534 
governmental and nongovernmental entities involved 
in homeland security, including Federal, State, local, 
and tribal government officials, private sector rep-
resentatives, academics, and other policy experts. 
‘‘(3) INCIDENT.—The term ‘incident’ has the 
meaning given such term in the second section 226, 
relating to the national cybersecurity and commu-
nications integration center. 
‘‘(4) INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘infor-
mation system’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 3502(8) of title 44, United States Code. 
‘‘SEC. 323. INTEGRATED PRODUCT TEAMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish in-
tegrated product teams to serve as a central mechanism 
for the Department to identify, coordinate, and align re-
search and development efforts with departmental mis-
sions. Each team shall be managed by the Under Sec-
retary for Science and Technology and the relevant senior 
leadership of operational components, and shall be respon-
sible for the following: 
‘‘(1) Identifying and prioritizing homeland secu-
rity capability gaps or threats to the homeland with-
in a specific mission area and technological solutions 
to address such gaps. 
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‘‘(2) Identifying ongoing departmental research 
and development activities and component acquisi-
tions of technologies that are outside of depart-
mental research and development activities to ad-
dress a specific mission area. 
‘‘(3) Assessing the appropriateness of a tech-
nology to address a specific mission area. 
‘‘(4) Identifying unnecessary redundancy in de-
partmental research and development activities with-
in a specific mission area. 
‘‘(5) Informing the Secretary and the annual 
budget process regarding whether certain techno-
logical solutions are able to address homeland secu-
rity capability gaps or threats to the homeland with-
in a specific mission area. 
‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall provide to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-
ate information on the impact and effectiveness of the 
mechanism described in subsection (a) on research and de-
velopment efforts, component relationships, and how the 
process has informed the research and development budget 
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and enhanced decisionmaking, including acquisition deci-
sionmaking, at the Department. The Secretary shall seek 
feedback from the Under Secretary for Science and Tech-
nology, Under Secretary for Management, and the senior 
leadership of operational components regarding the impact 
and effectiveness of such mechanism and include such 
feedback in the information provided under this sub-
section. 
‘‘SEC. 324. HOMELAND SECURITY-STEM SUMMER INTERN-
SHIP PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 
and Technology shall establish a Homeland Security- 
STEM internship program (in this section referred to as 
the ‘program’) to carry out the objectives of this subtitle. 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The program shall provide students 
with exposure to Department mission-relevant research 
areas, including threats to the homeland, to encourage 
such students to pursue STEM careers in homeland secu-
rity related fields. Internships offered under the program 
shall be for up to 10 weeks during the summer. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—The Under Secretary for Science 
and Technology shall develop criteria for participation in 
the program, including the following: 
‘‘(1) At the time of application, an intern 
shall— 
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‘‘(A) have successfully completed not less 
than 1 academic year of study at an institution 
of higher education in a STEM field; 
‘‘(B) be enrolled in a course of study in a 
STEM field at an institution of higher edu-
cation; and 
‘‘(C) plan to continue such course of study 
or pursue an additional course of study in a 
STEM field at an institution of higher edu-
cation in the academic year following the in-
ternship. 
‘‘(2) An intern shall be pursuing career goals 
aligned with the Department’s mission, goals, and 
objectives. 
‘‘(3) Any other criteria the Under Secretary de-
termines appropriate. 
‘‘(d) COOPERATION.—The program shall be adminis-
tered in cooperation with the university-based centers for 
homeland security under section 308. Interns in the pro-
gram shall be provided hands-on research experience and 
enrichment activities focused on Department research 
areas. 
‘‘(e) ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS; OPERATION.—The 
Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall deter-
mine the academic requirements, other selection criteria, 
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and standards for successful completion of each internship 
period in the program. The Under Secretary shall be re-
sponsible for the design, implementation, and operation of 
the program. 
‘‘(f) RESEARCH MENTORS.—The Under Secretary 
for Science and Technology shall ensure that each intern 
in the program is assigned a research mentor to act as 
counselor and advisor and provide career-focused advice. 
‘‘(g) OUTREACH TO CERTAIN UNDER-REPRESENTED 
STUDENTS.—The Under Secretary for Science and Tech-
nology shall conduct outreach to students who are mem-
bers of groups under-represented in STEM careers to en-
courage their participation in the program. 
