Sec. 4. Definitions
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In this Act: The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security. The term Department means the Department of Homeland Security. The term congressional homeland security committees means— the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and of the Senate. In this Act: The term acquisition has the meaning provided in section 131 of title 41, United States Code.
The term best practices , with respect to acquisition, means a knowledge-based approach to capability development that includes identifying and validating needs; assessing alternatives to select the most appropriate solution; clearly establishing well-defined requirements; developing realistic cost assessments and schedules; securing stable funding that matches resources to requirements; demonstrating technology, design, and manufacturing maturity; using milestones and exit criteria or specific accomplishments that demonstrate progress; adopting and executing standardized processes with known success across programs; establishing an adequate workforce that is qualified and sufficient to perform necessary functions; and integrating these capabilities into the Department’s mission and business operations.
Section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended— by inserting
(a); In General .—In this Act, in section 2(2)— by inserting
(A)after
(2); and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: The term congressional homeland security committees means— the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and of the Senate. ; and by adding at the end the following new subsection: In this Act, the following definitions apply: The term acquisition has the meaning provided in section 131 of title 41, United States Code. The term acquisition decision authority means the authority, held by the Secretary acting through the Under Secretary for Management or Deputy Secretary— to ensure compliance with Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and Department acquisition management directives; to review (including approving, halting, modifying, or cancelling) an acquisition program through the life cycle of the program; to ensure that program managers have the resources necessary to successfully execute an approved acquisition program; and to ensure good program management of cost, schedule, risk, and system performance of the acquisition, including assessing acquisition program baseline breaches and directing any corrective action for such breaches. The term acquisition decision event , with respect to an investment or acquisition program, means a predetermined point within the acquisition phases of the investment or acquisition program at which the investment or acquisition program will undergo a review prior to commencement of the next phase. The term acquisition decision memorandum , with respect to an acquisition, means the official acquisition decision event record that includes a documented record of decisions, exit criteria, and assigned actions for the acquisition as determined by the person exercising acquisition decision authority for the acquisition. The term acquisition program baseline , with respect to an acquisition program, means a summary of the cost, schedule, and performance parameters, expressed in standard, measurable, quantitative terms, which must be met in order to accomplish the goals of the program. The term capability development plan , with respect to a proposed acquisition, means the document that the Accountability Review Board approves for the first acquisition decision event related to validating the need of a proposed acquisition. 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. The term life cycle cost , with respect to an acquisition program, means all costs associated with research, development, procurement, operation, integrated logistics support, and disposal under the program, including supporting infrastructure that plans, manages, and executes the program over its full life, and costs of common support items incurred as a result of the program. The term major acquisition program means a Department acquisition program that is estimated by the Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of at least $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2014 constant dollars) over its life cycle cost. .