IB 
Union Calendar No. 32 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1282 
[Report No. 115–57] 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish Acquisition Review 
Boards in the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2017 
Mr. GARRETT (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
MARCH 23, 2017 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 1, 2017] 
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A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 
Acquisition Review Boards in the Department of Home-
land Security, and for other purposes. 
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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 Acquisition Re-
view Board Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—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: 
‘‘SEC. 836. ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an 
Acquisition Review Board (in this section referred to as the 
‘Board’) to— 
‘‘(1) strengthen accountability and uniformity 
within the Department acquisition review process; 
‘‘(2) review major acquisition programs; and 
‘‘(3) review the use of best practices. 
‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The Under Secretary for Man-
agement shall serve as chair of the Board. The Secretary 
shall also ensure participation by other relevant Depart-
ment officials, including at least two component heads or 
their designees, as permanent members of the Board. 
‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet regularly for 
purposes of ensuring all acquisitions processes proceed in 
a timely fashion to achieve mission readiness. The Board 
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shall convene at the Secretary’s discretion and at any 
time— 
‘‘(1) a major acquisition program— 
‘‘(A) requires authorization to proceed from 
one 
acquisition 
decision 
event 
to 
another 
throughout the acquisition life cycle; 
‘‘(B) is in breach of its approved require-
ments; or 
‘‘(C) requires additional review, as deter-
mined by the Under Secretary for Management; 
or 
‘‘(2) a non-major acquisition program requires 
review, as determined by the Under Secretary for 
Management. 
‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 
Board are as follows: 
‘‘(1) Determine whether a proposed acquisition 
has met the requirements of key phases of the acquisi-
tion life cycle framework and is able to proceed to the 
next phase and eventual full production and deploy-
ment. 
‘‘(2) Oversee whether a proposed acquisition’s 
business strategy, resources, management, and ac-
countability is executable and is aligned to strategic 
initiatives. 
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‘‘(3) Support the person with acquisition deci-
sion authority for an acquisition in determining the 
appropriate direction for such acquisition at key ac-
quisition decision events. 
‘‘(4) Conduct systematic reviews of acquisitions 
to ensure that such acquisitions are progressing in 
compliance with the approved documents for their 
current acquisition phases. 
‘‘(5) Review the acquisition documents of each 
major acquisition program, including the acquisition 
program baseline and documentation reflecting con-
sideration of tradeoffs among cost, schedule, and per-
formance objectives, to ensure the reliability of under-
lying data. 
‘‘(6) Ensure that practices are adopted and im-
plemented to require consideration of trade-offs 
among cost, schedule, and performance objectives as 
part of the process for developing requirements for 
major acquisition programs prior to the initiation of 
the second acquisition decision event, including, at a 
minimum, the following practices: 
‘‘(A) Department officials responsible for 
acquisition, budget, and cost estimating func-
tions are provided with the appropriate oppor-
tunity to develop estimates and raise cost and 
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schedule matters before performance objectives 
are established for capabilities when feasible. 
‘‘(B) Full consideration is given to possible 
trade-offs among cost, schedule, and performance 
objectives for each alternative. 
‘‘(e) ACQUISITION PROGRAM BASELINE REPORT RE-
QUIREMENT.—If the person exercising acquisition decision 
authority over a major acquisition program approves such 
program to proceed into the planning phase before such pro-
gram has a Department-approved acquisition program 
baseline, the Under Secretary for Management shall create 
and approve an acquisition program baseline report re-
garding such approval, and the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) within seven days after an acquisition deci-
sion memorandum is signed, notify in writing the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate of such 
decision; and 
‘‘(2) within 60 days after the acquisition deci-
sion memorandum is signed, submit to such commit-
tees a report stating the rationale for such decision 
and a plan of action to require an acquisition pro-
gram baseline for such program. 
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‘‘(f) REPORT.—The Under Secretary for Management 
shall provide information to the Committee on Homeland 
Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate on an annual basis through fiscal year 2022 on the 
activities of the Board for the prior fiscal year that includes 
information relating to the following: 
‘‘(1) For each meeting of the Board, any acquisi-
tion decision memoranda. 
‘‘(2) Results of the systematic reviews conducted 
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (d). 
‘‘(3) Results of acquisition document reviews re-
quired pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection (d). 
‘‘(4) Activities to ensure that practices are 
adopted and implemented throughout the Department 
pursuant to paragraph (6) of subsection (d). 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(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, held by the Secretary acting through the Dep-
uty Secretary or Under Secretary for Management 
to— 
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‘‘(A) ensure compliance with Federal law, 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and Depart-
ment acquisition management directives; 
‘‘(B) review (including approving, pausing, 
modifying, or cancelling) an acquisition pro-
gram through the life cycle of such program; 
‘‘(C) ensure that acquisition program man-
agers have the resources necessary to successfully 
execute an approved acquisition program; 
‘‘(D) ensure good acquisition program man-
agement of cost, schedule, risk, and system per-
formance of the acquisition program at issue, in-
cluding assessing acquisition program baseline 
breaches and directing any corrective action for 
such breaches; and 
‘‘(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 to avoid and mitigate acquisition 
program baseline breaches. 
‘‘(3) ACQUISITION DECISION EVENT.—The term 
‘acquisition decision event’, with respect to an acqui-
sition program, means a predetermined point within 
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each of the acquisition phases at which the acquisi-
tion decision authority determines whether such ac-
quisition program shall proceed to the next acquisi-
tion phase. 
‘‘(4) ACQUISITION
DECISION
MEMORANDUM.— 
The term ‘acquisition decision memorandum’, with 
respect to an acquisition, means the official acquisi-
tion decision event record that includes a documented 
record of decisions, exit criteria, and assigned actions 
for such acquisition, as determined by the person ex-
ercising acquisition decision authority for such acqui-
sition. 
‘‘(5) ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term ‘acquisi-
tion program’ means the process by which the Depart-
ment acquires, with any appropriated amounts, by 
contract for purchase or lease, property or services 
(including construction) that support the missions 
and goals of the Department. 
‘‘(6) ACQUISITION
PROGRAM
BASELINE.—The 
term ‘acquisition program baseline’, with respect to 
an acquisition program, means a summary of the 
cost, schedule, and performance parameters, expressed 
in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, which 
must be met in order to accomplish the goals of such 
program. 
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‘‘(7) BEST
PRACTICES.—The term ‘best prac-
tices’, with respect to acquisition, means a knowledge- 
based approach to capability development that in-
cludes— 
‘‘(A) identifying and validating needs; 
‘‘(B) assessing alternatives to select the most 
appropriate solution; 
‘‘(C) clearly establishing well-defined re-
quirements; 
‘‘(D) developing realistic cost assessments 
and schedules; 
‘‘(E) securing stable funding that matches 
resources to requirements; 
‘‘(F) demonstrating technology, design, and 
manufacturing maturity; 
‘‘(G) using milestones and exit criteria or 
specific 
accomplishments 
that 
demonstrate 
progress; 
‘‘(H) adopting and executing standardized 
processes with known success across programs; 
‘‘(I) establishing an adequate workforce that 
is qualified and sufficient to perform necessary 
functions; and 
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‘‘(J) integrating the capabilities described 
in subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the De-
partment’s mission and business operations. 
‘‘(8) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM.—The term 
‘major acquisition program’ means a Department ac-
quisition program that is estimated by the Secretary 
to require an eventual total expenditure of at least 
$300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 constant dol-
lars) over its life cycle cost.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 
section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
101 et seq.) is further amended by adding after the item 
relating to section 835 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 836. Acquisition Review Board.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 32 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1282 
[Report No. 115–57] 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 
establish Acquisition Review Boards in the De-
partment of Homeland Security, and for other 
purposes. 
MARCH 23, 2017 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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