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