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

Subtitle H — Other Matters

P. L. 115-

House Conference Report. 115-874

(a) Study.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall direct the Defense Business Board to convene an integrated review team (in this section referred to as the “exchange team”) to undertake a study on facilitating the exchange of defense industry personnel on term assignments within the Department of Defense.

(2) MEMBER PARTICIPATION.—

(A) DEFENSE BUSINESS BOARD.—The Chairman of the Defense Business Board shall select six members from the membership of the Board to participate on the exchange team, including one member to lead the team.

(B) DEFENSE INNOVATION BOARD.—The Chairman of the Defense Innovation Board shall select five appropriate members from the membership of their Board to participate on the exchange team.

(C) DEFENSE SCIENCE BOARD.—The Chairman of the Defense Science Board shall select five appropriate members from the membership of their Board to participate on the exchange team.

(D) REQUIRED EXPERIENCE.—The Chairmen referred to in subparagraphs (A) through (C) shall ensure that members have significant legislative or regulatory expertise and reflect diverse experiences in the public and private sector.

(3) SCOPE.—The study conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

(A) review legal, ethical, and financial disclosure requirements for industry-government exchanges;

(B) review existing or previous industry-government exchange programs such as the Department of State’s Franklin Fellows Program and the Information Technology Exchange Program;

(C) review how the military departments address legal, ethical, and financial requirements for members of the reserve components who also maintain civilian employment in the defense industry;

(D) produce specific and detailed recommendations for any legislation, including the amendment or repeal of regulations, as well as non-legislative approaches, that the members of the exchange team conducting the study determine necessary to—

(i) reduce barriers to industry-government exchange to encourage the flow of acquisition best practices;

(ii) ensure continuing financial and ethical integrity; and

(iii) protect the best interests of the Department of Defense; and

(E) produce such additional recommendations for legislation as the members consider appropriate.

(4) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Defense shall provide the exchange team with timely access to appropriate information, data, resources, and analysis so that the exchange team may conduct a thorough and independent analysis as required under this subsection.

(b) Briefing.—Not later than December 31, 2018, the exchange team shall provide an interim briefing to the congressional defense committees on the study conducted under subsection (a)

(c) Final Report.—Not later than March 1, 2019, the exchange team shall submit a final report on the study to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the congressional defense committees.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 842) that would direct the Chairman of the Defense Business Board to convene an integrated review team with members of the Defense Innovation Board and Defense Science Board to undertake a study on the exchange of defense industry personnel on term assignments within the Department. The study shall review: (1) Legal, ethical, and financial disclosure requirements for industry-government exchanges; (2) Existing or previous industry-government exchange programs; and (3) How the military departments address legal, ethical, and financial requirements for reserve component servicemembers who also maintain civilian employment in the defense industry. The team shall also produce recommendations to reduce barriers to industry-government exchange while ensuring financial and ethical integrity to protect the best interests of the Department.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes.