I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4225 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Acquisition Review 
Board of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2023 
Mr. MRVAN (for himself and Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the 
Acquisition Review Board of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Acquisition Review 
Board Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD 
IN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 81 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after subchapter VI 
the following new subchapter: 
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‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—ACQUISITION REVIEW 
BOARD 
‘‘§ 8181. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘major acquisition program’ 
means a program of the Department to acquire 
property, assets, supplies, services, or a combination 
thereof, with an estimated life-cycle cost of 
$250,000,000 or more, as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘non-major acquisition program’ 
means a program of the Department to acquire 
property, assets, supplies, services, or a combination 
thereof, with an estimated life-cycle cost of less than 
$250,000,000, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘§ 8182. Acquisition Review Board 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De-
partment a board, to be known as the ‘Acquisition Review 
Board’, to support the Secretary in managing acquisition 
programs under the laws administered by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—(1) The Deputy Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall serve as Chair of the Acquisition 
Review Board. 
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‘‘(2) with respect to a major acquisition pro-
gram approved by the Secretary to commence, deter-
mining the appropriate acquisition category for such 
program; 
‘‘(3) with respect to a major acquisition pro-
gram that has concluded an acquisition phase— 
‘‘(A) authorizing the manager of such pro-
gram appointed pursuant to section 8183(a) of 
this title to advance such program to a subse-
quent acquisition phase if the relevant require-
ments in such applicable program baseline have 
been satisfied; and 
‘‘(B) advising such manager on appro-
priate corrective action if such requirements 
have not been satisfied; and 
‘‘(4) reviewing, on a continuous basis, each 
major acquisition program to ensure each such pro-
gram is in compliance with— 
‘‘(A) the relevant requirements in such ap-
plicable program baseline; and 
‘‘(B) the certification requirement under 
subsection (c) of such section. 
‘‘(e) ACQUISITION DECISION MEMORANDUM.—Not 
later than 30 days after any date on which the Deputy 
Secretary convenes a meeting pursuant to subsection (c), 
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the Deputy Secretary shall submit to the Secretary and 
the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Senate an acquisition decision memo-
randum that includes— 
‘‘(1) a summary of— 
‘‘(A) the purpose of such meeting; 
‘‘(B) any matter discussed during such 
meeting; 
‘‘(C) any decision of the Acquisition Re-
view Board made during such meeting, includ-
ing any such decision to allow a major acquisi-
tion program to deviate from the relevant re-
quirements in such applicable program baseline; 
and 
‘‘(D) any matters assigned for further dis-
cussion during a subsequent meeting of the Ac-
quisition Review Board; and 
‘‘(2) a certification by the Deputy Secretary 
that the contents of such memorandum are accurate. 
‘‘§ 8183. Major acquisition program managers 
‘‘(a) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 30 days after 
any date on which the Secretary approves a major acquisi-
tion program to commence, the Deputy Secretary shall ap-
point a manager to be responsible for administering such 
program. 
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‘‘(b) DUTIES.—Each manager appointed pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall be responsible for, with respect to the 
applicable major acquisition program— 
‘‘(1) developing, in coordination with the Acqui-
sition Review Board, a plan to administer such pro-
gram, to be known as the ‘program baseline’, that 
includes— 
‘‘(A) a description of each acquisition 
phase of such program; 
‘‘(B) for each such acquisition phase, re-
quirements for advancing such program to a 
subsequent acquisition phase; and 
‘‘(C) estimates of the cost, schedule, and 
performance of such program that account for 
the entire life cycle of such program; 
‘‘(2) ensuring such program is in compliance 
with such requirements; 
‘‘(3) securing funding necessary to satisfy such 
requirements; 
‘‘(4) adopting standardized processes with es-
tablished success to support the progress of such 
program, including— 
‘‘(A) milestones; 
‘‘(B) exit criteria; and 
‘‘(C) specific accomplishments; 
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‘‘(5) to the extent practicable, ensuring that 
personnel of the Department responsible for esti-
mating the budget and cost of such program are 
provided with an opportunity to raise concerns relat-
ing to such budget and cost prior to the establish-
ment of the program baseline under paragraph (1); 
‘‘(6) on a continuous basis, assessing and man-
aging risks to satisfying the requirements of such 
program baseline relating to cost and schedule; 
‘‘(7) establishing a workforce for such program 
that is qualified and sufficient to perform the nec-
essary functions of such program; and 
‘‘(8) ensuring such program has adequate tech-
nology and production capacity prior to commencing 
an acquisition phase of such program related to 
manufacturing, if applicable. 
‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION
OF
ALTERNATE
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Not later than 90 days after any date on which 
a manager appointed pursuant to subsection (a) estab-
lishes a program baseline described in subsection (b)(1), 
such manager shall submit to the Chair of the Acquisition 
Review Board a certification that such manager consid-
ered establishing alternate requirements in such program 
baseline relating to the cost, schedule, and performance 
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of each acquisition phase of such program prior to estab-
lishing such program baseline. 
‘‘(d) ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD AUTHORIZATION 
REQUIRED.—(1) Not later than 30 days after any date 
on which a major acquisition program concludes an acqui-
sition phase, the manager of such program appointed pur-
suant to subsection (a) shall notify the Acquisition Review 
Board under section 8182 of this title. 
‘‘(2) Such manager may not advance such program 
to a subsequent acquisition phase without the authoriza-
tion of such Acquisition Review Board pursuant to sub-
section (d)(3) of such section.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD 
‘‘8181. Definitions. 
‘‘8182. Acquisition Review Board. 
‘‘8183. Major acquisition program managers.’’. 
Æ 
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