[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3246-3258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         FEDERAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION REFORM ACT

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1232) to amend titles 40, 41, and 44, United States Code, to 
eliminate duplication and waste in information technology acquisition 
and management, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1232

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Information 
     Technology Acquisition Reform Act''.

     SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I--MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITHIN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Sec. 101. Increased authority of agency Chief Information Officers over 
              information technology.
Sec. 102. Lead coordination role of Chief Information Officers Council.
Sec. 103. Reports by Government Accountability Office.

                   TITLE II--DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION

Sec. 201. Purpose.
Sec. 202. Definitions.
Sec. 203. Federal data center optimization initiative.
Sec. 204. Performance requirements related to data center 
              consolidation.
Sec. 205. Cost savings related to data center optimization.
Sec. 206. Reporting requirements to Congress and the Federal Chief 
              Information Officer.

    TITLE III--ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATION AND WASTE IN INFORMATION 
                         TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION

Sec. 301. Inventory of information technology software assets.
Sec. 302. Website consolidation and transparency.
Sec. 303. Transition to the cloud.

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Sec. 304. Elimination of unnecessary duplication of contracts by 
              requiring business case analysis.

    TITLE IV--STRENGTHENING AND STREAMLINING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
                    ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

   Subtitle A--Strengthening and Streamlining IT Program Management 
                               Practices

Sec. 401. Pilot program on interagency collaboration.
Sec. 402. Designation of assisted acquisition centers of excellence.

           Subtitle B--Strengthening IT Acquisition Workforce

Sec. 411. Expansion of training and use of information technology 
              acquisition cadres.
Sec. 412. Plan on strengthening program and project management 
              performance.
Sec. 413. Personnel awards for excellence in the acquisition of 
              information systems and information technology.

                      TITLE V--ADDITIONAL REFORMS

Sec. 501. Maximizing the benefit of the Federal strategic sourcing 
              initiative.
Sec. 502. Governmentwide software purchasing program.
Sec. 503. Promoting transparency of blanket purchase agreements.
Sec. 504. Additional source selection technique in solicitations.
Sec. 505. Enhanced transparency in information technology investments.
Sec. 506. Enhanced communication between government and industry.
Sec. 507. Clarification of current law with respect to technology 
              neutrality in acquisition of software.
Sec. 508. No additional funds authorized.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Chief acquisition officers council.--The term ``Chief 
     Acquisition Officers Council'' means the Chief Acquisition 
     Officers Council established by section 1311(a) of title 41, 
     United States Code.
       (2) Chief information officer.--The term ``Chief 
     Information Officer'' means a Chief Information Officer (as 
     designated under section 3506(a)(2) of title 44, United 
     States Code) of an agency listed in section 901(b) of title 
     31, United States Code.
       (3) Chief information officers council.--The term ``Chief 
     Information Officers Council'' or ``CIO Council'' means the 
     Chief Information Officers Council established by section 
     3603(a) of title 44, United States Code.
       (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget.
       (5) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means each 
     agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31, United States 
     Code.
       (6) Federal chief information officer.--The term ``Federal 
     Chief Information Officer'' means the Administrator of the 
     Office of Electronic Government established under section 
     3602 of title 44, United States Code.
       (7) Information technology or it.--The term ``information 
     technology'' or ``IT'' has the meaning provided in section 
     11101(6) of title 40, United States Code.
       (8) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant 
     congressional committees'' means each of the following:
       (A) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 
     the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (B) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.

TITLE I--MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITHIN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

     SEC. 101. INCREASED AUTHORITY OF AGENCY CHIEF INFORMATION 
                   OFFICERS OVER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

       (a) Presidential Appointment of CIOs of Certain Agencies.--
       (1) In general.--Section 11315 of title 40, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (A) by redesignating subsection (a) as subsection (e) and 
     moving such subsection to the end of the section; and
       (B) by inserting before subsection (b) the following new 
     subsection (a):
       ``(a) Presidential Appointment or Designation of Certain 
     Chief Information Officers.--
       ``(1) In general.--There shall be within each agency listed 
     in section 901(b)(1) of title 31 an agency Chief Information 
     Officer. Each agency Chief Information Officer shall--
       ``(A)(i) be appointed by the President; or
       ``(ii) be designated by the President, in consultation with 
     the head of the agency; and
       ``(B) be appointed or designated, as applicable, from among 
     individuals who possess demonstrated ability in general 
     management of, and knowledge of and extensive practical 
     experience in, information technology management practices in 
     large governmental or business entities.
       ``(2) Responsibilities.--An agency Chief Information 
     Officer appointed or designated under this section shall 
     report directly to the head of the agency and carry out, on a 
     full-time basis, responsibilities as set forth in this 
     section and in section 3506(a) of title 44 for Chief 
     Information Officers designated under paragraph (2) of such 
     section.''.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 3506(a)(2) of title 44, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (A) by striking ``(A) Except as provided under subparagraph 
     (B), the head of each agency'' and inserting ``The head of 
     each agency, other than an agency with a Presidentially 
     appointed or designated Chief Information Officer as provided 
     in section 11315(a)(1) of title 40,''; and
       (B) by striking subparagraph (B).
       (b) Authority Relating to Budget and Personnel.--Section 
     11315 of title 40, United States Code, is further amended by 
     inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection:
       ``(d) Additional Authorities for Certain CIOs.--
       ``(1) Budget-related authority.--
       ``(A) Planning.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the head of each agency listed in section 901(b)(1) or 
     901(b)(2) of title 31 and in section 102 of title 5 shall 
     ensure that the Chief Information Officer of the agency has 
     the authority to participate in decisions regarding the 
     budget planning process related to information technology or 
     programs that include significant information technology 
     components.
       ``(B) Allocation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, amounts appropriated for any agency listed in section 
     901(b)(1) or 901(b)(2) of title 31 and in section 102 of 
     title 5 for any fiscal year that are available for 
     information technology shall be allocated within the agency, 
     consistent with the provisions of appropriations Acts and 
     budget guidelines and recommendations from the Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget, in such manner as 
     specified by, or approved by, the Chief Information Officer 
     of the agency in consultation with the Chief Financial 
     Officer of the agency and budget officials.
       ``(2) Personnel-related authority.--Notwithstanding any 
     other provision of law, the head of each agency listed in 
     section 901(b)(1) or 901(b)(2) of title 31 shall ensure that 
     the Chief Information Officer of the agency has the authority 
     necessary to approve the hiring of personnel who will have 
     information technology responsibilities within the agency and 
     to require that such personnel have the obligation to report 
     to the Chief Information Officer in a manner considered 
     sufficient by the Chief Information Officer.''.
       (c) Single Chief Information Officer in Each Agency.--
       (1) Requirement.--Section 3506(a)(3) of title 44, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(B) Each agency shall have only one individual with the 
     title and designation of `Chief Information Officer'. Any 
     bureau, office, or subordinate organization within the agency 
     may designate one individual with the title `Deputy Chief 
     Information Officer', `Associate Chief Information Officer', 
     or `Assistant Chief Information Officer'.''.
       (2) Effective date.--Section 3506(a)(3)(B) of title 44, 
     United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), shall take 
     effect as of October 1, 2014. Any individual serving in a 
     position affected by such section before such date may 
     continue in that position if the requirements of such section 
     are fulfilled with respect to that individual.

     SEC. 102. LEAD COORDINATION ROLE OF CHIEF INFORMATION 
                   OFFICERS COUNCIL.

