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. 
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 ‘‘Reducing Costs of 
DHS Acquisitions Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION FOR MAJOR AC-
QUISITION PROGRAM BREACH. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title VIII of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 
et seq.) is amended by inserting before section 831 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 830. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subtitle: 
‘‘(1) ACQUISITION.—The term ‘acquisition’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 131 of title 
41, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) ACQUISITION DECISION AUTHORITY.—The 
term ‘acquisition decision authority’ means the au-
thority, in addition to the authorities and functions 
specified in subsection (b) of section 1702 of title 
41, United States Code, held by the Secretary acting 
through the Under Secretary for Management to— 
‘‘(A) ensure compliance with Federal law, 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and De-
partment acquisition management directives; 
‘‘(B) review (including approving, pausing, 
modifying, or canceling) an acquisition program 
throughout the life-cycle of such program; 
‘‘(C) ensure that acquisition program man-
agers have the resources necessary to success-
fully execute an approved acquisition program; 
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‘‘(D) ensure appropriate acquisition pro-
gram management of cost, schedule, risk, and 
system or service performance of the acquisition 
program at issue, including assessing acquisi-
tion program baseline breaches and directing 
any corrective action for such breaches; 
‘‘(E) ensure that acquisition program man-
agers, on an ongoing basis, monitor cost, sched-
ule, and performance against established base-
lines and use tools to assess risks to an acquisi-
tion program at all phases of the life-cycle of 
such program; and 
‘‘(F) establish policies and procedures for 
major acquisition programs of the Department. 
‘‘(3) ACQUISITION DECISION MEMORANDUM.— 
The term ‘acquisition decision memorandum’, with 
respect to an acquisition, means the official docu-
mented record of decisions, including the rationale 
for such decisions and any assigned actions for such 
acquisition, as determined by the individual exer-
cising acquisition decision authority for such acquisi-
tion. 
‘‘(4) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acqui-
sition program’ means the conceptualization, initi-
ation, design, development, test, contracting, produc-
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tion, deployment, logistics support, modification, or 
disposal of systems, supplies, or services (including 
construction) to satisfy the Department’s needs. 
‘‘(5) ACQUISITION
PROGRAM
BASELINE.—The 
term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 
an acquisition program, means the cost, schedule, 
and performance parameters, expressed in standard, 
measurable, quantitative terms, which shall be satis-
fied to accomplish the goals of such program. 
‘‘(6) APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of notice or a report relat-
ing to the Coast Guard or the Transportation 
Security Administration, the committees speci-
fied in subparagraph (A) and the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
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