IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3413 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for certain acquisition authorities for the Under Sec- retary of Management of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3413 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Acquisition Re- 2 form Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR UNDER SEC- 4 RETARY FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPART- 5 MENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 6 Section 701 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 7 (6 U.S.C. 341) is amended by— 8 (1) redesignating subsection (d), the first sub- 9 section (e) (relating to the system for award man- 10 agement consultation), and the second subsection (e) 11 (relating to the definition of interoperable commu- 12 nications) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respec- 13 tively; and 14 (2) inserting after subsection (c) the following 15 new subsection: 16 ‘‘(d) ACQUISITION AND RELATED RESPONSIBIL- 17 ITIES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 19 1702(a) of title 41, United States Code, the Under 20 Secretary for Management is the Chief Acquisition 21 Officer of the Department. As Chief Acquisition Of- 22 ficer, the Under Secretary shall have the authorities 23 and perform the functions specified in such section 24 1702(b), and perform all other functions and re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3413 RFS sponsibilities delegated by the Secretary or described 1 in this subsection. 2 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—In 3 addition to the authorities and functions specified in 4 section 1702(b) of title 41, United States Code, the 5 functions and responsibilities of the Under Secretary 6 for Management related to acquisition (as such term 7 is defined in section 711) include the following: 8 ‘‘(A) Advising the Secretary regarding ac- 9 quisition management activities, taking into ac- 10 count risks of failure to achieve cost, schedule, 11 or performance parameters, to ensure that the 12 Department achieves its mission through the 13 adoption of widely accepted program manage- 14 ment best practices (as such term is defined in 15 section 711) and standards and, where appro- 16 priate, acquisition innovation best practices. 17 ‘‘(B) Leading the Department’s acquisition 18 oversight body, the Acquisition Review Board. 19 ‘‘(C) Exercising the acquisition decision 20 authority (as such term is defined in section 21 711) to approve, pause, modify (including the 22 rescission of approvals of program milestones), 23 or cancel major acquisition programs (as such 24 term is defined in section 711), unless the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3413 RFS Under Secretary delegates such authority to a 1 Component Acquisition Executive (as such term 2 is defined in section 711) pursuant to para- 3 graph (3). 4 ‘‘(D) Establishing policies for acquisition 5 that implement an approach that takes into ac- 6 count risks of failure to achieve cost, schedule, 7 or performance parameters that all components 8 of the Department shall comply with, including 9 outlining relevant authorities for program man- 10 agers to effectively manage acquisition pro- 11 grams (as such term is defined in section 711). 12 ‘‘(E) Ensuring that each major acquisition 13 program has a Department-approved acquisi- 14 tion program baseline (as such term is defined 15 in section 711), pursuant to the Department’s 16 acquisition management policy. 17 ‘‘(F) Assisting the heads of components 18 and Component Acquisition Executives in ef- 19 forts to comply with Federal law, the Federal 20 Acquisition Regulation, and Department acqui- 21 sition management directives. 22 ‘‘(G) Ensuring that grants and financial 23 assistance are provided only to individuals and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3413 RFS organizations that are not suspended or 1 debarred. 2 ‘‘(H) Distributing guidance throughout the 3 Department to ensure that contractors involved 4 in acquisitions, particularly contractors that ac- 5 cess the Department’s information systems and 6 technologies, adhere to relevant Department 7 policies related to physical and information se- 8 curity as identified by the Under Secretary for 9 Management. 10 ‘‘(I) Overseeing the Component Acquisition 11 Executive organizational structure to ensure 12 Component Acquisition Executives have suffi- 13 cient capabilities and comply with Department 14 acquisition policies. 15 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF CERTAIN ACQUISITION 16 DECISION AUTHORITY.— 17 ‘‘(A) LEVEL 3 ACQUISITIONS.—The Under 18 Secretary for Management may delegate acqui- 19 sition decision authority to the relevant Compo- 20 nent Acquisition Executive for an acquisition 21 program that has a life cycle cost estimate of 22 less than $300,000,000. 23 ‘‘(B) LEVEL 2 ACQUISITIONS.—The Under 24 Secretary for Management may delegate acqui- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3413 RFS sition decision authority in writing to the rel- 1 evant Component Acquisition Executive for a 2 major acquisition program that has a life cycle 3 cost estimate of at least $300,000,000 but not 4 more than $1,000,000,000 if all of the following 5 requirements are met: 6 ‘‘(i) The component concerned pos- 7 sesses working policies, processes, and pro- 8 cedures that are consistent with Depart- 9 ment-level acquisition policy. 10 ‘‘(ii) The Component Acquisition Ex- 11 ecutive concerned has adequate, experi- 12 enced, and dedicated professional employ- 13 ees with program management training, as 14 applicable, commensurate with the size of 15 the acquisition programs and related ac- 16 tivities delegated to such Component Ac- 17 quisition Executive by the Under Secretary 18 for Management. 19 ‘‘(iii) Each major acquisition program 20 concerned has written documentation 21 showing that it has a Department-ap- 22 proved acquisition program baseline and it 23 is meeting agreed-upon cost, schedule, and 24 performance thresholds. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3413 RFS ‘‘(C) LEVEL 1 ACQUISITIONS.—The Under 1 Secretary for Management may delegate acqui- 2 sition decision authority in writing to the rel- 3 evant Component Acquisition Executive for a 4 Level 1 major acquisition program that has a 5 life cycle cost estimate of more than 6 $1,000,000,000 if all of the following require- 7 ments are met: 8 ‘‘(i) The Undersecretary for Manage- 9 ment conducts a risk assessment of the 10 planned acquisition and determines that it 11 is appropriate to delegate authority for 12 such major acquisition program. 13 ‘‘(ii) The component concerned pos- 14 sesses working policies, processes, and pro- 15 cedures that are consistent with Depart- 16 ment-level acquisition policy. 17 ‘‘(iii) The Component Acquisition Ex- 18 ecutive concerned has adequate, experi- 19 enced, and dedicated professional employ- 20 ees with program management training, as 21 applicable, commensurate with the size of 22 the acquisition programs and related ac- 23 tivities delegated to such Component Ac- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 3413 RFS quisition Executive by the Under Secretary 1 for Management. 2 ‘‘(iv) Each Level 1 major acquisition 3 program concerned has written documenta- 4 tion showing that it has a Department-ap- 5 proved acquisition program baseline and it 6 is meeting agreed-upon cost, schedule, and 7 performance thresholds. 8 ‘‘(v) The Under Secretary for Man- 9 agement provides written notification to 10 the appropriate congressional committees 11 of the decision to delegate the authority to 12 the relevant Component Acquisition Execu- 13 tive. 14 ‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO UNDER SECRETARY 15 FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub- 17 section shall diminish the authority granted to 18 the Under Secretary for Science and Tech- 19 nology under this Act. The Under Secretary for 20 Management and the Under Secretary for 21 Science and Technology shall cooperate in mat- 22 ters related to the coordination of acquisitions 23 across the Department so that investments of 24 the Directorate of Science and Technology are 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 3413 RFS able to support current and future requirements 1 of the components of the Department. 2 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONAL TESTING AND EVALUA- 3 TION.—The Under Secretary for Science and 4 Technology shall— 5 ‘‘(i) ensure, in coordination with rel- 6 evant component heads, that major acqui- 7 sition programs— 8 ‘‘(I) complete operational testing 9 and evaluation of technologies and 10 systems to be acquired or developed 11 by major acquisition programs to as- 12 sess operational effectiveness, suit- 13 ability, and cybersecurity; 14 ‘‘(II) use independent verification 15 and validation of operational test and 16 evaluation implementation and re- 17 sults, as appropriate; and 18 ‘‘(III) document whether such 19 programs meet all performance re- 20 quirements included in their acquisi- 21 tion program baselines; 22 ‘‘(ii) ensure that such operational 23 testing and evaluation includes all system 24 components and incorporates operators 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 3413 RFS into the testing to ensure that systems per- 1 form as intended in the appropriate oper- 2 ational setting; and 3 ‘‘(iii) determine if testing conducted 4 by other Federal departments and agencies 5 and private entities is relevant and suffi- 6 cient in determining whether systems per- 7 form as intended in the operational set- 8 ting.’’. 9 SEC. 3. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR CHIEF FINANCIAL 10 OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME- 11 LAND SECURITY. 12 Paragraph (2) of section 702(b) of the Homeland Se- 13 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 342(b)) is amended by— 14 (1) redesignating subparagraph (I) as subpara- 15 graph (J); and 16 (2) inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol- 17 lowing new subparagraph: 18 ‘‘(I) Oversee the costs of acquisition pro- 19 grams (as such term is defined in section 711) 20 and related activities to ensure that actual and 21 planned costs are in accordance with budget es- 22 timates and are affordable, or can be ade- 23 quately funded, over the life cycle of such pro- 24 grams and activities.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 3413 RFS SEC. 4. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR CHIEF INFORMA- 1 TION OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 2 HOMELAND SECURITY. 3 Section 703 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 4 (6 U.S.C. 343) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 6 section (c); and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection: 9 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION RESPONSIBILITIES.—In addition 10 to the responsibilities specified in section 11315 of title 11 40, United States Code, the acquisition responsibilities of 12 the Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the 13 Under Secretary for Management, shall include the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(1) Overseeing the management of the Home- 16 land Security Enterprise Architecture and ensuring 17 that, before each acquisition decision event (as such 18 term is defined in section 711), approved informa- 19 tion technology acquisitions comply with any depart- 20 mental information technology management require- 21 ments, security protocols, and the Homeland Secu- 22 rity Enterprise Architecture, and in any case in 23 which information technology acquisitions do not 24 comply with the Department’s management direc- 25 tives, making recommendations to the Department’s 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 3413 RFS Acquisition Review Board regarding such noncompli- 1 ance. 2 ‘‘(2) Providing recommendations to the Acquisi- 3 tion Review Board regarding information technology 4 programs, and developing information technology ac- 5 quisition strategic guidance.’’. 6 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR UNDER SEC- 7 RETARY OF STRATEGY, POLICY, AND PLANS. 8 Subsection (c) of section 709 of the Homeland Secu- 9 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 349) is amended by— 10 (1) redesignating paragraphs (4) through (7) as 11 (5) through (8), respectively; and 12 (2) inserting after paragraph (3) the following 13 new paragraph: 14 ‘‘(4) ensure acquisition programs (as such term 15 is defined in section 711) support the DHS Quad- 16 rennial Homeland Security Review Report, the DHS 17 Strategic Plan, the DHS Strategic Priorities, and 18 other appropriate successor documents;’’. 19 SEC. 6. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR PROGRAM AC- 20 COUNTABILITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT 21 (PARM). 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 23 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 24 adding at the end the following new section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Feb 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.RFS H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 HR 3413 RFS ‘‘SEC. 711. ACQUISITION AUTHORITIES FOR PROGRAM AC- 1 COUNTABILITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT. 2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—Within the Man- 3 agement Directorate, there shall be a Program Account- 4 ability and Risk Management office to— 5 ‘‘(1) provide consistent accountability, stand- 6 ardization, and transparency of major acquisition 7 programs of the Department; 8 ‘‘(2) serve as the central oversight function for 9 all Departm [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]