6 U.S.C. § 112: Secretary; functions

There is a Secretary of Homeland Security, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary is the head of the Department and shall have direction, authority, and control over it. All functions of all officers, employees, and organizational units of the Department are vested in the Secretary. except as otherwise provided by this chapter, may delegate any of the Secretary’s functions to any officer, employee, or organizational unit of the Department; shall have the authority to make contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, and to enter into agreements with other executive agencies, as may be necessary and proper to carry out the Secretary’s responsibilities under this chapter or otherwise provided by law; and shall take reasonable steps to ensure that information systems and databases of the Department are compatible with each other and with appropriate databases of other Departments. coordinating with State and local government personnel, agencies, and authorities, and with the private sector, to ensure adequate planning, equipment, training, and exercise activities; coordinating and, as appropriate, consolidating, the Federal Government’s communications and systems of communications relating to homeland security with State and local government personnel, agencies, and authorities, the private sector, other entities, and the public; and distributing or, as appropriate, coordinating the distribution of, warnings and information to State and local government personnel, agencies, and authorities and to the public. The Secretary may, subject to the direction of the President, attend and participate in meetings of the National Security Council. The issuance of regulations by the Secretary shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, except as specifically provided in this chapter, in laws granting regulatory authorities that are transferred by this chapter, and in laws enacted after November 25, 2002 . creating and fostering strategic communications with the private sector to enhance the primary mission of the Department to protect the American homeland; advising the Secretary on the impact of the Department’s policies, regulations, processes, and actions on the private sector; interfacing with other relevant Federal agencies with homeland security missions to assess the impact of these agencies’ actions on the private sector; advise the Secretary on private sector products, applications, and solutions as they relate to homeland security challenges; advise the Secretary on homeland security policies, regulations, processes, and actions that affect the participating industries and associations; and promoting voluntary preparedness standards to the private sector; and assisting the private sector in adopting voluntary preparedness standards; working with Federal laboratories, federally funded research and development centers, other federally funded organizations, academia, and the private sector to develop innovative approaches to address homeland security challenges to produce and deploy the best available technologies for homeland security missions; promoting existing public-private partnerships and developing new public-private partnerships to provide for collaboration and mutual support to address homeland security challenges; assisting in the development and promotion of private sector best practices to secure critical infrastructure; providing information to the private sector regarding voluntary preparedness standards and the business justification for preparedness and promoting to the private sector the adoption of voluntary preparedness standards; coordinating industry efforts, with respect to functions of the Department of Homeland Security, to identify private sector resources and capabilities that could be effective in supplementing Federal, State, and local government agency efforts to prevent or respond to a terrorist attack; coordinating with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Assistant Secretary for Trade Development of the Department of Commerce on issues related to the travel and tourism industries; and consulting with the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness on all matters of concern to the private sector, including the tourism industry. All standards activities of the Department shall be conducted in accordance with section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer Advancement Act of 1995 ( 15 U.S.C. 272 note) and Office of Management and Budget Circular A–119. The Secretary shall ensure the head of each office and component of the Department takes into account the needs of children, including children within under-served communities, in mission planning and mission execution. In furtherance of this subsection, the Secretary shall require each such head to seek, to the extent practicable, advice and feedback from organizations representing the needs of children. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 2 shall not apply whenever such advice or feedback is sought in accordance with this subsection. 2 See References in Text note below. The Secretary shall post, maintain, and update in accordance with paragraph (2), on a publicly available website of the Department, a daily report of all covered contract awards. The contract number, modification number, or delivery order number. The contract type. The amount obligated for the award. The total contract value for the award, including all options. The description of the purpose for the award. The number of proposals or bids received. The name and address of the vendor, and whether the vendor is a small business. The period and primary place of performance for the award. Whether the award is multiyear. The contracting office. The Secretary shall make updates referred to in paragraph (1) not later than five business days after the date on which a covered contract is authorized or modified. Paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Dec. 23, 2022 ]. report the estimated total contract value for the award and the amount obligated upon award; and once there is a definitized amount for the award, update the total contract value and amount obligated. Each report required under subsection (a) shall not include covered contract awards for which synopsis was exempted under section 5.202(a)(1) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or any successor thereto. means a contract action of the Department with a total contract value of not less than $4,000,000, including unexercised options; and contract awards governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation; modifications to a contract award that increase the total value, expand the scope of work, or extend the period of performance; orders placed on a multiple-award or multiple-agency contract that includes delivery or quantity terms that are indefinite; other transaction authority agreements; and contract awards made with other than full and open competition. The term ‘definitized amount’ means the final amount of a covered contract award after agreement between the Department and the contractor at issue. The term ‘Department’ means the Department of Homeland Security. The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Homeland Security. The term ‘small business’ means an entity that qualifies as a small business concern, as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 ). The term ‘total contract value’ means the total amount of funds expected to be provided to the contractor at issue under the terms of the contract through the full period of performance. The term ‘undefinitized contract action’ means any contract action for which the contract terms, specifications, or price is not established prior to the start of the performance of the covered contract award. This section shall cease to have force or effect on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Dec. 23, 2022 ].”