II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1271 

To provide for pilot programs to streamline decision-making process for 

weapon systems. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2019 

Mr. ROUNDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide for pilot programs to streamline decision-making 

process for weapon systems. 

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 ‘‘Defense Acquisition 

5 Decision Making Streamlining Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAMS TO STREAMLINE DECISION-MAK7 ING PROCESS FOR WEAPON SYSTEMS. 

8 (a) CANDIDATE ACQUISITION PROGRAMS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, each Service 


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1 Acquisition Executive shall recommend to the Sec2 retary of Defense at least one major defense acquisi3 tion program for a ‘‘skunk works’’ pilot program as 

4 described in the Department of Defense’s Better 

5 Buying Power 3.0 memorandum. Each pilot pro6 gram should include tailored measures to streamline 

7 the entire milestone decision process, with the re8 sults evaluated and reported for potential wider use. 

9 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each pilot program selected 

10 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include the fol11 lowing elements: 

12 (A) Delineating the appropriate informa13 tion needed to support milestone decisions, as14 suring program accountability and oversight, 

15 which should be based on the business case 

16 principles needed for well-informed milestone 

17 decisions, including user-defined requirements, 

18 reasonable acquisition and life-cycle cost esti19 mates, and a knowledge-based acquisition plan 

20 for maturing technologies, stabilizing the pro21 gram design, and ensuring key manufacturing 

22 processes are in control. 

23 (B) Developing an efficient process for 

24 providing this information to the milestone deci25 sion authority by— 


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1 (i) minimizing any reviews between 

2 the program office and the different func3 tional staff offices within each chain of 

4 command level; and 

5 (ii) establishing frequent, regular 

6 interaction between the program office and 

7 milestone decision makers, in lieu of docu8 mentation reviews, to help expedite the 

9 process. 

10 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

12 of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall provide 

13 to the congressional defense committees an informal brief14 ing detailing— 

15 (1) the acquisition programs selected pursuant 

16 to subsection (a); 

17 (2) the associated action plans, including 

18 timelines, for each program; and 

19 (3) the manner in which each program con20 forms to the requirements set forth in subsection 

21 (a)(2). 

22 (c) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE23 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional defense 


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1 committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

2 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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