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(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to declare that the Directorate of Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall be the primary research, development, testing, and evaluation arm of DHS, responsible for coordinating such activities to strengthen the security and resiliency of the United States. The Directorate shall be headed by the DHS Undersecretary for Science and Technology, who shall: (1) serve as the DHS senior scientific advisor, and (2) identify and develop countermeasures to terrorist threats that may serve as the basis for a national strategy.
The Directorate shall: (1) develop and deliver knowledge, analyses, and innovative solutions that are responsive to homeland security capability gaps and threats; (2) seek innovative, system-based solutions to complex homeland security problems and threats; and (3) build partnerships and leverage technology solutions developed by other governmental entities, universities, and the private sector.
The bill expands to duties of the Directorate to include:
coordinating and integrating all research, development, demonstration, testing, and evaluation activities of DHS, including through a centralized federal clearinghouse relating to technologies that would further the DHS mission;
DHS must review and revise departmental policies on personnel conflicts of interest to ensure that such policies specifcally address employees of federally-funded research and development centers who are in a position to make or materially influence research findings or agency decision-making.
The criteria for designating colleges or universities as a center for homeland security is modified to require expertise in nuclear explosives countermeasures or detection.
The bill establishes in the Directorate a Test, Evaluation, and Standards Division to serve as an adviser to the DHS Secretary and the DHS Under Secretary of Management on all test and evaluation or standards activities in DHS.
House Dec 10, 2015
DHS Science and Technology Reform and Improvement Act of 2015
Passed · Two-thirds required
416 Yea 0 Nay 17 not voting
Crossed both parties No voting member broke with their own party.
DemocratsRepublicansFilled: YeaRing: NayGrey: not voting or present
433 members on this roll call, from the official House record. Party majorities need at least five voting members, so an independent never counts as breaking with a party.
Signing on is not a vote: a member can cosponsor H.R. 3578 and vote against it. 1 signed when it was filed.
The Directorate shall:
establish a process to define, identify, prioritize, fund, and task its basic and applied homeland security research and development activities;
The bill extends through FY2020 DHS authority for certain research and development projects.
The bill revises the definition of "incident" used with respect to the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.
The Government Accountability Office shall initiate a study to assess the university-based centers for homeland security program and provide recommendations to the congressional homeland security committees for appropriate improvements.
The Directorate shall utilize, as appropriate, prize authority granted pursuant to current law.
No new funds are authorized to carry out this Act.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, describing H.R. 3578 as passed House amended on Dec 10, 2015. It is not the text of the measure; a later amendment may have changed what it does.
Organizations that named H.R. 3578 in a lobbying disclosure. Only those that cited the bill by number appear, so this is a floor, not a full list.
33 disclosures name this measure. Retrieved from LDA.gov on 2026-10-05. Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from LDA.gov.