       (a) Lead Coordination Role.--Subsection (d) of section 3603 
     of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(d) Lead Interagency Forum.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Council is designated the lead 
     interagency forum for improving agency coordination of 
     practices related to the design, development, modernization, 
     use, operation, sharing, performance, and review of Federal 
     Government information resources investment. As the lead 
     interagency forum, the Council shall develop cross-agency 
     portfolio management practices to allow and encourage the 
     development of cross-agency shared services and shared 
     platforms. The Council shall also issue guidelines and 
     practices for infrastructure and common information 
     technology applications, including expansion of the Federal 
     Enterprise Architecture process if appropriate. The 
     guidelines and practices may address broader transparency, 
     common inputs, common outputs, and outcomes achieved. The 
     guidelines and practices shall be used as a basis for 
     comparing performance across diverse missions and operations 
     in various agencies.
       ``(2) Report.--Not later than December 1 in each of the 6 
     years following the date of the enactment of this paragraph, 
     the Council shall submit to the relevant congressional 
     committees a report (to be known as the `CIO Council Report') 
     summarizing the Council's activities in the preceding fiscal 
     year and containing such recommendations for further 
     congressional action to fulfill its mission as the Council 
     considers appropriate.
       ``(3) Relevant congressional committees.--For purposes of 
     the report required by paragraph (2), the relevant 
     congressional committees are each of the following:

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       ``(A) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 
     the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       ``(B) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.''.
       (b) Additional Function.--Subsection (f) of section 3603 of 
     such title is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(8) Assist the Administrator in developing and providing 
     guidance for effective operations of the Federal 
     Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration Center 
     authorized under section 11501 of title 40.''.
       (c) References to Administrator of e-government as Federal 
     Chief Information Officer.--
       (1) References.--Section 3602(b) of title 44, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The 
     Administrator may also be referred to as the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer.''.
       (2) Definition.--Section 3601(1) of such title is amended 
     by inserting ``or Federal Chief Information Officer'' before 
     ``means''.

     SEC. 103. REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.

       (a) Requirement to Examine Effectiveness.--The Comptroller 
     General of the United States shall examine the effectiveness 
     of the Chief Information Officers Council in meeting its 
     responsibilities under section 3603(d) of title 44, United 
     States Code, as added by section 102, with particular focus 
     on--
       (1) whether agencies are actively participating in the 
     Council and heeding the Council's advice and guidance; and
       (2) whether the Council is actively using and developing 
     the capabilities of the Federal Infrastructure and Common 
     Application Collaboration Center authorized under section 
     11501 of title 40, United States Code, as added by section 
     401.
       (b) Reports.--Not later than 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
     General shall submit to the relevant congressional committees 
     a report containing the findings and recommendations of the 
     Comptroller General from the examination required by 
     subsection (a).

                   TITLE II--DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION

     SEC. 201. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this title is to optimize Federal data 
     center usage and efficiency.

     SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Federal data center optimization initiative.--The term 
     ``Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative'' or the 
     ``Initiative'' means the initiative developed and implemented 
     by the Director, through the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer, as required under section 203.
       (2) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means any 
     agency included in the Federal Data Center Optimization 
     Initiative.
       (3) Data center.--The term ``data center'' means a closet, 
     room, floor, or building for the storage, management, and 
     dissemination of data and information, as defined by the 
     Federal Chief Information Officer under guidance issued 
     pursuant to this section.
       (4) Federal data center.--The term ``Federal data center'' 
     means any data center of a covered agency used or operated by 
     a covered agency, by a contractor of a covered agency, or by 
     another organization on behalf of a covered agency.
       (5) Server utilization.--The term ``server utilization'' 
     refers to the activity level of a server relative to its 
     maximum activity level, expressed as a percentage.
       (6) Power usage effectiveness.--The term ``power usage 
     effectiveness'' means the ratio obtained by dividing the 
     total amount of electricity and other power consumed in 
     running a data center by the power consumed by the 
     information and communications technology in the data center.

     SEC. 203. FEDERAL DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION INITIATIVE.

       (a) Requirement for Initiative.--The Federal Chief 
     Information Officer, in consultation with the chief 
     information officers of covered agencies, shall develop and 
     implement an initiative, to be known as the Federal Data 
     Center Optimization Initiative, to optimize the usage and 
     efficiency of Federal data centers by meeting the 
     requirements of this Act and taking additional measures, as 
     appropriate.
       (b) Requirement for Plan.--Within 6 months after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer, in consultation with the chief information officers 
     of covered agencies, shall develop and submit to Congress a 
     plan for implementation of the Initiative required by 
     subsection (a) by each covered agency. In developing the 
     plan, the Federal Chief Information Officer shall take into 
     account the findings and recommendations of the Comptroller 
     General review required by section 205(e).
       (c) Matters Covered.--The plan shall include--
       (1) descriptions of how covered agencies will use 
     reductions in floor space, energy use, infrastructure, 
     equipment, applications, personnel, increases in 
     multiorganizational use, server virtualization, cloud 
     computing, and other appropriate methods to meet the 
     requirements of the initiative; and
       (2) appropriate consideration of shifting Federally owned 
     data center workload to commercially owned data centers.

     SEC. 204. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO DATA CENTER 
                   CONSOLIDATION.

       (a) Server Utilization.--Each covered agency may use the 
     following methods to achieve the maximum server utilization 
     possible as determined by the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer:
       (1) The closing of existing data centers that lack adequate 
     server utilization, as determined by the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer. If the agency fails to close such data 
     centers, the agency shall provide a detailed explanation as 
     to why this data center should remain in use as part of the 
     submitted plan. The Federal Chief Information Officer shall 
     include an assessment of the agency explanation in the annual 
     report to Congress.
       (2) The consolidation of services within existing data 
     centers to increase server utilization rates.
       (3) Any other method that the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer, in consultation with the chief information officers 
     of covered agencies, determines necessary to optimize server 
     utilization.
       (b) Power Usage Effectiveness.--Each covered agency may use 
     the following methods to achieve the maximum energy 
     efficiency possible as determined by the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer:
       (1) The use of the measurement of power usage effectiveness 
     to calculate data center energy efficiency.
       (2) The use of power meters in facilities dedicated to data 
     center operations to frequently measure power consumption 
     over time.
       (3) The establishment of power usage effectiveness goals 
     for each data center.
       (4) The adoption of best practices for managing--
       (A) temperature and airflow in facilities dedicated to data 
     center operations; and
       (B) power supply efficiency.
       (5) The implementation of any other method that the Federal 
     Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the Chief 
     Information Officers of covered agencies, determines 
     necessary to optimize data center energy efficiency.

     SEC. 205. COST SAVINGS RELATED TO DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION.

       (a) Requirement to Track Costs.--
       (1) In general.--Each covered agency shall track costs 
     resulting from implementation of the Federal Data Center 
     Optimization Initiative within the agency and submit a report 
     on those costs annually to the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer. Covered agencies shall determine the net costs from 
     data consolidation on an annual basis.
       (2) Factors.--In calculating net costs each year under 
     paragraph (1), a covered agency shall use the following 
     factors:
       (A) Energy costs.
       (B) Personnel costs.
       (C) Real estate costs.
       (D) Capital expense costs.
       (E) Maintenance and support costs such as operating 
     subsystem, database, hardware, and software license expense 
     costs.
       (F) Other appropriate costs, as determined by the agency in 
     consultation with the Federal Chief Information Officer.
       (b) Requirement to Track Savings.--
       (1) In general.--Each covered agency shall track realized 
     and projected savings resulting from implementation of the 
     Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative within the agency 
     and submit a report on those savings annually to the Federal 
     Chief Information Officer. Covered agencies shall determine 
     the net savings from data consolidation on an annual basis.
       (2) Factors.--In calculating net savings each year under 
     paragraph (1), a covered agency shall use the following 
     factors:
       (A) Energy savings.
       (B) Personnel savings.
       (C) Real estate savings.
       (D) Capital expense savings.
       (E) Maintenance and support savings such as operating 
     subsystem, database, hardware, and software license expense 
     savings.
       (F) Other appropriate savings, as determined by the agency 
     in consultation with the Federal Chief Information Officer.
       (3) Public availability.--The Federal Chief Information 
     Officer shall make publicly available a summary of realized 
     and projected savings for each covered agency. The Federal 
     Chief Information Officer shall identify any covered agency 
     that failed to provide the annual report required under 
     paragraph (1).
       (c) Requirement to Use Cost-effective Measures.--Covered 
     agencies shall use the most cost-effective measures to 
     implement the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative, 
     such as using estimation to measure or track costs and 
     savings using a methodology approved by the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer.
       (d) Government Accountability Office Review.--Not later 
     than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the Comptroller General of the United States shall examine 
     methods for calculating savings from the Initiative and using 
     them for the purposes identified in subsection (d), including 
     establishment and use of a special revolving

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     fund that supports data centers and server optimization, and 
     shall submit to the Federal Chief Information Officer and 
     Congress a report on the Comptroller General's findings and 
     recommendations.

