22 (5) Considering potential cost savings through 

23 using already-existing technologies when developing 

24 acquisition program requirements. 
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1 (6) Preventing duplication within Department 

2 acquisition workforce training requirements through 

3 leveraging already-existing training within the Fed4 eral Government, academic community, or private 

5 industry. 

6 (7) Providing incentives for program managers 

7 to reduce acquisition and procurement costs through 

8 the use of best practices and disciplined program 

9 management. 

10 (8) Assessing the feasibility of conducting a 

11 pilot program to establish a Homeland Security Ac12 quisition Workforce Development Fund. 

13 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

14 shall submit to the congressional homeland security com15 mittees a report on the review required by this section. 

16 The report shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

17 may include a classified annex. 

18 SEC. 305. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT. 

19 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—No later than 2 years fol20 lowing the submission of the report submitted by the 

21 Comptroller General of the United States as required by 

22 section 304, the Department’s Inspector General shall 

23 conduct a review of whether the Department has complied 

24 with the multiyear acquisition strategy (pursuant to sec25 tion 839 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002) and ad-
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1 hered to the strategies set forth in the plan. The review 

2 shall also consider whether the Department has complied 

3 with the requirements to provide the Acquisition Review 

4 Board with a capability development plan for each major 

5 acquisition program. 

6 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Inspector General 

7 shall submit to the congressional homeland security com8 mittees a report of the review required by this section. The 

9 report shall be submitted in unclassified form but may in10 clude a classified annex. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 9, 2014. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4228 

AN ACT 

To require the Department of Homeland Security 

parency in acquisition program management. to improve discipline, accountability, and trans-