I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 367 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an acquisition 

professional career program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 19, 2021 

Ms. TITUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

an acquisition professional career program, 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 Security 

5 Acquisition Professional Career Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE ACQUISITION PROFES7 SIONAL CAREER PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu9 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 711. ACQUISITION PROFESSIONAL CAREER PRO2 GRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 Department an acquisition professional career program to 

5 develop a cadre of acquisition professionals within the De6 partment. 

7 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Under Secretary for 

8 Management shall administer the acquisition professional 

9 career program established pursuant to subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Under Sec11 retary for Management shall carry out the following with 

12 respect to the acquisition professional career program. 

13 ‘‘(1) Designate the occupational series, grades, 

14 and number of acquisition positions throughout the 

15 Department to be included in the program and man16 age centrally such positions. 

17 ‘‘(2) Establish and publish on the Department’s 

18 website eligibility criteria for candidates to partici19 pate in the program. 

20 ‘‘(3) Carry out recruitment efforts to attract 

21 candidates— 

22 ‘‘(A) from institutions of higher education, 

23 including such institutions with established ac24 quisition specialties and courses of study, his25 torically Black colleges and universities, and 

26 Hispanic-serving institutions; 


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1 ‘‘(B) with diverse work experience outside 

2 of the Federal Government; or 

3 ‘‘(C) with military service. 

4 ‘‘(4) Hire eligible candidates for designated po5 sitions under the program. 

6 ‘‘(5) Develop a structured program comprised 

7 of acquisition training, on-the-job experience, De8 partment-wide rotations, mentorship, shadowing, 

9 and other career development opportunities for pro10 gram participants. 

11 ‘‘(6) Provide, beyond required training estab12 lished for program participants, additional special13 ized acquisition training, including small business 

14 contracting and innovative acquisition techniques 

15 training. 

16 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31, 2021, 

17 and annually thereafter through 2027, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home20 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 

21 report on the acquisition professional career program. 

22 Each such report shall include the following information: 

23 ‘‘(1) The number of candidates approved for 

24 the program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The number of candidates who commenced 

2 participation in the program, including generalized 

3 information on such candidates’ backgrounds with 

4 respect to education and prior work experience, but 

5 not including personally identifiable information. 

6 ‘‘(3) A breakdown of the number of partici7 pants hired under the program by type of acquisition 

8 position. 

9 ‘‘(4) A list of Department components and of10 fices that participated in the program and informa11 tion regarding length of time of each program par12 ticipant in each rotation at such components or of13 fices. 

14 ‘‘(5) Program attrition rates and post-program 

15 graduation retention data, including information on 

16 how such data compare to the prior year’s data, as 

17 available. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Department’s recruiting efforts for 

19 the program. 

20 ‘‘(7) The Department’s efforts to promote re21 tention of program participants. 

22 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

24 term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the meaning 


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1 given such term in section 502 of the Higher Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 

3 ‘‘(2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND

4 UNIVERSITIES.—The term ‘historically Black col5 leges and universities’ has the meaning given the 

6 term ‘part B institution’ in section 322(2) of Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

8 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

9 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

10 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High11 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).’’. 

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

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

14 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

15 710 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 711. Acquisition professional career program.’’. 

Æ 


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