United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2006-06-20 monographic deposited born digital 5 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-783R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R P0b002ee180381716 f:d06783r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R GAO-06-783R Buy national policy Emergency preparedness Federal procurement Federal procurement policy Procurement law Procurement practices Correspondence A55785 In creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the wake of September 11, 2001, some in Congress were concerned that the Department might not be able to conduct acquisitions with sufficient speed, particularly in an emergency. To that end, Congress enacted section 833 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which provides DHS with special streamlined acquisition authorities. Before those authorities could be used, however, the Secretary of Homeland Security or a delegate would have to determine in writing that the DHS mission would be seriously impaired without the use of the authorities. The special streamlined acquisition authorities including the following three items. First, increasing the micro-purchase threshold from $2,500 to $7,500. Purchases below the micro-purchase threshold do not require competitive quotes or compliance with the "Buy America" act. Only certain employees would be authorized to make procurements under this authority. Second, increasing the limit on the use of simplified acquisition procedures from $100,000 to $200,000 for contracts awarded and performed within the United States, and to $300,000 for contracts awarded and performed outside the United States. Simplified acquisition procedures permit agencies to use streamlined techniques to acquire good and services. Third, increasing from $5,000,000 to $7,500,000 the ceiling on the use of special simplified procedures to acquire property and services the Secretary deems to be "commercial items" under federal procurement laws. These authorities are scheduled to expire on September 30, 2007. Section 833 of the act directed us to report on the Department's use of these special streamlined acquisition authorities. Our objectives were to determine (1) the extent to which DHS has used the special authorities and (2) whether DHS sees a need to extend the authorities beyond September 2007. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R.pdf GAO-06-783R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-783R Correspondence GAO-06-783R; Department of Homeland Security's Use of Special Streamlined Acquisition Authorities in Section 833 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002; Buy national policy Emergency preparedness Federal procurement Federal procurement policy Procurement law Procurement practices