[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 889 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 889

To improve acquisition under the Deepwater program of the Coast Guard, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2007

   Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve acquisition under the Deepwater program of the Coast Guard, 
                        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 ``Deepwater Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF ACQUISITION UNDER THE DEEPWATER PROGRAM OF THE 
              COAST GUARD.

    (a) Competition Requirements for Future Acquisitions.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, 
        upon reaching the end of the period of performance currently 
        under contract with Integrated Coast Guard Systems in June 2007 
        under the Deepwater program of the Coast Guard, acquire the 
        completion, delivery, and acceptance of all assets under that 
        contract through new contracts solicited under the full and 
        open competition requirements of section 6.1 of the Federal 
        Acquisition Regulation.
            (2) Prohibition on use of lead systems integrator.--The 
        Secretary shall not utilize the services of a lead systems 
        integrator in any manner to acquire the completion, delivery, 
        or acceptance of assets under this subsection.
    (b) Exception.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the 
        Secretary may enter into a new contract with Integrated Coast 
        Guard Systems for the completion, delivery, and acceptance of 
        assets for which construction has commenced, but not been 
        completed, under the contract referred to in that subsection as 
        of the date of the enactment of this Act if the Secretary 
        certifies that--
                    (A) the completion, delivery, and acceptance of 
                such assets under a contract other than with Integrated 
                Coast Guard Systems would pose an immediate or near-
                term risk to the national security interests of the 
                United States; or
                    (B) the cost of the completion, delivery, and 
                acceptance of such assets under a contract with other 
                than Integrated Coast Guard Systems would exceed the 
                cost of the completion, delivery, and acceptance of 
                such assets under a contract with Integrated Coast 
                Guard Systems.
            (2) Reports to congress.--If the Secretary determines under 
        paragraph (1) to acquire the completion, delivery, and 
        acceptance of assets under a contract with Integrated Coast 
        Guard Systems, the Secretary shall, not later than 180 days 
        after the date of such determination and every 180 days 
        thereafter until the completion, delivery, and acceptance of 
        such assets, submit to Congress a report on the current 
        construction status of such assets.
    (c) Report on Proposed Acquisition to Acquire Completion, Delivery, 
and Acceptance of Assets.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
on the acquisition of assets under the Deepwater program. The report 
shall set forth the following:
            (1) A list of each asset under the Deepwater program that 
        has not been completed, delivered, and accepted as of the date 
        of such report.
            (2) A list of each such asset of which the Secretary 
        proposes to acquire completion, delivery, and acceptance under 
        contracts entered into under subsection (a).
            (3) A list of each such asset of which the Secretary 
        proposes to acquire completion, delivery, and acceptance under 
        a contract under subsection (b) with Integrated Coast Guard 
        Systems.
    (d) Inspector General Review of Deepwater Program.--Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector 
General of the Department of Homeland Security shall submit to the 
Secretary, and to Congress, a report on the acquisition of assets under 
the Deepwater program. The report shall include--
            (1) a description of each decision, if any, of the Coast 
        Guard or Integrated Coast Guard Systems relating to the 
        acquisition of assets under the Deepwater program that directly 
        or indirectly resulted in cost overruns or program cost 
        increases to the United States;
            (2) an assessment whether any decision covered by paragraph 
        (1) violated the terms of the contract of Integrated Coast 
        Guard Systems for the Deepwater program;
            (3) an assessment of how much program costs under the 
        Deepwater program have increased as a result of any such 
        decision;
            (4) an assessment of whether the Coast Guard or Integrated 
        Coast Guard Systems is responsible for the payment of any cost 
        overruns associated with any such decision.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``asset'' means any product to be acquired 
        under the contract of the Coast Guard for the Deepwater program 
        referred to in subsection (a), including vessels, fixed-wing 
        aircraft, and rotary-wing aircraft, and any component thereof.
            (2) The term ``Integrated Coast Guard Systems'' means the 
        joint venture, commonly referred to as ``Integrated Coast Guard 
        Systems'' or ``ICGS'' between Lockheed Martin Corporation and 
        Northrop Grumman Corporation for the purposes of completing and 
        delivering assets to the Coast Guard under the Deepwater 
        program.
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