Assessment before contract for acquisition of supplies is entered into
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that before a contract for the delivery of supplies to the Department of Defense is entered into—
(1)
when the appropriate officials of the Department are making an assessment of the most advantageous source for acquisition of the supplies (considering quality, price, delivery, and other factors), there is a review of the availability and cost of each item of supply—
(A)
through the supply system of the Department of Defense; and
(B)
under standard Government supply contracts, if the item is in a category of supplies defined under regulations of the Secretary of Defense as being potentially available under a standard Government supply contract; and
(2)
there is a review of both the procurement history of the item and a description of the item, including, when necessary for an adequate description of the item, a picture, drawing, diagram, or other graphic representation of the item.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [], the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall develop and make publicly available guidance for private entities on how such entities can effectively demonstrate, validate, and verify that a biobased product of such entity provides capabilities meeting the requirements of the Department of Defense.
“(b)
Analysis .—
In developing the guidance required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering shall conduct an analysis of current military specifications for suitable product categories and make such analysis publicly available for use by private entities, such as in industry or academia. Such analysis shall include:
“(1)
Assessment of all current military specifications and identification of those that may—
“(A)
have existing biobased products that meet such specifications;
“(B)
could be met with biobased products with some modification; or
“(C)
have no military specification where a new one may be required.
“(2)
Assessment of current validation and verification processes related to military specifications to determine if modifications to such processes are needed to consider biobased product alternatives.
“(3)
Review of existing acquisition policy and practices related to procurement of materials meeting military specifications to determine if any changes to such processes are recommended to accommodate biobased products.
“(c)
Biobased Product Defined .—
In this section, the term ‘biobased product’ means a product manufactured, produced, or developed through the application of living organisms to alter living or non-living materials.”
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [], the Secretary of Defense shall establish a process for enhancing scrutiny of acquisition decisions in order to improve the integration of supply chain risk management into the overall acquisition decision cycle.
“(b)
Elements .—
The process under subsection (a) shall include the following elements:
“(1)
Designation of a senior official responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the process.
“(2)
Development or integration of tools to support commercial due-diligence, business intelligence, or otherwise analyze and monitor commercial activity to understand business relationships with entities determined to be threats to the United States.
“(3)
Development of risk profiles of products or services based on commercial due-diligence tools and data services.
“(4)
Development of education and training curricula for the acquisition workforce that supports the process.
“(5)
Integration, as needed, with intelligence sources to develop threat profiles of entities determined to be threats to the United States.
“(6)
Periodic review and assessment of software products and services on computer networks of the Department of Defense to remove prohibited products or services.
“(7)
section 806 of Public Law 111–38310 U.S.C. 2304 Synchronization of the use of current authorities for making supply chain decisions, including ( note) or improved use of suspension and debarment officials.
“(8)
Coordination with interagency, industrial, and international partners, as appropriate, to share information, develop Government-wide strategies for dealing with significant entities determined to be significant threats to the United States, and effectively use authorities in other departments and agencies to provide consistent, Government-wide approaches to supply chain threats.
“(9)
Other matters as the Secretary considers necessary.
“(c)
Notification .—
Not later than 90 days after establishing the process required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide a written notification to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives that the process has been established. The notification also shall include the following:
“(1)
Identification of the official designated under subsection (b)(1).
“(2)
Identification of tools and services currently available to the Department of Defense under subsection (b)(2).
“(3)
Assessment of additional tools and services available under subsection (b)(2) that the Department of Defense should evaluate.
“(4)
Identification of, or recommendations for, any statutory changes needed to improve the effectiveness of the process.
“(5)
Projected resource needs for implementing any recommendations made by the Secretary.”