[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2428-S2430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mrs. McCaskill):
  S. 887. A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require 
a multiyear acquisition strategy for the Department of Homeland 
Security, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, 
is tasked with keeping Americans safe in the homeland. To carry out 
this mission, DHS spends over $7 billion on acquisition programs 
annually. DHS and its agencies are held to a high standard for keeping 
our Nation safe. We also must hold it to a high standard of fiscal 
responsibility. DHS must be good stewards of taxpayer resources.
  DHS's acquisition process has long faced problems resulting in waste, 
delays, and under delivery of performance objectives. Since the 
inception of DHS, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, has 
highlighted challenges and offered recommendations to improve the 
acquisition process. There has been progress; however, there continues 
to be room for improvement. According to a GAO report release today, 
DHS's acquisition process remains a high-risk issue, susceptible to 
cost overruns and schedules delays. These issues reduce buying power 
and force security employees to wait for new capabilities. This is not 
fair to those on the frontlines tasked with keeping us safe, and it is 
not fair to the American taxpayers.
  That is why I am introducing the DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy 
Act of 2017. This legislation will require DHS to develop a multiyear 
acquisition plan to guide the overall direction of the Department's 
acquisitions, across all agencies, and include it annually in the 
Department's budget request to Congress. It will create a 
Departmentwide prioritized list of investment, to ensure limited 
resources are being directed to the highest valued use.
  This legislation will increase communication internal to DHS, as well 
as with industry and with academia, to help identify current capability 
gaps and future technological needs. It also includes private sector 
principles, such as developing incentives for program managers to 
exceed project cost, schedule, and capabilities goals. I have seen 
these principles work during my 28-year private sector career, and it 
is long past due that we apply them to government. We must move away 
from the ``spend it or lose it'' mentality of government budgeting.
  I thank Senator Claire McCaskill for being an original cosponsor of 
this bill and Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Michael McCaul for 
leading introduction of companion legislation in the House of 
Representatives. I ask my Senate colleagues to join us in support of 
this important legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 887

       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 ``DHS Multiyear Acquisition 
     Strategy Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

       (a) In General.--Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 836. MULTIYEAR ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Acquisition.--The term `acquisition' has the meaning 
     given the term in section 131 of title 41, United States 
     Code.
       ``(2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
     `appropriate committees of Congress' has the meaning given 
     the term in section 226(a).
       ``(3) Best practices.--The term `best practices', with 
     respect to acquisition, means--
       ``(A) a knowledge-based approach to capability development 
     that includes identifying and validating needs;
       ``(B) assessing alternatives to select the most appropriate 
     solution;
       ``(C) clearly establishing well-defined requirements;
       ``(D) developing realistic cost assessments and schedules;
       ``(E) securing stable funding that matches resources to 
     requirements;
       ``(F) demonstrating technology, design, and manufacturing 
     maturity;
       ``(G) using milestones and exit criteria or specific 
     accomplishments that demonstrate progress;
       ``(H) adopting and executing standardized processes with 
     known success across programs;
       ``(I) establishing an adequate workforce that is qualified 
     and sufficient to perform necessary functions; and
       ``(J) integrating the capabilities described in 
     subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the mission and business 
     operations of the Department.
       ``(4) Component acquisition executive.--The term `Component 
     Acquisition Executive' means the senior acquisition official 
     within a component who is designated in writing by the Under 
     Secretary for Management, in consultation with the component 
     head, with authority and responsibility for leading a process 
     and staff to provide acquisition and program management 
     oversight, policy, and guidance to ensure that statutory, 
     regulatory, and higher level policy requirements are 
     fulfilled, including compliance with Federal law, the Federal 
     Acquisition Regulation, and Department acquisition management 
     directives established by the Under Secretary for Management.
       ``(5) Major acquisition program.--The term `major 
     acquisition program' means an acquisition program of the 
     Department that is estimated by the Secretary to require an 
     eventual total expenditure of not less than $300,000,000 
     (based on fiscal year 2017 constant dollars) over the life 
     cycle cost of the program.

[[Page S2429]]

       ``(b) Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Required.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress and the Comptroller 
     General of the United States a multiyear acquisition strategy 
     to--
       ``(A) guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of 
     the Department while allowing flexibility to deal with ever-
     changing threats and risks; and
       ``(B) help industry better understand, plan, and align 
     resources to meet the future acquisition needs of the 
     Department.
       ``(2) Updates.--The strategy required under paragraph (1) 
     shall be updated and included in each Future Years Homeland 
     Security Program required under section 874.
       ``(3) Form.--The Secretary shall--
       ``(A) submit the strategy required under paragraph (1) in 
     unclassified form, but may include a classified annex for any 
     sensitive or classified information if necessary; and
       ``(B) publish the strategy required under paragraph (1) in 
     an unclassified format that is publicly available.
       ``(c) Consultation.--In developing the strategy required 
     under subsection (b), the Secretary shall, as the Secretary 
     determines appropriate, consult with headquarters, 
     components, employees in the field, and individuals from 
     industry and the academic community.
       ``(d) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy required under 
     subsection (b) shall include the following:
       ``(1) Prioritized list.--A systematic and integrated 
     prioritized list developed by the Under Secretary for 
     Management in coordination with all of the Component 
     Acquisition Executives of major acquisition programs that 
     Department and component acquisition investments seek to 
     address, including the expected security and economic benefit 
     of the program or system that is the subject of acquisition 
     and an analysis of how the security and economic benefit 
     derived from the program or system will be measured.
       ``(2) Inventory.--A plan to develop a reliable Department-
     wide inventory of investments and real property assets to 
     help the Department--
       ``(A) plan, budget, schedule, and acquire upgrades of the 
     systems and equipment of the Department; and
       ``(B) plan for the acquisition and management of future 
     systems and equipment.
       ``(3) Funding gaps.--A plan to address funding gaps between 
     funding requirements for major acquisition programs and known 
     available resources, including, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, ways of leveraging best practices to identify 
     and eliminate overpayment for items to--
       ``(A) prevent wasteful purchasing;
       ``(B) achieve the greatest level of efficiency and cost 
     savings by rationalizing purchases;
       ``(C) align pricing for similar items; and
       ``(D) utilize purchase timing and economies of scale.
       ``(4) Identification of capabilities.--An identification of 
     test, evaluation, modeling, and simulation capabilities that 
     will be required to--
       ``(A) support the acquisition of technologies to meet the 
     needs of the strategy;
       ``(B) leverage to the greatest extent possible emerging 
     technological trends and research and development trends 
     within the public and private sectors; and
       ``(C) identify ways to ensure that appropriate technology 
     is acquired and integrated into the operating doctrine of the 
     Department to improve mission performance.
       ``(5) Focus on flexible solutions.--An assessment of ways 
     the Department can improve the ability of the Department to 
     test and acquire innovative solutions to allow needed 
     incentives and protections for appropriate risk-taking in 
     order to meet the acquisition needs of the Department with 
     resiliency, agility, and responsiveness to assure homeland 
     security and facilitate trade.
       ``(6) Focus on incentives to save taxpayer dollars.--An 
     assessment of ways the Department can develop incentives for 
     program managers and senior acquisition officials of the 
     Department to--
       ``(A) prevent cost overruns;
       ``(B) avoid schedule delays; and
       ``(C) achieve cost savings in major acquisition programs.
       ``(7) Focus on addressing delays and bid protests.--An 
     assessment of ways the Department can improve the acquisition 
     process to minimize cost overruns in--
       ``(A) requirements development;
       ``(B) procurement announcements;
       ``(C) requests for proposals;
       ``(D) evaluations of proposals;
       ``(E) protests of decisions and awards; and
       ``(F) the use of best practices.
       ``(8) Focus on improving outreach.--An identification and 
     assessment of ways to increase opportunities for 
     communication and collaboration with industry, small and 
     disadvantaged businesses, intra-government entities, 
     university centers of excellence, accredited certification 
     and standards development organizations, and national 
     laboratories to ensure that the Department understands the 
     market for technologies, products, and innovation that is 
     available to meet the mission needs of the Department and to 
     inform the requirements-setting process of the Department 
     before engaging in an acquisition, including--
       ``(A) methods designed especially to engage small and 
     disadvantaged businesses, a cost-benefit analysis of the 
     tradeoffs that small and disadvantaged businesses provide, 
     information relating to barriers to entry for small and 
     disadvantaged businesses, and information relating to unique 
     requirements for small and disadvantaged businesses; and
       ``(B) within the Department Vendor Communication Plan and 
     Market Research Guide, instructions for interaction by 
     acquisition program managers with those entities to--
       ``(i) prevent misinterpretation of acquisition regulations; 
     and
       ``(ii) permit, within legal and ethical boundaries, 
     interacting with those entities with transparency.
       ``(9) Competition.--A plan regarding competition under 
     subsection (e).
       ``(10) Acquisition workforce.--A plan regarding the 
     Department acquisition workforce under subsection (f).
       ``(e) Competition Plan.--The strategy required under 
     subsection (b) shall include a plan to address actions to 
     ensure competition, or the option of competition, for major 
     acquisition programs, which may include assessments of the 
     following measures in appropriate cases if the measures are 
     cost effective:
       ``(1) Competitive prototyping.
       ``(2) Dual-sourcing.
       ``(3) Unbundling of contracts.
       ``(4) Funding of next generation prototype systems or 
     subsystems.
       ``(5) Use of modular, open architectures to enable 
     competition for upgrades.
       ``(6) Acquisition of complete technical data packages.
       ``(7) Periodic competitions for subsystem upgrades.
       ``(8) Licensing of additional suppliers, including small 
     businesses.
       ``(9) Periodic system or program reviews to address long-
     term competitive effects of program decisions.
       ``(f) Acquisition Workforce Plan.--
       ``(1) Acquisition workforce.--The strategy required under 
     subsection (b) shall include a plan to address Department 
     acquisition workforce accountability and talent management 
     that--
       ``(A) identifies the acquisition workforce needs of each 
     component performing acquisition functions; and
       ``(B) develops options for filling those needs with 
     qualified individuals, including a cost-benefit analysis of 
     contracting for acquisition assistance.
       ``(2) Additional matters covered.--The acquisition 
     workforce plan under this subsection shall address ways to--
       ``(A) improve the recruitment, hiring, training, and 
     retention of Department acquisition workforce personnel, 
     including contracting officers' representatives, in order to 
     retain highly qualified individuals who have experience in 
     the acquisition life cycle, complex procurements, and 
     management of large programs;
       ``(B) empower program managers to have the authority to 
     manage their programs in an accountable and transparent 
     manner as such managers work with the acquisition workforce;
       ``(C) prevent duplication within Department acquisition 
     workforce training and certification requirements through 
     leveraging existing training within the Federal Government, 
     academic community, or private industry;
       ``(D) achieve integration and consistency with Government-
     wide training and accreditation standards, acquisition 
     training tools, and training facilities;
       ``(E) designate the acquisition positions that will be 
     necessary to support the acquisition requirements of the 
     Department, including in the fields of--
       ``(i) program management;
       ``(ii) systems engineering;
       ``(iii) procurement, including contracting;
       ``(iv) test and evaluation;
       ``(v) life cycle logistics;
       ``(vi) cost estimating and program financial management; 
     and
       ``(vii) additional disciplines appropriate to the mission 
     needs of the Department;
       ``(F) strengthen the performance of contracting officers' 
     representatives (as defined in subpart 1.602-2 and subpart 
     2.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation), including by--
       ``(i) assessing the extent to which those representatives 
     are certified and receive training that is appropriate;
       ``(ii) assessing what training is most effective with 
     respect to the type and complexity of assignment; and
       ``(iii) implementing actions to improve training based on 
     those assessments; and
       ``(G) identify ways to increase training for relevant 
     investigators and auditors of the Department to examine fraud 
     in major acquisition programs, including identifying 
     opportunities to leverage existing Federal Government and 
     private sector resources in coordination with the Inspector 
     General of the Department.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
     1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-
     296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by inserting after the item 
     relating to section 835 the following:

``Sec. 836. Multiyear acquisition strategy.''.

     SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW OF MULTIYEAR 
                   ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the terms ``acquisition'', ``best practices'', and 
     ``major acquisition program'' have the meanings given those 
     terms in section 836 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
     added by section 2 of this Act; and

[[Page S2430]]

       (2) the term ``Department'' means the Department of 
     Homeland Security.
       (b) Review.--Not later than 180 days after the date on 
     which the Secretary of Homeland Security submits the first 
     multiyear acquisition strategy required under section 836 of 
     the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 2 of 
     this Act, after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a 
     review of the strategy and analyze the viability of the 
     effectiveness of the strategy in--
       (1) complying with the requirements of such section 836;
       (2) establishing clear connections between Department 
     objectives and acquisition priorities;
       (3) demonstrating that Department acquisition policy 
     reflects program management best practices and standards;
       (4) ensuring competition or the option of competition for 
     major acquisition programs;
       (5) considering potential cost savings through using 
     existing technologies when developing acquisition program 
     requirements;
       (6) preventing duplication within Department acquisition 
     workforce training requirements through leveraging already-
     existing training within the Federal Government, academic 
     community, or private industry; and
       (7) providing incentives for acquisition program managers 
     to reduce acquisition and procurement costs through the use 
     of best practices and disciplined program management.
       (c) Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
     shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of 
     the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security and the 
     Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a 
     report on the review conducted under subsection (b), which 
     shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a 
     classified annex.

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