     SEC. 206. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO CONGRESS AND THE FEDERAL 
                   CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.

       (a) Agency Requirement to Report to CIO.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 
     covered agency each year shall submit to the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer a report on the implementation of the 
     Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative, including 
     savings resulting from such implementation. The report shall 
     include an update of the agency's plan for implementing the 
     Initiative.
       (2) Department of defense.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
     comply with paragraph (1) each year by submitting to the 
     Federal Chief Information Officer a report with relevant 
     information collected under section 2867 of Public Law 112-81 
     (10 U.S.C. 2223a note) or a copy of the report required under 
     section 2867(d) of such law.
       (b) Federal Chief Information Officer Requirement to Report 
     to Congress.--Each year, the Federal Chief Information 
     Officer shall submit to the relevant congressional committees 
     a report that assesses agency progress in carrying out the 
     Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative and updates the 
     plan under section 203. The report may be included as part of 
     the annual report required under section 3606 of title 44, 
     United States Code.

    TITLE III--ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATION AND WASTE IN INFORMATION 
                         TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION

     SEC. 301. INVENTORY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE 
                   ASSETS.

       (a) Plan.--The Director shall develop a plan for conducting 
     a Governmentwide inventory of information technology software 
     assets.
       (b) Matters Covered.--The plan required by subsection (a) 
     shall cover the following:
       (1) The manner in which Federal agencies can achieve the 
     greatest possible economies of scale and cost savings in the 
     procurement of information technology software assets, 
     through measures such as reducing the procurement of new 
     software licenses until such time as agency needs exceed the 
     number of existing and unused licenses.
       (2) The capability to conduct ongoing Governmentwide 
     inventories of all existing software licenses on an 
     application-by-application basis, including duplicative, 
     unused, overused, and underused licenses, and to assess the 
     need of agencies for software licenses.
       (3) A Governmentwide spending analysis to provide knowledge 
     about how much is being spent for software products or 
     services to support decisions for strategic sourcing under 
     the Federal strategic sourcing program managed by the Office 
     of Federal Procurement Policy.
       (c) Availability.--The inventory of information technology 
     software assets shall be available to Chief Information 
     Officers and such other Federal officials as the Chief 
     Information Officers may, in consultation with the Chief 
     Information Officers Council, designate.
       (d) Deadline and Submission to Congress.--Not later than 
     180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Director shall complete and submit to Congress the plan 
     required by subsection (a).
       (e) Implementation.--Not later than two years after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
     complete implementation of the plan required by subsection 
     (a).
       (f) Review by Comptroller General.--Not later than two 
     years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Comptroller General of the United States shall review the 
     plan required by subsection (a) and submit to the relevant 
     congressional committees a report on the review.

     SEC. 302. WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION AND TRANSPARENCY.

       (a) Website Consolidation.--The Director shall--
       (1) in consultation with Federal agencies, and after 
     reviewing the directory of public Federal Government websites 
     of each agency (as required to be established and updated 
     under section 207(f)(3) of the E-Government Act of 2002 
     (Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note)), assess all the 
     publicly available websites of Federal agencies to determine 
     whether there are duplicative or overlapping websites; and
       (2) require Federal agencies to eliminate or consolidate 
     those websites that are duplicative or overlapping.
       (b) Website Transparency.--The Director shall issue 
     guidance to Federal agencies to ensure that the data on 
     publicly available websites of the agencies are open and 
     accessible to the public.
       (c) Matters Covered.--In preparing the guidance required by 
     subsection (b), the Director shall--
       (1) develop guidelines, standards, and best practices for 
     interoperability and transparency;
       (2) identify interfaces that provide for shared, open 
     solutions on the publicly available websites of the agencies; 
     and
       (3) ensure that Federal agency Internet home pages, web-
     based forms, and web-based applications are accessible to 
     individuals with disabilities in conformance with section 508 
     of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d).
       (d) Deadline for Guidance.--The guidance required by 
     subsection (b) shall be issued not later than 180 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 303. TRANSITION TO THE CLOUD.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     transition to cloud computing offers significant potential 
     benefits for the implementation of Federal information 
     technology projects in terms of flexibility, cost, and 
     operational benefits.
       (b) Governmentwide Application.--In assessing cloud 
     computing opportunities, the Chief Information Officers 
     Council shall define policies and guidelines for the adoption 
     of Governmentwide programs providing for a standardized 
     approach to security assessment and operational authorization 
     for cloud products and services.
       (c) Additional Budget Authorities for Transition.--In 
     transitioning to the cloud, a Chief Information Officer of an 
     agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31, United States 
     Code, may establish such cloud service Working Capital Funds, 
     in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer of the 
     agency, as may be necessary to transition to cloud-based 
     solutions. Any establishment of a new Working Capital Fund 
     under this subsection shall be reported to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate 
     and relevant Congressional committees.

     SEC. 304. ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION OF CONTRACTS 
                   BY REQUIRING BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to leverage 
     the Government's buying power and achieve administrative 
     efficiencies and cost savings by eliminating unnecessary 
     duplication of contracts.
       (b) Requirement for Business Case Approval.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 33 of title 41, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     section:

     ``Sec. 3312. Requirement for business case approval for new 
       Governmentwide contracts.

       ``(a) In General.--An executive agency may not issue a 
     solicitation for a covered Governmentwide contract unless the 
     agency performs a business case analysis for the contract and 
     obtains an approval of the business case analysis from the 
     Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
       ``(b) Review of Business Case Analysis.--
       ``(1) In general.--With respect to any covered 
     Governmentwide contract, the Administrator for Federal 
     Procurement Policy shall review the business case analysis 
     submitted for the contract and provide an approval or 
     disapproval within 60 days after the date of submission. Any 
     business case analysis not disapproved within such 60-day 
     period is deemed to be approved.
       ``(2) Basis for approval of business case.--The 
     Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall approve or 
     disapprove a business case analysis based on the adequacy of 
     the analysis submitted. The Administrator shall give primary 
     consideration to whether an agency has demonstrated a 
     compelling need that cannot be satisfied by existing 
     Governmentwide contract in a timely and cost-effective 
     manner.
       ``(c) Content of Business Case Analysis.--The Administrator 
     for Federal Procurement Policy shall issue guidance 
     specifying the content for a business case analysis submitted 
     pursuant to this section. At a minimum, the business case 
     analysis shall include details on the administrative 
     resources needed for such contract, including an analysis of 
     all direct and indirect costs to the Federal Government of 
     awarding and administering such contract and the impact such 
     contract will have on the ability of the Federal Government 
     to leverage its purchasing power.
       ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Covered governmentwide contract.--The term `covered 
     Governmentwide contract' means any contract, blanket purchase 
     agreement, or other contractual instrument for acquisition of 
     information technology or other goods or services that allows 
     for an indefinite number of orders to be placed under the 
     contract, agreement, or instrument, and that is established 
     by one executive agency for use by multiple executive 
     agencies to obtain goods or services. The term does not 
     include--
       ``(A) a multiple award schedule contract awarded by the 
     General Services Administration;
       ``(B) a Governmentwide acquisition contract for information 
     technology awarded pursuant to sections 11302(e) and 
     11314(a)(2) of title 40;
       ``(C) orders under Governmentwide contracts in existence 
     before the effective date of this section; or
       ``(D) any contract in an amount less than $10,000,000, 
     determined on an average annual basis.
       ``(2) Executive agency.--The term `executive agency' has 
     the meaning provided that term by section 105 of title 5.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     33 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by adding 
     after the item relating to section 3311 the following new 
     item:


[[Page 3250]]


``3312. Requirement for business case approval for new Governmentwide 
              contracts.''.
       (c) Report.--Not later than June 1 in each of the next 6 
     years following the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall submit to 
     the relevant congressional committees a report on the 
     implementation of section 3312 of title 41, United States 
     Code, as added by subsection (b), including a summary of the 
     submissions, reviews, approvals, and disapprovals of business 
     case analyses pursuant to such section.
       (d) Guidance.--The Administrator for Federal Procurement 
     Policy shall issue guidance for implementing section 3312 of 
     such title.
       (e) Revision of FAR.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation shall be amended to implement section 3312 of such 
     title.
       (g) Effective Date.--Section 3312 of such title is 
     effective on and after 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

    TITLE IV--STRENGTHENING AND STREAMLINING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
                    ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

   Subtitle A--Strengthening and Streamlining IT Program Management 
                               Practices

     SEC. 401. PILOT PROGRAM ON INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.

