Homeland Security Acquisition Professional Career Program Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5822 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 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 establish an acquisition professional career program, 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 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 5822 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeland Security 2 Acquisition Professional Career Program Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE ACQUISITION PROFES- 4 SIONAL CAREER PROGRAM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 6 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 7 adding at the end the following new section: 8 ‘‘SEC. 711. ACQUISITION PROFESSIONAL CAREER PRO- 9 GRAM. 10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 11 Department an acquisition professional career program to 12 develop a cadre of acquisition professionals within the De- 13 partment. 14 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Under Secretary for 15 Management shall administer the acquisition professional 16 career program established pursuant to subsection (a). 17 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Under Sec- 18 retary for Management shall carry out the following with 19 respect to the acquisition professional career program. 20 ‘‘(1) Designate the occupational series, grades, 21 and number of acquisition positions throughout the 22 Department to be included in the program and man- 23 age centrally such positions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 5822 RFS ‘‘(2) Establish and publish on the Department’s 1 website eligibility criteria for candidates to partici- 2 pate in the program. 3 ‘‘(3) Carry out recruitment efforts to attract 4 candidates— 5 ‘‘(A) from institutions of higher education, 6 including such institutions with established ac- 7 quisition specialties and courses of study, his- 8 torically Black colleges and universities, and 9 Hispanic-serving institutions; 10 ‘‘(B) with diverse work experience outside 11 of the Federal Government; or 12 ‘‘(C) with military service. 13 ‘‘(4) Hire eligible candidates for designated po- 14 sitions under the program. 15 ‘‘(5) Develop a structured program comprised 16 of acquisition training, on-the-job experience, De- 17 partment-wide rotations, mentorship, shadowing, 18 and other career development opportunities for pro- 19 gram participants. 20 ‘‘(6) Provide, beyond required training estab- 21 lished for program participants, additional special- 22 ized acquisition training, including small business 23 contracting and innovative acquisition techniques 24 training. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 5822 RFS ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31, 2020, 1 and annually thereafter through 2026, the Secretary shall 2 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 3 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home- 4 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 5 report on the acquisition professional career program. 6 Each such report shall include the following information: 7 ‘‘(1) The number of candidates approved for 8 the program. 9 ‘‘(2) The number of candidates who commenced 10 participation in the program, including generalized 11 information on such candidates’ backgrounds with 12 respect to education and prior work experience, but 13 not including personally identifiable information. 14 ‘‘(3) A breakdown of the number of partici- 15 pants hired under the program by type of acquisition 16 position. 17 ‘‘(4) A list of Department components and of- 18 fices that participated in the program and informa- 19 tion regarding length of time of each program par- 20 ticipant in each rotation at such components or of- 21 fices. 22 ‘‘(5) Program attrition rates and post-program 23 graduation retention data, including information on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 5822 RFS how such data compare to the prior year’s data, as 1 available. 2 ‘‘(6) The Department’s recruiting efforts for 3 the program. 4 ‘‘(7) The Department’s efforts to promote re- 5 tention of program participants. 6 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 ‘‘(1) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 8 term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the meaning 9 given such term in section 502 of the Higher Edu- 10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 11 ‘‘(2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND 12 UNIVERSITIES.—The term ‘historically Black col- 13 leges and universities’ has the meaning given the 14 term ‘part B institution’ in section 322(2) of Higher 15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 16 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 17 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 18 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 19 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).’’. 20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 21 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 5822 RFS amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1 710 the following new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 711. Acquisition professional career program.’’. Passed the House of Representatives September 30, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5822.RFS H5822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS