C06 SSJ Amendment - redacted.pdf

DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY

27130 TELEGRAPH ROAD

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 1

SOLE SOURCE

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) Secure Network Access

Control Number: 20-088PR

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity:

Requiring Activity Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Background Investigations (BI) Federal Investigative Records Enterprise

(FIRE)

1137 Branchton Road Boyers, PA 16018

Contracting Activity DCSA Acquisition and Contracting (AQ) 27130 Telegraph Road Quantico, VA 22134

2. The nature or description of the action being approved:

This will be a sole source acquisition under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501(a). The purpose of this document is to obtain necessary approvals for the sole source acquisition of access to a secure network providing access to Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) repositories as competition is limited to only one responsible source, National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (NLETS), and no other supplies or services will satisfy DCSA requirements.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need:

DCSA is the primary investigative service provider for the Federal Government, conducting 95% of all background investigations for over 100 agencies. The Federal Investigative Standards (FIS) require at all five Tiers a Local Law Enforcement Agency Check. Specifically, queries shall be conducted against the most complete criminal history repository of the law enforcement agency(s) for any jurisdiction where the Subject has lived, worked, and/or attended school for any consecutive period exceeding six months. To effectively and efficiently conduct these required record checks, DCSA utilizes the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) to conduct

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 2

criminal history and public safety information searches for the initial background investigation and for Continuous Evaluation/Continuous Vetting (CE/CV). DCSA conducts NLETS queries via Automated Record Checks (ARC), Manual Terminal Searches, and electronic batch queries. NLETS plays a key role in the personnel vetting programs managed by DCSA allowing for the electronic/automated completion of several hundred thousand searches per year versus more time consuming and costly, manual processes. NLETS provides direct access to criminal history information. DCSA pays NLETS for the connection to state criminal history information. DCSA does not pay NLETS for the individual record checks.

This requirement is to obtain real-time access to international criminal, law enforcement, and public safety records over a secure network. The secure network must provide access to Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) repositories for multiple law enforcement agencies to include United States local areas, regional areas, States and Territories, Washington D.C., Canada and if possible, any other relevant area where CHRI searches may need to be conducted. Criminal, law enforcement, and public safety records must be provided in accordance with Federal Investigative Standards (FIS) and 5 U.S. Code § 9101-Access to criminal history records for national security and other purposes.

This information is vital to the mission of DCSA in the performance of personnel vetting and conducting background investigations (BI) for the departments and agencies of the federal government. BIs are required to determine an individual’s eligibility for access to classified information, assignment to or retention in positions with sensitive duties, or other designated duties requiring such investigations.

NLETS shall:

Provide Virtual Private Network/Disaster Recovery (DR) connections to criminal history repositories via NLETS facilities for the exchange of criminal justice related information between DCSA and NLETS members.

o Connections are to be provided via the DCSA legacy system connection in Boyers, PA; Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) - Defense Enterprise Computing Center (DECC) connection in Columbus, OH; and DR connection in Ogden, UT.

o Possibility of a future connection for the Seaside, CA continuous vetting / continuous evaluation (CV/CE) program exists (option).

Provide Technical Support and Monitoring:

o Network Device Support and Configuration, including IOS

Upgradesand Security Patches.

o Reports on circuit uptime and bandwidth utilization on request.

o Monitoring 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the NLETS Network

Operations Center o Technical resources necessary and assist in testing cut-overs to disaster recovery site over the NLETS network.

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 3

4. Statutory Authority:

10 U.S.C. 2304(c) authorizes the Department of Defense (DoD) to contract without full and open competition under certain circumstances. As provided for by 41 U.S.C.1901 and as implemented by FAR 13.501(a), DCSA has found that only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency (DCSA) requirements.

5. Proposed contractor’s unique qualifications:

NLETS is the only one responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy DCSA requirements. NLETS is a non-profit organization that is owned and operated by the 50 United States. Its purpose is to obtain and share criminal history information from CHRI repositories dispersed across multiple local, regional, state, federal, and international criminal justice organizations. NLETS operates a computer-based message switching system that provides instant access over a secure network and connects law enforcement agencies for the purpose of information exchange. It is the largest outreach tool available to local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities. It was recently combined with the international law enforcement database at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to provide law enforcement agents with more complete investigative information.

The Bureau of Justice partnered with NLETS to develop its automated data-collection process, which helps reduce time and resources needed to collect criminal-history data. It is the only system that can provide instant access to international criminal, law enforcement, and public safety records over a secure network. It is also the only system which meets the FIS and 5 U.S. Code § 9101-Access to criminal history records for national security and other purposes.

Without the use of NLETS, DSCA will lose access to 50 State Criminal History Information Repositories, US Territories, Washington DC, Canada, and INTERPOL.

DCSA will then lose the ability to complete over one million public safety and law enforcement checks via this connectivity as part of the background investigation process as well as the continuous vetting program. DCSA’s direct access to these CHRI repositories via NLETS allows for the utilization of searching these data sources as defined in 5 U.S. Code § 9101. If DCSA cannot access these data sources directly via NLETS, it will have a major impact on the investigative and continuous vetting process.

