The third-largest federal agency needs to streamline its acquisition process and address continuing reports of waste, a bipartisan group of House members said Monday.

In introducing a bill (H.R. 2199) to step up oversight and strengthen the ability of top procurement officials to re-work contracts, leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee expressed impatience with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s ongoing “Unity of Effort” initiative. They also called for “clarity” for U.S. businesses that contract with DHS.

“Congressional watchdogs continue to find failures in how DHS spends billions of taxpayer dollars on its major acquisition purchases,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., chairman of the Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee. “Frontline operators securing our borders, defending our shores, and protecting our aviation systems should not wait years longer than promised for systems that don’t perform as intended.”

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