Dhs Acquisition Documentation Integrity Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1912, the DHS Acquisition Documentation Integrity Act of 2019. This legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security to better document its major acquisition programs that are essential to keeping America safe.

While every Member of Congress will agree that protecting our Nation and its citizens is vitally important, we must also agree that protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring accountability for the government agencies is also essential.

The Government Accountability Office assists Congress in its efforts to ensure accountability by producing a report every 2 years that identifies areas in the Federal Government that are at high risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Major acquisitions by DHS have consistently been identified by the GAO as high risk.

This legislation requires DHS to improve management of its major purchases of systems to secure the border, provide screening for travelers, and protect our shores, and for our other vital missions.

Too often, DHS has failed to document what these programs will cost, when they will be completed, and what they will deliver. It is unacceptable to spend billions of taxpayer dollars and not document this important information.

To address these issues, DHS has updated its acquisition policy to follow corporate best practices. However, it must take additional steps to ensure its components adhere to these policies.

H.R. 1912 provides important tools to ensure that these policies are being followed. It will improve visibility into DHS major acquisition programs and promote better management of DHS acquisitions of items that are expected to cost more than $300 million.

Under the bill, the Undersecretary for Management must require the relevant component or office to maintain documentation that provides validated operational requirements, a complete lifecycle cost estimate, an independent verification of that cost estimate, a cost-benefit analysis of the program, and a complete schedule for the acquisition program.

With this documentation, Congress and other government watchdogs will be able to conduct necessary oversight to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively.

This bill passed the House of Representatives by voice vote in both the 114th and 115th Congresses.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Torres Small for reintroducing this language, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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