I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2915 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 regarding the procurement 

of certain items related to national security interests for Department 

of Homeland Security frontline operational components, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2021 

Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. MAST, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 regarding 

the procurement of certain items related to national security interests for Department of Homeland Security 

frontline operational components, 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 ‘‘Homeland Procure5 ment Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘HOPR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS TO BUY CERTAIN ITEMS RELATED 

2 TO NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS AC3 CORDING TO CERTAIN CRITERIA. 

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

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

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 836. REQUIREMENTS TO BUY CERTAIN ITEMS RE8 LATED TO NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) COVERED ITEM.—The term ‘covered item’ 

11 means any of the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Body armor components intended to 

13 provide ballistic protection for an individual, 

14 consisting of 1 or more of the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) Soft ballistic panels. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Hard ballistic plates. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Concealed armor carriers worn 

18 under a uniform. 

19 ‘‘(iv) External armor carriers worn 

20 over a uniform. 

21 ‘‘(B) Helmets that provide ballistic protec22 tion and other head protection and components. 

23 ‘‘(C) Protective eyewear. 

24 ‘‘(D) Rain gear, cold weather gear, other 

25 environmental and flame-resistant clothing. 

26 ‘‘(E) Footwear. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Uniforms. 

2 ‘‘(G) Bags and packs. 

3 ‘‘(H) Holsters and tactical pouches. 

4 ‘‘(I) Patches, insignia, and embellishments. 

5 ‘‘(J) Respiratory protective masks. 

6 ‘‘(K) Chemical, biological, radiological, and 

7 nuclear protective gear. 

8 ‘‘(L) Hearing protection equipment. 

9 ‘‘(M) Powered air purifying respirators 

10 and required filters. 

11 ‘‘(N) Disposable and reusable surgical and 

12 isolation gowns. 

13 ‘‘(O) Protective eyewear. 

14 ‘‘(P) Gloves. 

15 ‘‘(Q) Face shields. 

16 ‘‘(R) Head and foot coverings. 

17 ‘‘(S) Sanitizing and disinfecting wipes. 

18 ‘‘(T) Privacy curtains. 

19 ‘‘(U) Beds and bedding. 

20 ‘‘(V) Testing swabs. 

21 ‘‘(W) Gauze and bandages. 

22 ‘‘(X) Tents and tarpaulins. 

23 ‘‘(Y) Any other critical safety item as de24 termined appropriate by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FRONTLINE OPERATIONAL COMPONENT.— 

2 The term ‘frontline operational component’ means 

3 any of the following components of the Department: 

4 ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

5 ‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En6 forcement. 

7 ‘‘(C) The United States Secret Service. 

8 ‘‘(D) The Transportation Security Admin9 istration. 

10 ‘‘(E) The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

11 Security Agency. 

12 ‘‘(F) The Federal Protective Service. 

13 ‘‘(G) The Federal Emergency Management 

14 Agency. 

15 ‘‘(H) The Federal Law Enforcement 

16 Training Centers. 

17 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

19 that any procurement of a covered item for a front20 line operational component meets the following cri21 teria: 

22 ‘‘(A) To the maximum extent possible, not 

23 less than one-third of funds obligated in a spe24 cific fiscal year for the procurement of such 

25 covered items shall be covered items that are 


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1 manufactured in the United States by entities 

2 that qualify as small business concerns, as such 

3 term is described under section 3 of the Small 

4 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

5 ‘‘(B) Each contractor and first-tier subcon6 tractor with respect to the procurement of such 

7 a covered item, including the end-item manufac8 turer of such a covered item— 

9 ‘‘(i) is an entity registered with the 

10 System for Award Management (or suc11 cessor system) administered by the General 

12 Services Administration; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) is in compliance with ISO 

14 9001:2015 of the International Organiza15 tion for Standardization (or successor 

16 standard). 

17 ‘‘(C) Each supplier of such a covered item 

18 with an insignia (such as any patch, badge, or 

19 emblem) and each supplier of such an insignia, 

20 if such covered item with such insignia or such 

21 insignia, as the case may be, is not produced, 

22 applied, or assembled in the United States, 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) store such covered item with such 

25 insignia or such insignia in a locked area; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) report any pilferage or theft of 

2 such covered item with such insignia or 

3 such insignia occurring at any stage before 

4 delivery of such covered item with such in5 signia or such insignia; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) destroy any such defective or 

7 unusable covered item with insignia or in8 signia in a manner established by the Sec9 retary, and maintain records, for three 

10 years after the creation of such records, of 

11 such destruction that include the date of 

12 such destruction, a description of the cov13 ered item with insignia or insignia de14 stroyed, the quantity of the covered item 

15 with insignia or insignia destroyed, and the 

16 method of destruction. 

17 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a na19 tional emergency declared by the President 

20 under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

21 1601 et seq.), the Secretary may waive a re22 quirement in subparagraph (B) or (C) of para23 graph (1) if the Secretary determines there is 

24 an insufficient supply of a covered item that 

25 meets the requirement. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—If the Secretary deter2 mines a waiver under subparagraph (A) is nec3 essary, the Secretary shall provide to the Com4 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern5 mental Affairs and the Committee on Appro6 priations of the Senate and the Committee on 

7 Homeland Security, the Committee on Over8 sight and Reform, and the Committee on Ap9 propriations of the House of Representatives 

10 notice of such determination, which shall in11 clude— 

12 ‘‘(i) identification of the national 

13 emergency declared by the President; 

14 ‘‘(ii) identification of the covered item 

15 for which the Secretary intends to issue 

16 the waiver; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) a description of the demand for 

18 the covered item and corresponding lack of 

19 supply from contractors able to meet the 

20 criteria described in subparagraph (B) or 

21 (C) of paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(c) PRICING.—The Secretary shall ensure that cov23 ered items are purchased at a fair and reasonable price, 

24 consistent with the procedures and guidelines specified in 

25 the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

3 the Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Homeland 

4 Security, the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep6 resentatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Appro8 priations of the Senate a report on instances in which ven9 dors have failed to meet deadlines for delivery of covered 

10 items and corrective actions taken by the Department in 

11 response to such instances. 

12 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section applies with 

13 respect to a contract entered into by the Department or 

14 any frontline operational component on or after October 

15 1, 2021.’’. 

16 (b) STUDY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee 

20 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

21 the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Secu22 rity of the House of Representatives a study of the 

23 adequacy of uniform allowances provided to employ24 ees of frontline operational components (as defined 


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1 in section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 

2 2002, as added by subsection (a)). 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The study conducted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) be informed by a Department-wide 

6 survey of employees from across the Depart7 ment who receive uniform allowances that seeks 

8 to ascertain what, if any, improvements could 

9 be made to the current uniform allowances and 

10 what, if any, impacts current allowances have 

11 had on employee morale and retention; and 

12 (B) consider increasing by 25 percent, at 

13 minimum, the uniform allowance for first year 

14 employees and by 50 percent, at minimum, the 

15 annual allowance for all other employees. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

18 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by in19 serting after the item relating to section 835 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 836. Requirements to buy certain items related to national security interests.’’. 

Æ 


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