[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4225 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4225

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Acquisition 
   Review Board of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2023

  Mr. Mrvan (for himself and Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Acquisition 
   Review Board of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ``VA Acquisition Review Board Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD IN DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 81 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after subchapter VI the following new subchapter:

               ``SUBCHAPTER VII--ACQUISITION REVIEW BOARD

``Sec. 8181. Definitions
    ``In this subchapter:
            ``(1) The term `major acquisition program' means a program 
        of the Department to acquire property, assets, supplies, 
        services, or a combination thereof, with an estimated life-
        cycle cost of $250,000,000 or more, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
            ``(2) The term `non-major acquisition program' means a 
        program of the Department to acquire property, assets, 
        supplies, services, or a combination thereof, with an estimated 
        life-cycle cost of less than $250,000,000, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
``Sec. 8182. Acquisition Review Board
    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Department a board, 
to be known as the `Acquisition Review Board', to support the Secretary 
in managing acquisition programs under the laws administered by the 
Secretary.
    ``(b) Composition.--(1) The Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall serve as Chair of the Acquisition Review Board.
    ``(2) The Deputy Secretary may designate an employee of the 
Department to oversee the operations of the Acquisition Review Board.
    ``(3) The Deputy Secretary shall ensure participation by other 
relevant Department officials with responsibilities relating to 
acquisitions as permanent members of the Acquisition Review Board, 
including the following:
            ``(A) The Chief Acquisition Officer.
            ``(B) The Chief Financial Officer.
            ``(C) The Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
            ``(D) The Chief Information Officer.
            ``(E) The Assistant Secretary for Enterprise Integration.
            ``(F) Other relevant senior Department officials, as the 
        Deputy Secretary determines appropriate, including such 
        officials from the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans 
        Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery 
        Administration.
    ``(c) Meetings.--The Acquisition Review Board shall convene--
            ``(1) at the discretion of the Deputy Secretary; and
            ``(2) not later than 45 days after any date on which--
                    ``(A) a major acquisition program--
                            ``(i) is proposed to the Secretary;
                            ``(ii) is approved by the Secretary to 
                        commence;
                            ``(iii) concludes an acquisition phase;
                            ``(iv) is not in compliance with 
                        requirements relating to cost, schedule, or 
                        performance under the applicable program 
                        baseline described in section 8183(b)(1) of 
                        this title, as determined by the Deputy 
                        Secretary; or
                            ``(v) requires additional review, as 
                        determined by the Deputy Secretary; and
                    ``(B) a non-major acquisition program requires 
                review, as determined by the Deputy Secretary.
    ``(d) Responsibilities.--The Acquisition Review Board shall be 
responsible for--
            ``(1) with respect to a major acquisition program proposed 
        to the Secretary, determining whether the business strategy, 
        budget, management, and organization of such program is 
        feasible and in accordance with the mission and strategic goals 
        of the Department;
            ``(2) with respect to a major acquisition program approved 
        by the Secretary to commence, determining the appropriate 
        acquisition category for such program;
            ``(3) with respect to a major acquisition program that has 
        concluded an acquisition phase--
                    ``(A) authorizing the manager of such program 
                appointed pursuant to section 8183(a) of this title to 
                advance such program to a subsequent acquisition phase 
                if the relevant requirements in such applicable program 
                baseline have been satisfied; and
                    ``(B) advising such manager on appropriate 
                corrective action if such requirements have not been 
                satisfied; and
            ``(4) reviewing, on a continuous basis, each major 
        acquisition program to ensure each such program is in 
        compliance with--
                    ``(A) the relevant requirements in such applicable 
                program baseline; and
                    ``(B) the certification requirement under 
                subsection (c) of such section.
    ``(e) Acquisition Decision Memorandum.--Not later than 30 days 
after any date on which the Deputy Secretary convenes a meeting 
pursuant to subsection (c), the Deputy Secretary shall submit to the 
Secretary and the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate an acquisition decision memorandum that 
includes--
            ``(1) a summary of--
                    ``(A) the purpose of such meeting;
                    ``(B) any matter discussed during such meeting;
                    ``(C) any decision of the Acquisition Review Board 
                made during such meeting, including any such decision 
                to allow a major acquisition program to deviate from 
                the relevant requirements in such applicable program 
                baseline; and
                    ``(D) any matters assigned for further discussion 
                during a subsequent meeting of the Acquisition Review 
                Board; and
            ``(2) a certification by the Deputy Secretary that the 
        contents of such memorandum are accurate.
``Sec. 8183. Major acquisition program managers
    ``(a) Appointments.--Not later than 30 days after any date on which 
the Secretary approves a major acquisition program to commence, the 
Deputy Secretary shall appoint a manager to be responsible for 
administering such program.
    ``(b) Duties.--Each manager appointed pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall be responsible for, with respect to the applicable major 
acquisition program--
            ``(1) developing, in coordination with the Acquisition 
        Review Board, a plan to administer such program, to be known as 
        the `program baseline', that includes--
                    ``(A) a description of each acquisition phase of 
                such program;
                    ``(B) for each such acquisition phase, requirements 
                for advancing such program to a subsequent acquisition 
                phase; and
                    ``(C) estimates of the cost, schedule, and 
                performance of such program that account for the entire 
                life cycle of such program;
            ``(2) ensuring such program is in compliance with such 
        requirements;
            ``(3) securing funding necessary to satisfy such 
        requirements;
            ``(4) adopting standardized processes with established 
        success to support the progress of such program, including--
                    ``(A) milestones;
                    ``(B) exit criteria; and
                    ``(C) specific accomplishments;
            ``(5) to the extent practicable, ensuring that personnel of 
        the Department responsible for estimating the budget and cost 
        of such program are provided with an opportunity to raise 
        concerns relating to such budget and cost prior to the 
        establishment of the program baseline under paragraph (1);
            ``(6) on a continuous basis, assessing and managing risks 
        to satisfying the requirements of such program baseline 
        relating to cost and schedule;
            ``(7) establishing a workforce for such program that is 
        qualified and sufficient to perform the necessary functions of 
        such program; and
            ``(8) ensuring such program has adequate technology and 
        production capacity prior to commencing an acquisition phase of 
        such program related to manufacturing, if applicable.
    ``(c) Consideration of Alternate Requirements.--Not later than 90 
days after any date on which a manager appointed pursuant to subsection 
(a) establishes a program baseline described in subsection (b)(1), such 
manager shall submit to the Chair of the Acquisition Review Board a 
certification that such manager considered establishing alternate 
requirements in such program baseline relating to the cost, schedule, 
and performance of each acquisition phase of such program prior to 
establishing such program baseline.
    ``(d) Acquisition Review Board Authorization Required.--(1) Not 
later than 30 days after any date on which a major acquisition program 
concludes an acquisition phase, the manager of such program appointed 
pursuant to subsection (a) shall notify the Acquisition Review Board 
under section 8182 of this title.
    ``(2) Such manager may not advance such program to a subsequent 
acquisition phase without the authorization of such Acquisition Review 
Board pursuant to subsection (d)(3) of such section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following:

               ``subchapter vii--acquisition review board

``8181. Definitions.
``8182. Acquisition Review Board.
``8183. Major acquisition program managers.''.
                                 <all>