‘‘(h) INSTITUTION
OF HIGHER EDUCATION DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘institution of higher 
education’ has the meaning given the term in section 102 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), 
except that the term does not include institutions de-
scribed in subparagraph (C) of such section 102(a)(1).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 30 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 
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amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
317 the following new items: 
‘‘Sec. 318. Identification and prioritization of research and development. 
‘‘Sec. 319. Development of Directorate strategy and research and development 
plan. 
‘‘Sec. 320. Monitoring of progress. 
‘‘Sec. 321. Homeland Security Science and Technology Fellows Program. 
‘‘Sec. 322. Cybersecurity research and development. 
‘‘Sec. 323. Integrated product teams. 
‘‘Sec. 324. Homeland Security-STEM summer internship program.’’. 
(d) RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.— 
Section 831 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 391) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking the last 
sentence; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) PRIOR APPROVAL.—In any case in which 
a component or office of the Department seeks to 
utilize the authority under this section, such office 
or component shall first receive prior approval from 
the Secretary by providing to the Secretary a pro-
posal that includes the rationale for the use of such 
authority, the funds to be spent on the use of such 
authority, and the expected outcome for each project 
that is the subject of the use of such authority. In 
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such a case, the authority for evaluating the pro-
posal may not be delegated by the Secretary to any-
one other than the Under Secretary for Manage-
ment.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘2015’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2020’’; and 
(B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall annually 
submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate a report detailing the projects for which the 
authority granted by subsection (a) was used, the 
rationale for such use, the funds spent using such 
authority, the extent of cost-sharing for such 
projects among Federal and non-Federal sources, 
the extent to which use of such authority has ad-
dressed a homeland security capability gap or threat 
to the homeland identified by the Department, the 
total amount of payments, if any, that were received 
by the Federal Government as a result of the use of 
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such authority during the period covered by each 
such report, the outcome of each project for which 
such authority was used, and the results of any au-
dits of such projects.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(e) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall develop a train-
ing program for acquisitions staff in the use of other 
transaction authority to help ensure the appropriate use 
of such authority. 
‘‘(f) OTHER TRANSACTION AUTHORITY DEFINED.— 
In this section, the term ‘other transaction authority’ 
means authority under subsection (a).’’. 
(e) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION.—Paragraph (2) of 
subsection (a) of the second section 226 of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 148; relating to the na-
tional cybersecurity and communications integration cen-
ter) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) INCIDENT.—The term ‘incident’ means an 
occurrence that actually or imminently jeopardizes, 
without lawful authority, the integrity, confiden-
tiality, or availability of information on an informa-
tion system, or actually or imminently jeopardizes, 
without lawful authority, an information system.’’. 
(f) GAO STUDY OF UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall ini-
tiate a study to assess the university-based centers 
for homeland security program authorized by section 
308(b)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 188(b)(2)), and provide recommendations to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate for appropriate improvements. 
(2) SUBJECT
MATTERS.—The study required 
under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(A) A review of the Department of Home-
land Security’s efforts to identify key areas of 
study needed to support the homeland security 
mission, and criteria that the Department uti-
lized to determine those key areas for which the 
Department should maintain, establish, or 
eliminate university-based centers. 
(B) A review of the method by which uni-
versity-based centers, federally funded research 
and development centers, and Department of 
Energy national laboratories receive tasking 
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from the Department of Homeland Security, in-
cluding a review of how university-based re-
search is identified, prioritized, and funded. 
(C) A review of selection criteria for desig-
nating university-based centers and a weighting 
of such criteria. 
(D) An examination of best practices from 
other agencies’ efforts to organize and use uni-
versity-based research to support their missions. 
(E) A review of the Department of Home-
land Security’s criteria and metrics to measure 
demonstrable progress achieved by university- 
based centers in fulfilling Department taskings, 
and mechanisms for delivering and dissemi-
nating the research results of designated uni-
versity-based centers within the Department 
and to other Federal, State, and local agencies. 
(F) An examination of the means by which 
academic institutions that are not designated or 
associated with the designated university-based 
centers can optimally contribute to the research 
mission of the Directorate of Science and Tech-
nology of the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity. 
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