Title: DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act of 2017
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit a multiyear acquisition strategy that allows flexibility to deal with ever-changing threats and risks and that helps industry align resources to meet DHS needs. Such strategy shall be updated and included in each required Future Years Homeland Security Program.
The strategy shall include:
The strategy also shall include assessments of ways DHS can:
The Government Accountability Office shall review the strategy to analyze its effectiveness in meeting specified objectives.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 887

   To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a multiyear 
 acquisition strategy for the Department of Homeland Security, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 6 (legislative day, April 4), 2017

 Mr. Daines (for himself and Mrs. McCaskill) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a multiyear 
 acquisition strategy for the Department of Homeland Security, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    (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:

``SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Acquisition.--The term `acquisition' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 131 of title 41, United States Code.
            ``(2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        `appropriate committees of Congress' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 226(a).
            ``(3) Best practices.--The term `best practices', with 
        respect to acquisition, means--
                    ``(A) a knowledge-based approach to capability 
                development that includes identifying and validating 
                needs;
                    ``(B) assessing alternatives to select the most 
                appropriate solution;
                    ``(C) clearly establishing well-defined 
                requirements;
                    ``(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
                    ``(J) integrating the capabilities described in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the mission and 
                business operations of the Department.
            ``(4) Component acquisition executive.--The term `Component 
        Acquisition Executive' means the senior acquisition official 
        within a component who is designated in writing by the Under 
        Secretary for Management, in consultation with the component 
        head, with authority and responsibility for leading a process 
        and staff to provide acquisition and program management 
        oversight, policy, and guidance to ensure that statutory, 
        regulatory, and higher level policy requirements are fulfilled, 
        including compliance with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation, and Department acquisition management directives 
        established by the Under Secretary for Management.
            ``(5) Major acquisition program.--The term `major 
        acquisition program' means an acquisition program of the 
        Department that is estimated by the Secretary to require an 
        eventual total expenditure of not less than $300,000,000 (based 
        on fiscal year 2017 constant dollars) over the life cycle cost 
        of the program.
    ``(b) Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Required.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress and the Comptroller General 
        of the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy to--
                    ``(A) guide the overall direction of the 
                acquisitions of the Department while allowing 
                flexibility to deal with ever-changing threats and 
                risks; and
                    ``(B) help industry better understand, plan, and 
                align resources to meet the future acquisition needs of 
                the Department.
            ``(2) Updates.--The strategy required under paragraph (1) 
        shall be updated and included in each Future Years Homeland 
        Security Program required under section 874.
            ``(3) Form.--The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) submit the strategy required under paragraph 
                (1) in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
                annex for any sensitive or classified information if 
                necessary; and
                    ``(B) publish the strategy required under paragraph 
                (1) in an unclassified format that is publicly 
                available.
    ``(c) Consultation.--In developing the strategy required under 
subsection (b), the Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines 
appropriate, consult with headquarters, components, employees in the 
field, and individuals from industry and the academic community.
    ``(d) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy required under subsection 
(b) shall include the following:
            ``(1) Prioritized list.--A systematic and integrated 
        prioritized list developed by the Under Secretary for 
        Management in coordination with all of the Component 
        Acquisition Executives of major acquisition programs that 
        Department and component acquisition investments seek to 
        address, 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 the 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 the systems and equipment of the Department; and
                    ``(B) plan for the acquisition and management of 
                future systems and equipment.
            ``(3) Funding gaps.--A plan to address funding gaps between 
        funding requirements for major acquisition programs and known 
        available resources, 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 economies of 
                scale.
            ``(4) Identification of capabilities.--An identification of 
        test, evaluation, modeling, and simulation capabilities that 
        will be required to--
                    ``(A) support the acquisition of technologies to 
                meet the needs of the strategy;
                    ``(B) leverage to the greatest extent possible 
                emerging technological trends and research and 
                development trends within the public and private 
                sectors; and
                    ``(C) identify ways to ensure that appropriate 
                technology is acquired and integrated into the 
                operating doctrine of the Department to improve mission 
                performance.
            ``(5) Focus on flexible solutions.--An assessment of ways 
        the Department can improve the ability of the Department to 
        test and acquire innovative solutions to allow needed 
        incentives and protections for appropriate risk-taking in order 
        to meet the acquisition needs of the Department with 
        resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to assure homeland 
        security and facilitate trade.
            ``(6) Focus on incentives to save taxpayer dollars.--An 
        assessment of ways the Department can develop incentives for 
        program managers and senior acquisition officials of the 
        Department to--
                    ``(A) prevent cost overruns;
                    ``(B) avoid schedule delays; and
                    ``(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisition 
                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) evaluations 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 opportunities 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 available to meet the mission needs of 
        the Department and to inform the requirements-setting process 
        of the Department before engaging in an acquisition, 
        including--
