DHS Acquisition Documentation Integrity Act of 2016
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
DHS Acquisition Documentation Integrity Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to require the head of a relevant component or office to:
maintain acquisition documentation that is complete, accurate, timely, and valid and that includes operational requirements that are validated consistent with DHS policy, a complete lifecycle cost estimate, verification of such estimate against independent cost estimates, a cost-benefit analysis, and a schedule;
prepare cost estimates and schedules for major acquisition programs in a manner consistent with best practices as identified by the Government Accountability Office; and
submit certain acquisition documentation to DHS to produce an annual comprehensive report on the status of DHS acquisitions for submission to Congress.
DHS may waive such submission requirement for a fiscal year if the program: (1) has not entered the full rate production phase in the acquisition lifecycle, had a reasonable cost estimate established, and had a system configuration defined fully; or (2) does not meet the definition of capital asset, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget.
DHS shall make available to Congress, at the same time the President's budget is submitted for a fiscal year, information on the requirements of this Act in the prior fiscal year, including the following information regarding each program for which DHS has waived the submission requirement:
the grounds for granting a waiver for that program;
the projected cost of that program;
the proportion of a component's or office's annual acquisition budget attributed to that program; and
information on the significance of the program with respect to the component's operations and execution of its mission.
The bill defines a "major acquisition program" as one that is estimated to require total expenditures of at least $300 million.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House without amendment" stage on February 23, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 24, 2016: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) introduced it on February 1, 2016, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 1, 2016, 3874 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3851 days ago, on February 24, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers