I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6861 

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 

FEBRUARY 28, 2022 

Mr. CLYDE (for himself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. GUEST, Mr. LAMALFA, Mrs. 

HARSHBARGER, and Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana) 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 Costs of 

5 DHS Acquisitions Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC7 QUISITION PROGRAM BREACH. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title VIII of 

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

3 et seq.) is amended by inserting before section 831 

4 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 830. DEFINITIONS. 

6 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

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

8 the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 

9 41, United States Code. 

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

11 term ‘acquisition decision authority’ means the au12 thority, in addition to the authorities and functions 

13 specified in subsection (b) of section 1702 of title 

14 41, United States Code, held by the Secretary acting 

15 through the Under Secretary for Management to— 

16 ‘‘(A) ensure compliance with Federal law, 

17 the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and De18 partment acquisition management directives; 

19 ‘‘(B) review (including approving, pausing, 

20 modifying, or canceling) an acquisition program 

21 throughout the life-cycle of such program; 

22 ‘‘(C) ensure that acquisition program man23 agers have the resources necessary to success24 fully execute an approved acquisition program; 


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1 ‘‘(D) ensure appropriate acquisition pro2 gram management of cost, schedule, risk, and 

3 system or service performance of the acquisition 

4 program at issue, including assessing acquisi5 tion program baseline breaches and directing 

6 any corrective action for such breaches; 

7 ‘‘(E) ensure that acquisition program man8 agers, on an ongoing basis, monitor cost, sched9 ule, and performance against established base10 lines and use tools to assess risks to an acquisi11 tion program at all phases of the life-cycle of 

12 such program; and 

13 ‘‘(F) establish policies and procedures for 

14 major acquisition programs of the Department. 

15 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITION DECISION MEMORANDUM.— 

16 The term ‘acquisition decision memorandum’, with 

17 respect to an acquisition, means the official docu18 mented record of decisions, including the rationale 

19 for such decisions and any assigned actions for such 

20 acquisition, as determined by the individual exer21 cising acquisition decision authority for such acquisi22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(4) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acqui24 sition program’ means the conceptualization, initi25 ation, design, development, test, contracting, producVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6861.IH H6861

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1 tion, deployment, logistics support, modification, or 

2 disposal of systems, supplies, or services (including 

3 construction) to satisfy the Department’s needs. 

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

5 term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 

6 an acquisition program, means the cost, schedule, 

7 and performance parameters, expressed in standard, 

8 measurable, quantitative terms, which shall be satis9 fied to accomplish the goals of such program. 

10 ‘‘(6) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON11 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee 

16 on Homeland Security and Governmental Af17 fairs and the Committee on Appropriations of 

18 the Senate; and 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of notice or a report relat20 ing to the Coast Guard or the Transportation 

21 Security Administration, the committees speci22 fied in subparagraph (A) and the Committee on 

23 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6861.IH H6861

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1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen2 ate. 

3 ‘‘(7) BREACH.—The term ‘breach’, with respect 

4 to a major acquisition program, means a failure to 

5 satisfy any cost, schedule, or performance threshold 

6 specified in the most recently approved acquisition 

7 program baseline. 

8 ‘‘(8) CHIEF ACQUISITION OFFICER.—The term 

9 ‘Chief Acquisition Officer’ means the Chief Acquisi10 tion Officer pursuant to section 1702 of title 41, 

11 United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(9) COMPONENT ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 

13 The term ‘Component Acquisition Executive’ means 

14 the senior acquisition official within a component 

15 who is designated in writing by the Under Secretary 

16 for Management, in consultation with the component 

17 head, with authority and responsibility for leading a 

18 process and staff to provide acquisition and program 

19 management oversight, policy, and guidance to en20 sure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level pol21 icy requirements are fulfilled, including compliance 

22 with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regula23 tion, and Department acquisition management direc24 tives established by the Under Secretary for Man25 agement. 


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1 ‘‘(10) LIFE-CYCLE COST.—The term ‘life-cycle 

2 cost’ means the total ownership cost of an acquisi3 tion, including all relevant costs related to acquiring, 

4 deploying, operating, maintaining, supporting, and 

5 (if applicable) disposing of the system, project, or 

6 product at issue over a specified period of time. 

7 ‘‘(11) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The 

8 term ‘major acquisition program’ means a Depart9 ment capital asset, service, or hybrid acquisition pro10 gram that is estimated by the Secretary to require 

11 an eventual total expenditure of at least 

12 $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2022 constant 

13 dollars) over the life-cycle cost of the program, or an 

14 acquisition program identified by the Chief Acquisi15 tion Officer as a program of special interest.’’. 

16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con17 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

18 of 2002 is amended by inserting before the item re19 lating to section 831 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 830. Definitions.’’. 

20 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC21 QUISITION PROGRAM BREACH.— 

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

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

24 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 836. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND OTHER RE2 QUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR ACQUISITION PRO3 GRAM BREACH. 

4 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATIONS WITHIN DEPARTMENT IN

5 EVENT OF BREACH.— 

6 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION OF BREACH.—If a breach 

7 occurs, or is expected to occur, in a major acquisi8 tion program, the program manager for such pro9 gram shall notify the Component Acquisition Execu10 tive for such program, the head of the component 

11 concerned, and the Executive Director of the Pro12 gram Accountability and Risk Management office in 

13 writing not later than 30 calendar days after the 

14 date on which such breach is identified. 