       (a) Pilot Program.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 115 of title 40, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

 ``CHAPTER 115--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

``Sec.
``11501. Pilot program on interagency collaboration.

     ``Sec. 11501. Pilot program on interagency collaboration

       ``(a) Requirement to Conduct Pilot Program.--The Director 
     of the Office of Management and Budget shall conduct a three-
     year pilot program in accordance with the requirements of 
     this section to test alternative approaches for the 
     management of commonly used information technology by 
     executive agencies.
       ``(b) Establishment and Purposes.--For purposes of the 
     pilot program, the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget shall establish a Federal Infrastructure and Common 
     Application Collaboration Center (hereafter in this section 
     referred to as the `Collaboration Center') within the Office 
     of Electronic Government established under section 3602 of 
     title 44. The purpose of the Collaboration Center is to serve 
     as a resource for Federal agencies, available on an optional-
     use basis, to assist and promote coordinated program 
     management practices and to develop and maintain requirements 
     for the acquisition of IT infrastructure and common 
     applications commonly used by various Federal agencies.
       ``(c) Organization of Center.--
       ``(1) Membership.--The Center shall consist of the 
     following members:
       ``(A) An appropriate number, as determined by the CIO 
     Council, but not less than 12, full-time program managers or 
     cost specialists, all of whom have appropriate experience in 
     the private or Government sector in managing or overseeing 
     acquisitions of IT infrastructure and common applications.
       ``(B) At least 1 full-time detailee from each of the 
     Federal agencies listed in section 901(b) of title 31, 
     nominated by the respective agency chief information officer 
     for a detail period of not less than 1 year.
       ``(2) Working groups.--The Collaboration Center shall have 
     working groups that specialize in IT infrastructure and 
     common applications identified by the CIO Council. Each 
     working group shall be headed by a separate dedicated program 
     manager appointed by the Federal Chief Information Officer.
       ``(d) Capabilities and Functions of the Collaboration 
     Center.--For each of the IT infrastructure and common 
     application areas identified by the CIO Council, the 
     Collaboration Center shall perform the following roles, and 
     any other functions as directed by the Federal Chief 
     Information Officer:
       ``(1) Develop, maintain, and disseminate requirements 
     suitable to establish contracts that will meet the common and 
     general needs of various Federal agencies as determined by 
     the Center. In doing so, the Center shall give maximum 
     consideration to the adoption of commercial standards and 
     industry acquisition best practices, including opportunities 
     for shared services, consideration of total cost of 
     ownership, preference for industry-neutral functional 
     specifications leveraging open industry standards and 
     competition, and use of long-term contracts, as appropriate.
       ``(2) Develop, maintain, and disseminate reliable cost 
     estimates.
       ``(3) Lead the review of significant or troubled IT 
     investments or acquisitions as identified by the CIO Council.
       ``(4) Provide expert aid to troubled IT investments or 
     acquisitions.
       ``(e) Guidance.--The Director, in consultation with the 
     Chief Information Officers Council, shall issue guidance 
     addressing the scope and operation of the Collaboration 
     Center. The guidance shall require that the collaboration 
     Center report to the Federal Chief Information Officer.
       ``(f) Report to Congress.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Director shall annually submit to 
     the relevant congressional committees a report detailing the 
     organization, staff, and activities of the Collaboration 
     Center, including--
       ``(A) a list of IT infrastructure and common applications 
     the Center assisted;
       ``(B) an assessment of the Center's achievement in 
     promoting efficiency, shared services, and elimination of 
     unnecessary Government requirements that are contrary to 
     commercial best practices; and
       ``(C) the use and expenditure of amounts in the Fund 
     established under subsection (i).
       ``(2) Inclusion in other report.--The report may be 
     included as part of the annual E-Government status report 
     required under section 3606 of title 44.
       ``(g) Guidelines for Acquisition of IT Infrastructure and 
     Common Applications.--
       ``(1) Guidelines.--The Collaboration Center shall establish 
     guidelines that, to the maximum extent possible, eliminate 
     inconsistent practices among executive agencies and ensure 
     uniformity and consistency in acquisition processes for IT 
     infrastructure and common applications across the Federal 
     Government.
       ``(2) Central website.--In preparing the guidelines, the 
     Collaboration Center, in consultation with the Chief 
     Acquisition Officers Council, shall offer executive agencies 
     the option of accessing a central website for best practices, 
     templates, and other relevant information.
       ``(h) Pricing Transparency.--The Collaboration Center, in 
     collaboration with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, 
     the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the General Services 
     Administration, and the Assisted Acquisition Centers of 
     Excellence, shall compile a price list and catalogue 
     containing current pricing information by vendor for each of 
     its IT infrastructure and common applications categories. The 
     price catalogue shall contain any price provided by a vendor 
     in a contract awarded for the same or similar good or service 
     to any executive agency. The catalogue shall be developed in 
     a fashion ensuring that it may be used for pricing 
     comparisons and pricing analysis using standard data formats. 
     The price catalogue shall not be made public, but shall be 
     accessible to executive agencies.
       ``(i) Authorization to Use Fund.--In any fiscal year, 
     notwithstanding section 321(c) of title 40, up to five 
     percent of the fees collected during the prior fiscal year 
     under the multiple award schedule contracts entered into by 
     the Administrator of General Services and credited to the 
     Acquisition Services Fund under section 321 of title 40, may 
     be used to fund the activities of the Collaboration Center. 
     Each fiscal year, the Director, in consultation with the 
     Federal Chief Information Officer, shall determine an 
     appropriate amount needed to operate the Collaboration Center 
     and the Administrator of General Services shall transfer 
     amounts only to the extent and in such amounts as are 
     provided in advance in appropriation acts from the Fund to 
     the Director for the Center.
       ``(j) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Executive agency.--The term `executive agency' has 
     the meaning provided that term by section 105 of title 5.
       ``(2) Federal chief information officer.--The term `Federal 
     Chief Information Officer' means the Administrator of the 
     Office of Electronic Government established under section 
     3602 of title 44.
       ``(3) Relevant congressional committees.--The term 
     `relevant congressional committees' means each of the 
     following:
       ``(A) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 
     the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       ``(B) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The item relating to chapter 115 
     in the table of chapters at the beginning of subtitle III of 
     title 40, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``115. Information Technology Acquisition Management Practi11501''.....

       (b) Deadlines.--
       (1) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance 
     under section 11501(e) of title 40, United States Code, as 
     added by subsection (a).
       (2) Center.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish the 
     Federal Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration 
     Center, in accordance with section 11501(b) of such title, as 
     so added.
       (3) Guidelines.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Federal Infrastructure and 
     Common Application Collaboration Center shall establish 
     guidelines in accordance with section 11501(g) of such title, 
     as so added.
       (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3602(c) of title 44, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2);
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and

[[Page 3251]]

       (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new 
     paragraph (3):
       ``(3) all of the functions of the Federal Infrastructure 
     and Common Application Collaboration Center, as required 
     under section 11501 of title 40; and''.

