[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 762 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 762

             To improve the Federal Acquisition Institute.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 7 (legislative day, April 5), 2011

 Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Akaka, Mrs. McCaskill, and Mr. Brown of 
Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
             To improve the Federal Acquisition Institute.

    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 ``Federal Acquisition Institute 
Improvement Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Workforce Improvements.--Section 1704(b) of title 41, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
        ``The Associate Administrator shall be chosen on the basis of 
        demonstrated knowledge and expertise in acquisition, human 
        capital, and management.'';
            (2) by striking ``The Associate Administrator for 
        Acquisition Workforce Programs shall be located in the Federal 
        Acquisition Institute (or its successor).'' and inserting ``The 
        Associate Administrator shall be located in the Office of 
        Federal Procurement Policy.'';
            (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (5) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(5) implementing workforce programs under subsections (f) 
        through (k) of section 1703 of this title; and''.
    (b) Federal Acquisition Institute.--
            (1) In general.--Division B of title 41, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 11 the following 
        new chapter:

              ``CHAPTER 12--FEDERAL ACQUISITION INSTITUTE

``Sec.
``1201. Federal Acquisition Institute.
``Sec. 1201. Federal Acquisition Institute
    ``(a) In General.--There is established a Federal Acquisition 
Institute (FAI) in order to--
            ``(1) foster and promote the development of a professional 
        acquisition workforce Government-wide;
            ``(2) promote and coordinate Government-wide research and 
        studies to improve the procurement process and the laws, 
        policies, methods, regulations, procedures, and forms relating 
        to acquisition by the executive agencies;
            ``(3) collect data and analyze acquisition workforce data 
        from the Office of Personnel Management, the heads of executive 
        agencies, and, through periodic surveys, from individual 
        employees;
            ``(4) periodically analyze acquisition career fields to 
        identify critical competencies, duties, tasks, and related 
        academic prerequisites, skills, and knowledge;
            ``(5) coordinate and assist agencies in identifying and 
        recruiting highly qualified candidates for acquisition fields;
            ``(6) develop instructional materials for acquisition 
        personnel in coordination with private and public acquisition 
        colleges and training facilities;
            ``(7) evaluate the effectiveness of training and career 
        development programs for acquisition personnel;
            ``(8) promote the establishment and utilization of academic 
        programs by colleges and universities in acquisition fields;
            ``(9) facilitate, to the extent requested by agencies, 
        interagency intern and training programs;
            ``(10) collaborate with other civilian agency acquisition 
        training programs to leverage training supporting all members 
        of the civilian agency acquisition workforce;
            ``(11) assist civilian agencies with their acquisition 
        human capital planning efforts; and
            ``(12) perform other career management or research 
        functions as directed by the Administrator.
    ``(b) Budget Resources and Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator for Federal 
        Procurement Policy shall recommend to the Administrator of the 
        General Services Administration sufficient budget resources and 
        authority for the Federal Acquisition Institute to support 
        Government-wide training standards and certification 
        requirements necessary to enhance the mobility and career 
        opportunities of the Federal acquisition workforce.
            ``(2) Acquisition workforce training fund.--Subject to the 
        availability of funds, the Administer of General Services shall 
        provide the Federal Acquisition Institute with amounts from the 
        acquisition workforce training fund established under section 
        1703(i) of this title sufficient to meet the annual budget for 
        the Federal Acquisition Institute requested by the 
        Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
    ``(c) Federal Acquisition Institute Board of Directors.--
            ``(1) Reporting to administrator.--The Federal Acquisition 
        Institute shall report through its Board of Directors directly 
        to the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
            ``(2) Composition.--The Board shall be composed of not more 
        than 8 individuals from the Federal Government representing a 
        mix of acquisition functional areas, all of whom shall be 
        appointed by the Administrator.
            ``(3) Duties.--The Board shall provide general direction to 
        the Federal Acquisition Institute to ensure that the 
        Institute--
                    ``(A) meets its statutory requirements;
                    ``(B) meets the needs of the Federal acquisition 
                workforce;
                    ``(C) implements appropriate programs;
                    ``(D) coordinates with appropriate organizations 
                and groups that have an impact on the Federal 
                acquisition workforce;
                    ``(E) develops and implements plans to meet future 
                challenges of the Federal acquisition workforce; and
                    ``(F) works closely with the Defense Acquisition 
                University.
            ``(4) Recommendations.--The Board shall make 
        recommendations to the Administrator regarding the development 
        and execution of the annual budget of the Federal Acquisition 
        Institute.
    ``(d) Director.--The Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute 
shall be appointed by, and report directly to, the Administrator.
    ``(e) Annual Report.--The Administrator shall submit to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives an annual report on the projected budget 
needs and expense plans of the Federal Acquisition Institute to fulfill 
its mandate.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 1122(a)(5) of such title 
        is amended to read as follows:
            ``(5) providing for and directing the activities of the 
        Federal Acquisition Institute established under section 1201 of 
        this title, including recommending to the Administrator of 
        General Services a sufficient budget for such activities.''.
    (c) Government-Wide Training Standards and Certification.--Section 
1703 of title 41, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Administrator shall'' and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Government-wide training standards and 
                certification.--The Administrator, acting through the 
                Federal Acquisition Institute, shall provide and update 
                Government-wide training standards and certification 
                requirements, including--
                            ``(i) developing and modifying acquisition 
                        certification programs;
                            ``(ii) ensuring quality assurance for 
                        agency implementation of Government-wide 
                        training and certification standards;
                            ``(iii) analyzing the acquisition training 
                        curriculum to ascertain if all certification 
                        competencies are covered or if adjustments are 
                        necessary;
                            ``(iv) developing career path information 
                        for certified professionals to encourage 
                        retention in Government positions;
                            ``(v) coordinating with the Office of 
                        Personnel Management for human capital efforts; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) managing rotation assignments to 
                        support opportunities to apply skills included 
                        in certification.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(l) Acquisition Internship and Training Programs.--All Federal 
civilian agency acquisition internship or acquisition training programs 
shall follow guidelines provided by the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy to ensure consistent training standards necessary to develop 
uniform core competencies throughout the Federal Government.''.
    (d) Expanded Scope of Acquisition Workforce Training Fund.--Section 
1703(i) of such title is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``to support the training 
        of the acquisition workforce of the executive agencies'' and 
        inserting ``to support the activities set forth in section 
        1201(a) of this title''; and
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ``ensure that amounts 
        collected for training under this subsection are not used for a 
        purpose other than the purpose specified in paragraph (2)'' and 
        inserting ``ensure that amounts collected under this section 
        are not used for a purpose other than the activities set forth 
        in section 1201(a) of this title''.
    (e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or the 
amendments made by this section, shall be construed to preclude the 
Secretary of Defense from establishing acquisition workforce policies, 
procedures, training standards, and certification requirements for 
acquisition positions in the Department of Defense, as provided in 
chapter 87 of title 10, United States Code.
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