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On April 12, 2016, the House Committee on
Armed Services introduced
H. R. 4909, the House version of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. On May 18, 2016 it
passed the House with 39 provisions in Title VIII, Acquisition
Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related Matters. It
was accompanied by
H. Rept. 114-537. On May 18,
2016, the Senate Committee on Armed Services introduced
S. 2943, the Senate version of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. On June 14, 2016, it
passed the Senate with 85 provisions in Title
VIII, Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related
Matters. It was accompanied by
S. Rept. 114-255. S. 2943 became the vehicle for the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.
On July 7, 2016, the House trashed the
Senate version, adopted its own version H. R. 4909 as an
amendment, and passed the amended S. 2943. The House
requested a conference on July 8, 2016 and the Senate requested
a conference on July 14, 2016. When the conferees were not
in recess or working on their reelection, they worked on the
bill. There was plenty of recess and plenty of reelection
work.
On November 30, 2016,
House Conference Report. 114-840 was filed and on
December 2, 2016, the House approved the Conference Report.
The Senate agreed to the Conference Report on December 8, 2016.
The
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 was
signed at the White House on December 23, 2016.
Because there was so much of Title VIII:
Acquisition Policy, Acquisition
Management, and Related Matters, I have only analyzed
that Title at this time.
Table Below
As I was analyzing the explanation the
Conference Committee provided for each section, I got the
impression that there was more explanation this year and more
changes made during conference than in previous years.
This concerned me because that type of legislation is written
with less time and maybe less thought. I was correct, most of
this Title was amended--on the fly--by the conferees.
See column in table below entitled: Amended by
Conferees.
The Table below excludes Subtitle D—Provisions
Relating to Major Defense Acquisition Programs of Title VIII
because that subtitle usually affects only DoD agencies dealing
with major systems. I wanted to know how much of this
Title further separates DoD contracting from Civilian agency
contracting so it made sense to me to exclude those parts which
were meant to be DoD only. The answer isn't clear-cut
since some of it should be DoD only. However, it is
another bite at the government-wide contracting regulation, if
there ever was such a thing since most of the Title, contracting
and all, is DoD only. Even some of the studies on bid
protests are DoD only. Civilian agencies need not
participate. Of course, it could be said that this is a
National Defense Act and what should I expect. Well, much
of the government-wide contracting law comes from Title VIII
each year. Then again, the FAR Council may see a section
that might work for civilian agencies and include it in the
government-wide regulation. Who knows? Take a look
at Section 822, it is for DoD only but could go government-wide
if approved by the FAR Council for the Federal Acquisition
Regulation. See column in table below
entitled: DoD Only.
Finally, since there was so much
explanation by the conferees, I wondered if they attempted to
add some requirements beyond the legislation in the specific
sections. There was some but not much. See column in
table below entitled: Conferee add-ons.
As you look at the table below, you may
disagree on some items. You may even find a mistake.
|
Section |
Amended by Conferees |
DOD only |
Conferee add-ons |
| |
|
|
|
| 801 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 802 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 803 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 804 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 805 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 806 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 807 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 808 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 809 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 811 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 812 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 813 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 814 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| 815 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 816 |
No |
No |
Yes |
| 817 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 818 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 819 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 820 |
Yes |
Yes and No |
Yes |
| 821 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 822 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| 823 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 824 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 825 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 826 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 827 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 828 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 829 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 830 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 831 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 832 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 833 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 834 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 835 |
Yes |
No |
No |
| 836 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 837 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 861 |
Yes |
No |
No |
| 862 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 863 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 864 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 865 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 866 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 867 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 871 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 872 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 873 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 874 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 875 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 876 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 877 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 878 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 879 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 880 |
Yes |
No |
No |
| 881 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 882 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 883 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 884 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 885 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 886 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 887 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 888 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 889 |
No |
No |
No |
| 890 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 891 |
No |
No |
No |
| 892 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 893 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 894 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 895 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 896 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 897 |
No |
Yes |
No |
| 898 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| 899 |
Yes |
U. C. Coast Guard
Section |
No |
| 899a |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