     SEC. 402. DESIGNATION OF ASSISTED ACQUISITION CENTERS OF 
                   EXCELLENCE.

       (a) Designation.--Chapter 115 of title 40, United States 
     Code, as amended by section 401, is further amended by adding 
     at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 11502. ASSISTED ACQUISITION CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

       ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to develop 
     specialized assisted acquisition centers of excellence within 
     the Federal Government to serve as a resource for Federal 
     agencies, available on an optional-use basis, to assist and 
     promote--
       ``(1) the effective use of best acquisition practices;
       ``(2) the development of specialized expertise in the 
     acquisition of information technology; and
       ``(3) Governmentwide sharing of acquisition capability to 
     augment any shortage in the information technology 
     acquisition workforce.
       ``(b) Designation of AACEs.--Not later than 1 year after 
     the date of the enactment of this section, and every 3 years 
     thereafter, the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget, in consultation with the Chief Acquisition Officers 
     Council and the Chief Information Officers Council, shall 
     designate, redesignate, or withdraw the designation of 
     acquisition centers of excellence within various executive 
     agencies to carry out the functions set forth in subsection 
     (d) in an area of specialized acquisition expertise as 
     determined by the Director. Each such center of excellence 
     shall be known as an `Assisted Acquisition Center of 
     Excellence' or an `AACE'.
       ``(c) Use of Existing Authority.--This section provides no 
     new authority to establish a franchise fund or revolving 
     fund.
       ``(d) Functions.--The functions of each AACE are as 
     follows:
       ``(1) Best practices.--To promote, develop, and implement 
     the use of best acquisition practices in the area of 
     specialized acquisition expertise that the AACE is designated 
     to carry out by the Director under subsection (b).
       ``(2) Assisted acquisitions.--To assist all Government 
     agencies in the expedient, strategic, and cost-effective 
     acquisition of the information technology goods or services 
     covered by such area of specialized acquisition expertise by 
     engaging in repeated and frequent acquisition of similar 
     information technology requirements.
       ``(3) Development and training of IT acquisition 
     workforce.--To assist in recruiting and training IT 
     acquisition cadres (referred to in section 1704(j) of title 
     41).
       ``(e) Criteria.--In designating, redesignating, or 
     withdrawing the designation of an AACE, the Director shall 
     consider, at a minimum, the following matters:
       ``(1) The subject matter expertise of the host agency in a 
     specific area of information technology acquisition.
       ``(2) For acquisitions of IT infrastructure and common 
     applications covered by the Federal Infrastructure and Common 
     Application Collaboration Center authorized under section 
     11501 of this title, the ability and willingness to 
     collaborate with the Collaboration Center and adhere to the 
     requirements standards established by the Collaboration 
     Center.
       ``(3) The ability of an AACE to develop customized 
     requirements documents that meet the needs of executive 
     agencies as well as the current industry standards and 
     commercial best practices.
       ``(4) The ability of an AACE to consistently award and 
     manage various contracts, task or delivery orders, and other 
     acquisition arrangements in a timely, cost-effective, and 
     compliant manner.
       ``(5) The ability of an AACE to aggregate demands from 
     multiple executive agencies for similar information 
     technology goods or services and fulfill those demands in one 
     acquisition.
       ``(6) The ability of an AACE to acquire innovative or 
     emerging commercial and noncommercial technologies using 
     various contracting methods, including ways to lower the 
     entry barriers for small businesses with limited Government 
     contracting experiences.
       ``(7) The ability of an AACE to maximize commercial item 
     acquisition, effectively manage high-risk contract types, 
     increase competition, promote small business participation, 
     and maximize use of available Governmentwide contracts.
       ``(8) The existence of an in-house cost estimating group 
     with expertise to consistently develop reliable cost 
     estimates that are accurate, comprehensive, well-documented, 
     and credible.
       ``(9) The ability of an AACE to employ best practices and 
     educate requesting agencies, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, regarding critical factors underlying successful 
     major IT acquisitions, including the following factors:
       ``(A) Active engagement by program officials with 
     stakeholders.
       ``(B) Possession by program staff of the necessary 
     knowledge and skills.
       ``(C) Support of the programs by senior department and 
     agency executives.
       ``(D) Involvement by end users and stakeholders in the 
     development of requirements.
       ``(E) Participation by end users in testing of system 
     functionality prior to formal end user acceptance testing.
       ``(F) Stability and consistency of Government and 
     contractor staff.
       ``(G) Prioritization of requirements by program staff.
       ``(H) Maintenance of regular communication with the prime 
     contractor by program officials.
       ``(I) Receipt of sufficient funding by programs.
       ``(10) The ability of an AACE to run an effective 
     acquisition intern program in collaboration with the Federal 
     Acquisition Institute or the Defense Acquisition University.
       ``(11) The ability of an AACE to effectively and properly 
     manage fees received for assisted acquisitions pursuant to 
     this section.
       ``(f) Funds Received by AACEs.--
       ``(1) Availability.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law or regulation, funds obligated and transferred from an 
     executive agency in a fiscal year to an AACE for the 
     acquisition of goods or services covered by an area of 
     specialized acquisition expertise of an AACE, regardless of 
     whether the requirements are severable or non-severable, 
     shall remain available for awards of contracts by the AACE 
     for the same general requirements for the next 5 fiscal years 
     following the fiscal year in which the funds were 
     transferred.
       ``(2) Transition to new AACE.--If the AACE to which the 
     funds are provided under paragraph (1) becomes unable to 
     fulfill the requirements of the executive agency from which 
     the funds were provided, the funds may be provided to a 
     different AACE to fulfill such requirements. The funds so 
     provided shall be used for the same purpose and remain 
     available for the same period of time as applied when 
     provided to the original AACE.
       ``(3) Relationship to existing authorities.--This 
     subsection does not limit any existing authorities an AACE 
     may have under its revolving or working capital funds 
     authorities.
       ``(g) Government Accountability Office Review of AACE.--
       ``(1) Review.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
     shall review and assess--
       ``(A) the use and management of fees received by the AACEs 
     pursuant to this section to ensure that an appropriate fee 
     structure is established and enforced to cover activities 
     addressed in this section and that no excess fees are charged 
     or retained; and
       ``(B) the effectiveness of the AACEs in achieving the 
     purpose described in subsection (a), including review of 
     contracts.
       ``(2) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the designation 
     or redesignation of AACES under subsection (b), the 
     Comptroller General shall submit to the relevant 
     congressional committees a report containing the findings and 
     assessment under paragraph (1).
       ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Assisted acquisition.--The term `assisted 
     acquisition' means a type of interagency acquisition in which 
     the parties enter into an interagency agreement pursuant to 
     which--
       ``(A) the servicing agency performs acquisition activities 
     on the requesting agency's behalf, such as awarding, 
     administering, or closing out a contract, task order, 
     delivery order, or blanket purchase agreement; and
       ``(B) funding is provided through a franchise fund, the 
     Acquisition Services Fund in section 321 of this title, 
     sections 1535 and 1536 of title 31, or other available 
     methods.
       ``(2) Executive agency.--The term `executive agency' has 
     the meaning provided that term by section 133 of title 41.
       ``(3) Relevant congressional committees.--The term 
     `relevant congressional committees' has the meaning provided 
     that term by section 11501 of this title.
       ``(i) Revision of FAR.--The Federal Acquisition Regulation 
     shall be amended to implement this section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 115 of title 40, United States Code, as 
     amended by section 401, is further amended by adding at the 
     end the following new item:

``11502. Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence.''.

           Subtitle B--Strengthening IT Acquisition Workforce

     SEC. 411. EXPANSION OF TRAINING AND USE OF INFORMATION 
                   TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CADRES.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to ensure 
     timely progress by Federal agencies toward developing, 
     strengthening, and deploying personnel with highly 
     specialized skills in information technology acquisition, 
     including program and project managers, to be known as 
     information technology acquisition cadres.
       (b) Report to Congress.--Section 1704 of title 41, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
     new subsection:
       ``(j) Strategic Plan on Information Technology Acquisition 
     Cadres.--
       ``(1) Five-year strategic plan to congress.--Not later than 
     June 1 following the

[[Page 3252]]

     date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director shall 
     submit to the relevant congressional committees a 5-year 
     strategic plan (to be known as the `IT Acquisition Cadres 
     Strategic Plan') to develop, strengthen, and solidify 
     information technology acquisition cadres. The plan shall 
     include a timeline for implementation of the plan and 
     identification of individuals responsible for specific 
     elements of the plan during the 5-year period covered by the 
     plan.
       ``(2) Matters covered.--The plan shall address, at a 
     minimum, the following matters:
       ``(A) Current information technology acquisition staffing 
     challenges in Federal agencies, by previous year's 
     information technology acquisition value, and by the Federal 
     Government as a whole.
       ``(B) The variety and complexity of information technology 
     acquisitions conducted by each Federal agency covered by the 
     plan, and the specialized information technology acquisition 
     workforce needed to effectively carry out such acquisitions.
       ``(C) The development of a sustainable funding model to 
     support efforts to hire, retain, and train an information 
     technology acquisition cadre of appropriate size and skill to 
     effectively carry out the acquisition programs of the Federal 
     agencies covered by the plan, including an examination of 
     interagency funding methods and a discussion of how the model 
     of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund could 
     be applied to civilian agencies.
       ``(D) Any strategic human capital planning necessary to 
     hire, retain, and train an information acquisition cadre of 
     appropriate size and skill at each Federal agency covered by 
     the plan.
       ``(E) Governmentwide training standards and certification 
     requirements necessary to enhance the mobility and career 
     opportunities of the Federal information technology 
     acquisition cadre within the Federal agencies covered by the 
     plan.
       ``(F) New and innovative approaches to workforce 
     development and training, including cross-functional 
     training, rotational development, and assignments both within 
     and outside the Government.
       ``(G) Appropriate consideration and alignment with the 
     needs and priorities of the Infrastructure and Common 
     Application Collaboration Center, Assisted Acquisition 
     Centers of Excellence, and acquisition intern programs.
       ``(H) Assessment of the current workforce competency and 
     usage trends in evaluation technique to obtain best value, 
     including proper handling of tradeoffs between price and 
     nonprice factors.
       ``(I) Assessment of the current workforce competency in 
     designing and aligning performance goals, life cycle costs, 
     and contract incentives.
       ``(J) Assessment of the current workforce competency in 
     avoiding brand-name preference and using industry-neutral 
     functional specifications to leverage open industry standards 
     and competition.
       ``(K) Use of integrated program teams, including fully 
     dedicated program managers, for each complex information 
     technology investment.
       ``(L) Proper assignment of recognition or accountability to 
     the members of an integrated program team for both individual 
     functional goals and overall program success or failure.
       ``(M) The development of a technology fellows program that 
     includes provisions for recruiting, for rotation of 
     assignments, and for partnering directly with universities 
     with well-recognized information technology programs.
       ``(N) The capability to properly manage other transaction 
     authority (where such authority is granted), including 
     ensuring that the use of the authority is warranted due to 
     unique technical challenges, rapid adoption of innovative or 
     emerging commercial or noncommercial technologies, or other 
     circumstances that cannot readily be satisfied using a 
     contract, grant, or cooperative agreement in accordance with 
     applicable law and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
       ``(O) The use of student internship and scholarship 
     programs as a talent pool for permanent hires and the use and 
     impact of special hiring authorities and flexibilities to 
     recruit diverse candidates.
       ``(P) The assessment of hiring manager satisfaction with 
     the hiring process and hiring outcomes, including 
     satisfaction with the quality of applicants interviewed and 
     hires made.
       ``(Q) The assessment of applicant satisfaction with the 
     hiring process, including the clarity of the hiring 
     announcement, the user-friendliness of the application 
     process, communication from the hiring manager or agency 
     regarding application status, and timeliness of the hiring 
     decision.
       ``(R) The assessment of new hire satisfaction with the 
     onboarding process, including the orientation process, and 
     investment in training and development for employees during 
     their first year of employment.
       ``(S) Any other matters the Director considers appropriate.
       ``(3) Annual report.--Not later than June 1 in each of the 
     5 years following the year of submission of the plan required 
     by paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to the relevant 
     congressional committees an annual report outlining the 
     progress made pursuant to the plan.
       ``(4) Government accountability office review of the plan 
     and annual report.--
       ``(A) Not later than 1 year after the submission of the 
     plan required by paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of 
     the United States shall review the plan and submit to the 
     relevant congressional committees a report on the review.
       ``(B) Not later than 6 months after the submission of the 
     first, third, and fifth annual report required under 
     paragraph (3), the Comptroller General shall independently 
     assess the findings of the annual report and brief the 
     relevant congressional committees on the Comptroller 
     General's findings and recommendations to ensure the 
     objectives of the plan are accomplished.
       ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) The term `Federal agency' means each agency listed in 
     section 901(b) of title 31.
       ``(B) The term `relevant congressional committees' means 
     each of the following:
       ``(i) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 
     the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       ``(ii) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.''.

     SEC. 412. PLAN ON STRENGTHENING PROGRAM AND PROJECT 
                   MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE.

       (a) Plan on Strengthening Program and Project Management 
     Performance.--Not later than June 1 following the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit 
     to the relevant congressional committees a plan for improving 
     management of IT programs and projects.
       (b) Matters Covered.--The plan required by subsection (a) 
     shall include, at a minimum, the following:
       (1) Creation of a specialized career path for program 
     management.
       (2) The development of a competency model for program 
     management consistent with the IT project manager model.
       (3) A career advancement model that requires appropriate 
     expertise and experience for advancement.
       (4) A career advancement model that is more competitive 
     with the private sector and that recognizes both Government 
     and private sector experience.
       (5) Appropriate consideration and alignment with the needs 
     and priorities of the Infrastructure and Common Application 
     Collaboration Center, the Assisted Acquisition Centers of 
     Excellence, and acquisition intern programs.
       (c) Combination With Other Cadres Plan.--The Director may 
     combine the plan required by subsection (a) with the IT 
     Acquisition Cadres Strategic Plan required under section 
     1704(j) of title 41, United States Code, as added by section 
     411.

     SEC. 413. PERSONNEL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ACQUISITION 
                   OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION 
                   TECHNOLOGY.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Personnel Management shall develop policy and guidance for 
     agencies to develop a program to recognize excellent 
     performance by Federal Government employees and teams of such 
     employees in the acquisition of information systems and 
     information technology for the agency.
       (b) Elements.--The program referred to in subsection (a) 
     shall, to the extent practicable--
       (1) obtain objective outcome measures; and
       (2) include procedures for--
       (A) the nomination of Federal Government employees and 
     teams of such employees for eligibility for recognition under 
     the program; and
       (B) the evaluation of nominations for recognition under the 
     program by 1 or more agency panels of individuals from 
     Government, academia, and the private sector who have such 
     expertise, and are appointed in such a manner, as the 
     Director of the Office of Personal Management shall establish 
     for purposes of the program.
       (c) Award of Cash Bonuses and Other Incentives.--In 
     carrying out the program referred to in subsection (a), the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in 
     consultation with the Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget, shall establish policies and guidance for 
     agencies to reward any Federal Government employee or teams 
     of such employees recognized pursuant to the program--
       (1) with a cash bonus, to the extent that the performance 
     of such individual or team warrants the award of such bonus 
     and is authorized by any provision of law;
       (2) through promotions and other nonmonetary awards;
       (3) by publicizing--
       (A) acquisition accomplishments by individual employees; 
     and
       (B) the tangible end benefits that resulted from such 
     accomplishments, as appropriate; and
       (4) through other awards, incentives, or bonuses that the 
     head of the agency considers appropriate.

[[Page 3253]]



                      TITLE V--ADDITIONAL REFORMS

     SEC. 501. MAXIMIZING THE BENEFIT OF THE FEDERAL STRATEGIC 
                   SOURCING INITIATIVE.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy 
     shall prescribe regulations providing that when the Federal 
     Government makes a purchase of services and supplies offered 
     under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (managed by 
     the Office of Federal Procurement Policy) but such Initiative 
     is not used, the contract file for the purchase shall include 
     a brief analysis of the comparative value, including price 
     and nonprice factors, between the services and supplies 
     offered under such Initiative and services and supplies 
     offered under the source or sources used for the purchase.

     SEC. 502. GOVERNMENTWIDE SOFTWARE PURCHASING PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of General Services, in 
     collaboration with the Department of Defense, shall identify 
     and develop a strategic sourcing initiative to enhance 
     Governmentwide acquisition, shared use, and dissemination of 
     software, as well as compliance with end user license 
     agreements.
       (b) Examination of Methods.--In developing the initiative 
     under subsection (a), the Administrator shall examine the use 
     of realistic and effective demand aggregation models 
     supported by actual agency commitment to use the models, and 
     supplier relationship management practices, to more 
     effectively govern the Government's acquisition of 
     information technology.
       (c) Governmentwide User License Agreement.--The 
     Administrator, in developing the initiative under subsection 
     (a), shall allow for the purchase of a license agreement that 
     is available for use by all executive agencies as one user to 
     the maximum extent practicable and as appropriate.

     SEC. 503. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY OF BLANKET PURCHASE 
                   AGREEMENTS.

       (a) Price Information to Be Treated as Public 
     Information.--The final negotiated price offered by an 
     awardee of a blanket purchase agreement shall be treated as 
     public information.
       (b) Publication of Blanket Purchase Agreement 
     Information.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services 
     shall make available to the public a list of all blanket 
     purchase agreements entered into by Federal agencies under 
     its Federal Supply Schedules contracts and the prices 
     associated with those blanket purchase agreements. The list 
     and price information shall be updated at least once every 6 
     months.

     SEC. 504. ADDITIONAL SOURCE SELECTION TECHNIQUE IN 
                   SOLICITATIONS.

       Section 3306(d) of title 41, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (1);
       (2) by striking the period and inserting ``; or'' at the 
     end of paragraph (2); and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) stating in the solicitation that the award will be 
     made using a fixed price technical competition, under which 
     all offerors compete solely on nonprice factors and the fixed 
     award price is pre-announced in the solicitation.''.

     SEC. 505. ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
                   INVESTMENTS.

       (a) Public Availability of Information About IT 
     Investments.--Section 11302(c) of title 40, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
       (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(2) Public availability.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Director shall make available to the 
     public the cost, schedule, and performance data for all of 
     the IT investments listed in subparagraph (B), 
     notwithstanding whether the investments are for new IT 
     acquisitions or for operations and maintenance of existing 
     IT.
       ``(B) Investments listed.--The investments listed in this 
     subparagraph are the following:
       ``(i) At least 80 percent (by dollar value) of all 
     information technology investments Governmentwide.
       ``(ii) At least 60 percent (by dollar value) of all 
     information technology investments in each Federal agency 
     listed in section 901(b) of title 31.
       ``(iii) Every major information technology investment (as 
     defined by the Office of Management and Budget) in each 
     Federal agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31.
       ``(C) Quarterly review and certification.--For each 
     investment listed in subparagraph (B), the agency Chief 
     Information Officer and the program manager of the investment 
     within the agency shall certify, at least once every quarter, 
     that the information is current, accurate, and reflects the 
     risks associated with each listed investment. The Director 
     shall conduct quarterly reviews and publicly identify 
     agencies with an incomplete certification or with significant 
     data quality issues.
       ``(D) Continuous availability.--The information required 
     under subparagraph (A), in its most updated form, shall be 
     publicly available at all times.
       ``(E) Waiver or limitation authority.--The applicability of 
     subparagraph (A) may be waived or the extent of the 
     information may be limited--
       ``(i) by the Director, with respect to IT investments 
     Governmentwide; and
       ``(ii) by the Chief Information Officer of a Federal 
     agency, with respect to IT investments in that agency;

     if the Director or the Chief Information Officer, as the case 
     may be, determines that such a waiver or limitation is in the 
     national security interests of the United States.''.
       (b) Additional Report Requirements.--Paragraph (3) of 
     section 11302(c) of such title, as redesignated by subsection 
     (a), is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The 
     report shall include an analysis of agency trends reflected 
     in the performance risk information required in paragraph 
     (2).''.

     SEC. 506. ENHANCED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND 
                   INDUSTRY.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall 
     prescribe a regulation making clear that agency acquisition 
     personnel are permitted and encouraged to engage in 
     responsible and constructive exchanges with industry, so long 
     as those exchanges are consistent with existing law and 
     regulation and do not promote an unfair competitive advantage 
     to particular firms.

     SEC. 507. CLARIFICATION OF CURRENT LAW WITH RESPECT TO 
                   TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY IN ACQUISITION OF 
                   SOFTWARE.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to establish 
     guidance and processes to clarify that software acquisitions 
     by the Federal Government are to be made using merit-based 
     requirements development and evaluation processes that 
     promote procurement choices--
       (1) based on performance and value, including the long-term 
     value proposition to the Federal Government;
       (2) free of preconceived preferences based on how 
     technology is developed, licensed, or distributed; and
       (3) generally including the consideration of proprietary, 
     open source, and mixed source software technologies.
       (b) Technology Neutrality.--Nothing in this section shall 
     be construed to modify the Federal Government's long-standing 
     policy of following technology-neutral principles and 
     practices when selecting and acquiring information technology 
     that best fits the needs of the Federal Government.
       (c) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with 
     the Chief Information Officers Council, shall issue guidance 
     concerning the technology-neutral procurement and use of 
     software within the Federal Government.
       (d) Matters Covered.--In issuing guidance under subsection 
     (c), the Director shall include, at a minimum, the following:
       (1) Guidance to clarify that the preference for commercial 
     items in section 3307 of title 41, United States Code, 
     includes proprietary, open source, and mixed source software 
     that meets the definition of the term ``commercial item'' in 
     section 103 of title 41, United States Code, including all 
     such software that is used for non-Government purposes and is 
     licensed to the public.
       (2) Guidance regarding the conduct of market research to 
     ensure the inclusion of proprietary, open source, and mixed 
     source software options.
       (3) Guidance to define Governmentwide standards for 
     security, redistribution, indemnity, and copyright in the 
     acquisition, use, release, and collaborative development of 
     proprietary, open source, and mixed source software.
       (4) Guidance for the adoption of available commercial 
     practices to acquire proprietary, open source, and mixed 
     source software for widespread Government use, including 
     issues such as security and redistribution rights.
       (5) Guidance to establish standard service level agreements 
     for maintenance and support for proprietary, open source, and 
     mixed source software products widely adopted by the 
     Government, as well as the development of Governmentwide 
     agreements that contain standard and widely applicable 
     contract provisions for ongoing maintenance and development 
     of software.
       (6) Guidance on the role and use of the Federal 
     Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration Center, 
     authorized under section 11501 of title 40, United States 
     Code (as added by section 401), for acquisition of 
     proprietary, open source, and mixed source software.
       (e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the 
     issuance of the guidance required by subsection (b), the 
     Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the 
     relevant congressional committees a report containing--
       (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the guidance;
       (2) an identification of barriers to widespread use by the 
     Federal Government of specific software technologies; and
       (3) such legislative recommendations as the Comptroller 
     General considers appropriate to further the purposes of this 
     section.

[[Page 3254]]



     SEC. 508. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.

