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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle B--Amendments to General Contracting Authorities, Procedures, and Limitation

P. L. 111-

House Conference Report 111-288

    (a) In General.--Section 2445d of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking ``of this title'' and all that follows and inserting ``of this title, the Secretary may designate the program to be treated only as a major automated information system program covered by this chapter or to be treated only as a major defense acquisition program covered by such chapter 144.''.

    (b) Guidance Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance on the implementation of section 2445d of title 10, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)). The guidance shall provide that, as a general rule--

    (1) a program covered by such section that requires the development of customized hardware shall be treated only as a major defense acquisition program under chapter 144 of title 10, United States Code; and

    (2) a program covered by such section that does not require the development of customized hardware shall be treated only as a major automated information system program under chapter 144A of title 10, United States Code.

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 816) that would address reporting requirements for programs that qualify as both major automated information system programs under chapter 144A of title 10, United States Code, and major defense acquisition programs under chapter 144 of such title.

   The Senate amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 811).

   The House recedes.

House Report 111-166 - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

SECTION 816--REVISION TO DEFINITIONS OF MAJOR DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAM AND MAJOR AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM

This section would allow the Secretary of Defense to designate a program that qualifies as both a major defense acquisition program and a major automated information system as one or the other. This change will focus legislative requirements on appropriate acquisition programs: chapter 144 of title 10 on major defense acquisition programs that develop custom weapons systems hardware, and chapter 144A of title 10 on major automated information systems that develop major software-intensive systems using commercial hardware. This authority will also simplify oversight and streamline associated reporting requirements.

Senate Report 111-035 - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

The committee recommends a provision that would give the Department of Defense flexibility to address programs that qualify as both major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) under chapter 144 of title 10, United States Code, and as major automated information system (MAIS) programs under chapter 144A of title 10, United States Code.

Under the provision recommended by the committee, the Secretary of Defense could designate such a program to be treated only as a MDAP or only as a MAIS program. As a general rule, programs that require the development of customized hardware would be designated as MDAPs, while programs that do not require the development of such hardware would be designated as MAIS programs.