(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, under 6 U.S.C. 396, no entity performing lead system integrator functions in the acquisition of a major system (See (HSAR) 48 CFR 3002.101) by DHS may have any direct financial interest in the development or construction of any individual system or element of any system of systems under the program in which the entity is performing lead system integrator functions.

(b) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply if—

(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security certifies to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate that—

(i) The entity was selected by DHS as a contractor to develop or construct the system or element concerned through the use of competitive procedures, and

(ii) DHS took appropriate steps to prevent any organizational conflict of interest in the selection process; or

(2) The entity was selected by a subcontractor to serve as a lower-tier subcontractor, through a process over which the entity exercised no control.

(c) CONSTRUCTION—Nothing in this section 3009.570 shall be construed to preclude an entity described in paragraph (a) of this subsection from performing work necessary to integrate two or more individual systems or elements of a system of systems with each other.