                    ``(A) methods designed especially to engage small 
                and disadvantaged businesses, a cost-benefit analysis 
                of the tradeoffs that small and disadvantaged 
                businesses provide, information relating to barriers to 
                entry for small and disadvantaged businesses, and 
                information relating to unique requirements for small 
                and disadvantaged businesses; and
                    ``(B) within the Department Vendor Communication 
                Plan and Market Research Guide, instructions for 
                interaction by acquisition program managers with those 
                entities to--
                            ``(i) prevent misinterpretation of 
                        acquisition regulations; and
                            ``(ii) permit, within legal and ethical 
                        boundaries, interacting with those entities 
                        with transparency.
            ``(9) Competition.--A plan regarding competition under 
        subsection (e).
            ``(10) Acquisition workforce.--A plan regarding the 
        Department acquisition workforce under subsection (f).
    ``(e) Competition Plan.--The strategy required under subsection (b) 
shall include a plan to address actions to ensure competition, or the 
option of competition, for major acquisition programs, which may 
include assessments of the following measures in appropriate cases if 
the measures are cost effective:
            ``(1) Competitive prototyping.
            ``(2) Dual-sourcing.
            ``(3) Unbundling of contracts.
            ``(4) Funding of next generation prototype systems or 
        subsystems.
            ``(5) Use of modular, open architectures to enable 
        competition for upgrades.
            ``(6) Acquisition of complete technical data packages.
            ``(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem upgrades.
            ``(8) Licensing of additional suppliers, including small 
        businesses.
            ``(9) Periodic system or program reviews to address long-
        term competitive effects of program decisions.
    ``(f) Acquisition Workforce Plan.--
            ``(1) Acquisition workforce.--The strategy required under 
        subsection (b) shall include a plan to address Department 
        acquisition workforce accountability and talent management 
        that--
                    ``(A) identifies the acquisition workforce needs of 
                each component performing acquisition functions; and
                    ``(B) develops options for filling those 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 acquisition workforce 
                personnel, including contracting officers' 
                representatives, in order to retain highly qualified 
                individuals who have experience in the acquisition life 
                cycle, complex procurements, and management of large 
                programs;
                    ``(B) empower program managers to have the 
                authority to manage their programs in an accountable 
                and transparent manner as such managers work with the 
                acquisition workforce;
                    ``(C) prevent duplication within Department 
                acquisition workforce training and certification 
                requirements through leveraging existing training 
                within the Federal Government, academic community, or 
                private industry;
                    ``(D) achieve integration and consistency with 
                Government-wide training and accreditation standards, 
                acquisition training tools, and training facilities;
                    ``(E) designate the acquisition positions that will 
                be necessary to support the acquisition requirements of 
                the Department, including in the fields of--
                            ``(i) program management;
                            ``(ii) systems engineering;
                            ``(iii) procurement, including contracting;
                            ``(iv) test and evaluation;
                            ``(v) life cycle logistics;
                            ``(vi) cost estimating and program 
                        financial management; and
                            ``(vii) additional disciplines appropriate 
                        to the mission needs of the Department;
                    ``(F) strengthen the performance of contracting 
                officers' representatives (as defined in subpart 1.602-
                2 and subpart 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition 
                Regulation), including by--
                            ``(i) assessing the extent to which those 
                        representatives are certified and receive 
                        training that is appropriate;
                            ``(ii) assessing what training is most 
                        effective with respect to the type and 
                        complexity of assignment; and
                            ``(iii) implementing actions to improve 
                        training based on those assessments; and
                    ``(G) identify ways to increase training for 
                relevant investigators and auditors of the Department 
                to examine fraud in major acquisition programs, 
                including identifying opportunities to leverage 
                existing Federal Government and private sector 
                resources in coordination with the Inspector General of 
                the Department.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296; 116 Stat. 2135) 
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 835 the 
following:

``Sec. 836. Multiyear acquisition strategy.''.

SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW OF MULTIYEAR 
              ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the terms ``acquisition'', ``best practices'', and 
        ``major acquisition program'' have the meanings given those 
        terms in section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
        added by section 2 of this Act; and
            (2) the term ``Department'' means the Department of 
        Homeland Security.
    (b) Review.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
Secretary of Homeland Security submits the first multiyear acquisition 
strategy required under section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a 
review of the strategy and analyze the viability of the effectiveness 
of the strategy in--
            (1) complying with the requirements of such section 836;
            (2) establishing clear connections between Department 
        objectives and acquisition priorities;
            (3) demonstrating that Department acquisition policy 
        reflects program management best practices and standards;
            (4) ensuring competition or the option of competition for 
        major acquisition programs;
            (5) considering potential cost savings through using 
        existing technologies when developing acquisition program 
        requirements;
            (6) preventing duplication within Department acquisition 
        workforce training requirements through leveraging already-
        existing training within the Federal Government, academic 
        community, or private industry; and
            (7) providing incentives for acquisition program managers 
        to reduce acquisition and procurement costs through the use of 
        best practices and disciplined program management.
    (c) Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives a report on the review conducted under subsection (b), 
which shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a 
classified annex.
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