This would require DCSA to conduct searches manually via inquiry or in person with each Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) as required by the FIS.

NLETS provides for the majority of DCSA’s CHRI searches to be automated, which requires significantly less manpower. The loss of service will cause significant delays to the CHRI search process due to an increase in LEA response time and a greater number

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 4

of manpower resources to request, collect, and interpret the results of the searches.

Historical data has shown that high volumes of manual requests causes burdens on local LEA and decreases cooperation which results in less reliable/complete search information which lowers the quality of background investigations and vetting capabilities. Additional manpower would need to be dedicated to LEA liaison efforts in order to comply with 5 U.S. Code § 9101. This would pose a significant cost to the Government.

The aforementioned issues regarding timeliness and quality will impact the ability of the Federal Government to hire, promote mission critical staff, conduct continuous vetting/evaluation on current employees, and identify insider threats and other security related concerns.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A Sources Sought Notice (SSN) was posted publicly to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) on beta.SAM.gov on February 26, 2020. Details of the posting and responses received are provided under section 8 of this document detailing the market research conducted. Based on the results of the market research, a sole source Request for Quote (RFQ) will be issued in accordance with FAR Subpart 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. DCSA will synopsize this contract action on the GPE in accordance with FAR 5.102(e), and a copy of the solicitation will be provided to interested parties that were not initially solicited, but only after advising the requester of the determination to limit the solicitation to a specified firm as authorized under FAR 13.501(a)(1). DCSA will post this justification and approval (J&A) to the GPE, beta.SAM.gov, as required by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii).

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable

The following is a high-level Government cost estimate: for the total contract lifecycle from October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.

** On September 9, 2020, the Independent Government Estimate was revised to include an optional user access fee for the possible future connection for the Seaside, CA continuous vetting / continuous evaluation (CV/CE) program in lieu of a monthly line fee as previously anticipated. This changed the total estimated amount of this requirement to for the total contract lifecycle from October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.

The Contracting Officer (KO) determined that the anticipated prices will be fair and

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 5

reasonable based on publicly available commercial pricing found on the NLETS website. In determining a fair and reasonable price, the KO will evaluate a more detailed breakdown from a formal Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

This estimate is based upon NLETS pricing which is set via NLETS member committee vote and historical prices paid by the Government. In addition, at the time of contract award, the KO will to determine a fair and reasonable price in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a).

8. A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted from August 26, 2019 through August 30, 2019. Market research was conducted utilizing internet searches of Google, the Department of Justice, and the Dynamic Small Business Search tool. Market research revealed that numerous companies provide varied levels of background checks; however, only NLETS has the capability to perform the Government’s requirement as only NLETS has the ability to provide CHRI access in accordance with FIS and 5 U.S. Code § 9101-Access to criminal history records for national security and other purposes.

Additionally, a SSN was posted publicly on beta.sam.gov from February 26, 2020, through March 11, 2020. The SSN requested that vendors address the four following competencies:

a) Describe your experience and ability to conduct records verifications in support of background investigations for the departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

b) Describe your ability to provide access to CHRI via a secure network and the system used.

c) Describe your experience and ability in fulling electronic records requests that will be sent to Vendor on a daily basis.

d) Describe your experience and process for providing CHRI information for multiple law enforcement agencies to include United States local areas, regional areas, States and Territories, Washington D.C., Canada and if possible, any other relevant area where CHRI searches may need to be conducted.

The SSN also provided that vendors must be compliant with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy and procedures.

Three responses to the SSN were received. Each response was reviewed by the program office and determined not capable, as none were CJIS compliant.

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 6

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

NLETS is the only vendor that is capable of meeting the Government’s requirement. In the event this justification is not approved, the Government risks delaying the processing time of background investigations. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) requires DCSA to complete “Secret” level cases in 40 days and “Top Secret” level cases in 80 days. As such, DCSA must use the vendor that can provide the fastest response time to have the best chance of meeting the statutorily mandated timeliness requirements.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

The SSN was posted to beta.SAM.gov on February 26, 2020, requesting that parties express their interest in writing to the Contracting Officer. The following vendors expressed interest, in writing, by responding to the SSN. However, the vendors below were determined not capable based upon the SSN responses.

Vendor Name Business Size & Socioeconomic Category Other than Small Business - Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business; GS- 10F-0129W Small Business – Veteran Owned Small Business Small Business – Women-Owned Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

DCSA will continue to survey the marketplace by synopsizing its requirement and reviewing product literature and capability statements submitted by the vendor community prior to any future procurement for CHRI searches.

QUANTICO, VA 22134- 2253

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 7

CERTIFICATION

Requiring Activity/Program Management Office:

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

Signature & Date

REVIEW AND APPROVAL

Contracting Officer:

I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this justification for other than full and open competition does not exceed , this review serves as approval.

Signature & Date