15 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO UNDER SECRETARY.— 

16 Not later than five business days after receipt of a 

17 notification pursuant to paragraph (1), the Compo18 nent Acquisition Executive for the major acquisition 

19 program at issue shall notify the Under Secretary 

20 for Management in writing of the breach that is the 

21 subject of such notification. 

22 ‘‘(3) PAUSING ACTIVITIES.—Upon notification 

23 to the Under Secretary under paragraph (2), the 

24 major acquisition program that is the subject of the 

25 breach at issue shall pause all activities relating to 

26 such program except those activities necessary to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6861.IH H6861

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1 velop the remediation plan required under subsection 

2 (b) until the Under Secretary for Management ap3 proves such plan or provides alternative corrective 

4 actions for such program pursuant to subsection (c). 

5 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS IN EVENT OF

6 BREACH.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

7 a notification to the Under Secretary for Management is 

8 made under subsection (a)(1) relating to a breach in a 

9 major acquisition program, the Under Secretary shall no10 tify in writing the appropriate committees of Congress of 

11 such breach. 

12 ‘‘(c) REMEDIATION PLAN AND ROOT CAUSE ANAL13 YSIS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a breach occurs, or is ex15 pected to occur, in a major acquisition program, the 

16 program manager for such program shall, in coordi17 nation with the Component Acquisition Executive for 

18 such program, submit in writing to the head of the 

19 component concerned, the Executive Director of the 

20 Program Accountability and Risk Management of21 fice, and the Under Secretary for Management, at a 

22 date established by the Under Secretary, a remedi23 ation plan and root cause analysis relating to such 

24 breach and program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REMEDIATION PLAN.—The remediation 

2 plan required under subparagraph (A) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) explain the circumstances of the 

4 breach at issue; 

5 ‘‘(B) provide prior cost estimating informa6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(C) include a root cause analysis that de8 termines the underlying cause or causes of such 

9 breach, including— 

10 ‘‘(i) unrealistic performance expecta11 tions; 

12 ‘‘(ii) unrealistic baseline estimates for 

13 cost or schedule or changes in program re14 quirements; 

15 ‘‘(iii) immature technologies or exces16 sive manufacturing or integration risk; 

17 ‘‘(iv) unanticipated design, engineer18 ing, manufacturing, or technology integra19 tion issues arising during program per20 formance; 

21 ‘‘(v) inadequate program funding or 

22 changes in planned out-year funding from 

23 one five-year funding plan to the next five24 year funding plan as outlined in the FuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6861.IH H6861

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1 ture Years Homeland Security Program 

2 required under section 874; 

3 ‘‘(vi) legislative, legal, or regulatory 

4 changes; 

5 ‘‘(vii) inadequate program manage6 ment personnel, including lack of sufficient 

7 number of staff, training, credentials, or 

8 certifications; or 

9 ‘‘(viii) inadequate assessment or miti10 gation of program risk; 

11 ‘‘(C) propose corrective action to address 

12 the underlying cause or causes of the breach 

13 identified pursuant to subparagraph (C); 

14 ‘‘(D) explain the rationale for why a pro15 posed corrective action is recommended com16 pared to other options considered; and 

17 ‘‘(E) identify the estimated impact on pro18 gram cost, schedule, or performance goals of 

19 implementing such proposed corrective action, 

20 and the extent to which funding from other ac21 quisition programs would need to be reduced to 

22 cover the cost growth of the major acquisition 

23 program at issue. 

24 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF REMEDIATION PLANS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after the date on which the Under Secretary for 

3 Management receives a remediation plan pursuant to 

4 subsection (c)(1), the Under Secretary shall review 

5 such plan and either approve such plan for continu6 ation or provide an alternative proposed corrective 

7 action, including cancelling the major acquisition 

8 program at issue. 

9 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ACQUISITION DECISION MEMO11 RANDUM.—The Under Secretary for Manage12 ment shall document the review under para13 graph (1) in an acquisition decision memo14 randum. 

15 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM CONTINUATION AP16 PROVAL.—If the Under Secretary for Manage17 ment approves a major acquisition program 

18 pursuant to paragraph (1) for continuation or 

19 alternate proposed corrective action rather than 

20 cancellation, the Under Secretary shall certify 

21 in the acquisition decision memorandum re22 quired under subparagraph (A) that— 

23 ‘‘(i) such program is essential to the 

24 mission of the Department; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) there are no alternatives to the 

2 capability or asset provided by such pro3 gram that will provide equal or greater ca4 pability in a more cost-effective and timely 

5 manner; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the estimated impact on pro7 gram cost, schedule, or performance goals 

8 are reasonable of continuing or imple9 menting the alternative proposed corrective 

10 action, as the case may be; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) the management structure for 

12 such program is adequate to manage and 

13 control cost, schedule, or performance. 

14 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

15 than 30 days after the date on which the Under Sec16 retary for Management completes a review of a re17 mediation plan under paragraph (1), the Under Sec18 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

19 Congress— 

20 ‘‘(A) a copy of such remediation plan; and 

21 ‘‘(B) a statement describing the corrective 

22 action or actions in such remediation plan in 

23 accordance with such paragraph for the major 

24 acquisition program at issue, with a justificaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6861.IH H6861

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1 tion for each such action in accordance with 

2 paragraph (2).’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

5 of 2002 is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 835 the following new item: 

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

Æ 


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