I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1249 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a multiyear acquisi-
tion strategy of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2017 
Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 
a multiyear acquisition strategy of the Department of 
Homeland Security, 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 ‘‘DHS Multiyear Acqui-
sition Strategy Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 
Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY. 
‘‘(a) MULTIYEAR
ACQUISITION
STRATEGY
RE-
QUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees and the Comptroller General of 
the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy to 
guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of the 
Department while allowing flexibility to deal with 
ever-changing threats and risks, and to help indus-
try better understand, plan, and align resources to 
meet the future acquisition needs of the Depart-
ment. Such strategy shall be updated and included 
in each Future Years Homeland Security Program 
required under section 874. 
‘‘(2) FORM.—The strategy required under para-
graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 
may include a classified annex for any sensitive or 
classified information if necessary. The Secretary 
shall publish such strategy in an unclassified format 
that is publicly available. 
‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategy re-
quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as the 
Secretary determines appropriate, consult with head-
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quarters, components, employees in the field, and individ-
uals from industry and the academic community. 
‘‘(c) CONTENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy shall 
include the following: 
‘‘(1) PRIORITIZED LIST.—A systematic and in-
tegrated prioritized list developed by the Under Sec-
retary for Management in coordination with all of 
the Component Acquisition Executives of Depart-
ment major acquisition programs that Department 
and component acquisition investments seek to ad-
dress, including the expected security and economic 
benefit of the program or system that is the subject 
of acquisition and an analysis of how the security 
and economic benefit derived from such program or 
system will be measured. 
‘‘(2) INVENTORY.—A plan to develop a reliable 
Department-wide inventory of investments and real 
property assets to help the Department— 
‘‘(A) plan, budget, schedule, and acquire 
upgrades of its systems and equipment; and 
‘‘(B) plan for the acquisition and manage-
ment of future systems and equipment. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING GAPS.—A plan to address fund-
ing gaps between funding requirements for major ac-
quisition programs and known available resources, 
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including, to the maximum extent practicable, ways 
of leveraging best practices to identify and eliminate 
overpayment for items to— 
‘‘(A) prevent wasteful purchasing; 
‘‘(B) achieve the greatest level of efficiency 
and cost savings by rationalizing purchases; 
‘‘(C) align pricing for similar items; and 
‘‘(D) utilize purchase timing and econo-
mies of scale. 
‘‘(4) IDENTIFICATION
OF
CAPABILITIES.—An 
identification of test, evaluation, modeling, and sim-
ulation capabilities that will be required to— 
‘‘(A) support the acquisition of tech-
nologies to meet the needs of such strategy; 
‘‘(B) leverage to the greatest extent pos-
sible emerging technological trends and re-
search and development trends within the pub-
lic and private sectors; and 
‘‘(C) identify ways to ensure that appro-
priate technology is acquired and integrated 
into the Department’s operating doctrine to im-
prove mission performance. 
‘‘(5) FOCUS ON FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS.—An as-
sessment of ways the Department can improve its 
ability to test and acquire innovative solutions to 
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allow needed incentives and protections for appro-
priate risk-taking in order to meet its acquisition 
needs with resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to 
assure homeland security and facilitate trade. 
‘‘(6) FOCUS
ON
INCENTIVES
TO
SAVE
TAX-
PAYER DOLLARS.—An assessment of ways the De-
partment can develop incentives for program man-
agers and senior Department acquisition officials 
to— 
‘‘(A) prevent cost overruns; 
‘‘(B) avoid schedule delays; and 
‘‘(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisi-
tion programs. 
‘‘(7) FOCUS ON ADDRESSING DELAYS AND BID 
PROTESTS.—An assessment of ways the Department 
can improve the acquisition process to minimize cost 
overruns in— 
‘‘(A) requirements development; 
‘‘(B) procurement announcements; 
‘‘(C) requests for proposals; 
‘‘(D) evaluation of proposals; 
‘‘(E) protests of decisions and awards; and 
‘‘(F) the use of best practices. 
‘‘(8) FOCUS
ON
IMPROVING
OUTREACH.—An 
identification and assessment of ways to increase op-
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portunities for communication and collaboration with 
industry, small and disadvantaged businesses, intra- 
government entities, university centers of excellence, 
accredited certification and standards development 
organizations, and national laboratories to ensure 
that the Department understands the market for 
technologies, products, and innovation that is avail-
able to meet its mission needs and to inform the De-
partment’s requirements-setting process before en-
gaging in an acquisition, including— 
‘‘(A) methods designed especially to engage 
small and disadvantaged businesses, a cost-ben-
efit analysis of the tradeoffs that small and dis-
advantaged businesses provide, information re-
lating to barriers to entry for small and dis-
advantaged businesses, and information relating 
to unique requirements for small and disadvan-
taged businesses; and 
‘‘(B) within the Department Vendor Com-
munication Plan and Market Research Guide, 
instructions for interaction by acquisition pro-
gram managers with such entities to— 
‘‘(i) prevent misinterpretation of ac-
quisition regulations; and 
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‘‘(ii) permit, within legal and ethical 
boundaries, interacting with such entities 
with transparency. 
‘‘(9) COMPETITION.—A plan regarding competi-
tion under subsection (d). 
‘‘(10) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—A plan re-
garding the Department acquisition workforce under 
subsection (e). 
‘‘(d) COMPETITION PLAN.—The strategy required 
under subsection (a) shall also include a plan to address 
actions to ensure competition, or the option of competi-
tion, for major acquisition programs. Such plan may in-
clude assessments of the following measures in appro-
priate cases if such measures are cost effective: 
‘‘(1) Competitive prototyping. 
‘‘(2) Dual-sourcing. 
‘‘(3) Unbundling of contracts. 
‘‘(4) Funding of next-generation prototype sys-
tems or subsystems. 
‘‘(5) Use of modular, open architectures to en-
able competition for upgrades. 
‘‘(6) Acquisition of complete technical data 
packages. 
‘‘(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem up-
grades. 
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‘‘(8) Licensing of additional suppliers, including 
small businesses. 
‘‘(9) Periodic system or program reviews to ad-
dress long-term competitive effects of program deci-
sions. 
‘‘(e) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—The strategy 
required under subsection (a) shall also include a 
plan to address Department acquisition workforce 
accountability and talent management that identifies 
the acquisition workforce needs of each component 
performing acquisition functions and develops op-
tions for filling such needs with qualified individuals, 
including a cost-benefit analysis of contracting for 
acquisition assistance. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL
MATTERS
COVERED.—The 
acquisition workforce plan under this subsection 
shall address ways to— 
‘‘(A) improve the recruitment, hiring, 
training, and retention of Department acquisi-
tion workforce personnel, including contracting 
officer’s representatives, in order to retain high-
ly qualified individuals who have experience in 
the acquisition life cycle, complex procurements, 
and management of large programs; 
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