       Except as provided in section 11501(i) of title 40, United 
     States Code, as added by section 401, no additional funds are 
     authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act and the 
     amendments made by this Act. Such requirements shall be 
     carried out using amounts otherwise authorized or 
     appropriated.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bill, the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, is a 
slightly modified version of the one that left committee. It was 
changed only with my cosponsor's concurrence in order to make it more 
likely to easily pass both bodies. This is, in fact, substantially the 
same bill, as amended, as the full House voted last year to incorporate 
in the House version of the defense authorization bill.
  H.R. 1232 reforms governmentwide the process by which the government 
annually acquires and employs, roughly, $81 billion of Federal 
information technology. To quote President Obama on November 14, 2013: 
``One of the things the Federal Government does not do well is 
information technology procurement.''
  Now, that was profound because, in the fifth year of his Presidency, 
it is very clear that the President has realized that this is a 
monumental task, one inherited by him, not one created by him.
  There are systematic problems in the way that we procure IT, 
including the nature of the history of individuals at all levels 
thinking they can buy something, and often they can, but too often our 
committee sees and reviews billion-dollar writeoffs of IT programs in 
which you cannot find out who was in charge, in which you cannot find 
out how they went on so long, and the hardest thing to find out is why 
they don't work at the end of $1 billion worth of ``in and out'' of 
House production. Indeed, industry experts estimate that as much as 25 
percent of the over $80 billion annual expenditure is mismanaged or is 
attributable to duplicative investments or simply doesn't come to be 
used.
  We need to enhance the best value to the taxpayer. More importantly, 
good software saves billions of dollars and countless lives and 
countless hours if it works. Bad or poorly done software can frustrate 
the American public and can often deprive them of the very product or 
service that they expect to receive.
  When this bill was originally envisioned, written, and passed out of 
our committee, no one had heard of the healthcare.gov Web site. Our 
committee, in fact, had looked at countless other failures within the 
IT procurement community, including ones at the Department of Defense 
and others, including ones that occurred under previous Presidents. We 
had determined, along with Mr. Connolly, that there were a number of 
areas in which we needed to make fundamental change. So, although the 
American people can certainly see the launch of healthcare.gov as a 
poster child for not done on time, not, perhaps, done on a budget that 
we would be proud of and certainly something for which you could not 
find the responsible parties, even when you called them before your 
committee, let us make this clear: this bill is not about one failure. 
It is about a governmentwide, longstanding failure that predates this 
administration.
  Among the things that FITARA will do is to create a clear line of 
responsibility, authority, and accountability over IT investment and 
management decisions by empowering agency CIOs; creating an operational 
framework to dramatically enhance the government's ability to procure 
commonly used IT faster, cheaper, and smarter; and strengthening the IT 
acquisition workforce. I want to reiterate this, that this is the 
Federal IT acquisition force. There can be no better investment than to 
make sure the people whom you trust the most for procuring IT, both 
from a standpoint of functionality and security, be a well-trained 
workforce, which is part of what we want to make sure we have.
  FITARA accelerates and consolidates and optimizes the organization of 
government's proliferating data centers, something that my colleague 
from Virginia has worked on tirelessly. It increases the transparency 
of IT investment scorecards by requiring 80 percent of governmentwide 
IT spending to be covered by public Web sites called ``IT dashboards,'' 
and it ensures procurement decisions give due consideration to all 
technologies, including open source. I might note that for the $677 
million that initially was spent on healthcare.gov, some of the areas 
in which the code worked was proven open source technology that was 
made available.
  The discussion draft of this bill was first posted by our committee 
on its Web site 18 months ago. We held two full committee hearings on 
the bill, and the language that has evolved through the course of 
several rewrites and extensive feedback by the contracting and 
technology communities and experts inside and outside of the government 
has given us the legislation you see before you today. This is a 
significant and timely reform that enhances both defense and nondefense 
procurement, and I urge all Members to support the bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, FITARA, 
would make a number of improvements to the management and the 
acquisition of IT systems in the Federal Government. I think if we were 
to summarize what this bill does we would have to use the words 
``effective'' and ``efficient.'' We would have to use them over and 
over again, and we would also say that we are going to do better.
  It would enhance the authority of the Federal Chief Information 
Officers, require agencies to optimize the functioning of Federal data 
centers, eliminate duplicative IT acquisition practices, and strengthen 
the Federal IT acquisition workforce. These reforms are needed to 
ensure that the Federal Government makes effective and efficient 
investments in information technology.
  I want to commend Representative Issa, the chairman of the Oversight 
and Government Reform Committee, for the bipartisan approach to this 
legislation. We had two full committee hearings on the concepts of this 
bill. The draft of the bill was made available for comment prior to the 
committee's considering it, and we really do appreciate that.
  I also want to recognize Representative Gerald Connolly, the ranking 
member of the Government Operations Subcommittee, for his critical work 
on drafting this legislation on technology issues generally. He has 
made himself an expert in this area, and we are the beneficiaries of 
that expertise. A significant portion of the legislation before us is 
based on Ranking Member Connolly's own bill to consolidate Federal data 
centers.
  Last year, the GAO issued its most recent high-risk report, which 
lists several IT projects as being among the Federal Government's 
highest-risk investments. For instance, a contract to streamline the 
Army's inventory of weapons systems is more than 12 years behind 
schedule and is almost $4 billion over budget. Effective oversight is 
one of the best weapons against this kind of wasteful spending. 
Congress has a duty to conduct oversight as well as the obligation to 
give agencies the tools they need to conduct their own oversight and 
improve their processes.
  Agencies need more well-trained acquisition management professionals 
to effectively oversee complex systems acquisitions and to ensure that 
the government is a smart and diligent

[[Page 3255]]

consumer. If you do not have the people who have the expertise who are 
doing the acquisitions, you often run into major problems. As has often 
been said, there is nothing like not knowing what you don't know. The 
Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act addresses this need by requiring OMB 
to submit a 5-year plan to develop, strengthen, and solidify IT 
acquisition cadres.
  I understand that the administration has some concerns with this 
legislation we are considering today, so it is my hope that we can 
address those concerns as the bill moves forward in the legislative 
process.
  Again, I want to thank Chairman Issa for all of his hard work and Mr. 
Connolly for all of his. I urge all of my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Chaffetz), a man who has worked diligently on the 
subcommittee to ensure that national security includes Internet 
security.
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. I thank the chairman for his good work on this. Without 
Chairman Issa's leadership on this issue, we would not have this bill 
here today. I appreciate his work and dedication and passion on this 
issue. I appreciate Mr. Cummings. I also appreciate Mr. Connolly and 
the good work he does on this topic.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope what people see here is a bipartisan approach to 
something that is a very large problem. There is a great imperative 
that we deal with this and deal with it right away. The Federal 
Government spent more than $600 billion over the past decade on 
information technology, and we spend, roughly, $80 billion a year just 
on IT. It is a critical component to making sure that we do have an 
effective and responsive government.
  Now, of the $80 billion or so that is spent each year, about one-
third is spent on new procurement projects, and about two-thirds is 
spent on the operation and maintenance of existing or obsolete systems. 
It takes so much more energy and personnel to go through obsolete 
systems than it does to quickly replace with software and hardware and 
personnel new information technology systems that will make our 
government more responsive and more effective. There is nothing more 
frustrating than trying to work with an operating system that is no 
longer supported by the company that even makes the operating system. 
We have heard horror stories of people working on DOS operating 
systems. They are still looking at green screens, for goodness sakes. 
This is an imperative, and we have to make sure it is prioritized.

                              {time}  1530

  Some industry experts have estimated that as much as 70 percent of 
new IT acquisitions fail or require re-baselining. The Technology CEO 
Council, made up of top industry experts, estimates that $20 billion of 
the $80 billion we spend is wasted every year on mismanaged and 
duplicative IT programs.
  The GAO has estimated that the Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, 
Energy, and State spend well over 80 percent of their IT budgets on 
operations and maintenance of potentially obsolete systems.
  We can do better on this. We are united in a bipartisan way. I 
encourage my colleagues to pass this bill.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Chairman Issa and his leadership on 
this issue, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a man who has worked very hard on this 
legislation with Chairman Issa.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank my good friend and our distinguished ranking 
member of the committee, Mr. Cummings, for his graciousness and 
generosity. He has been a great leader and a great mentor in our 
committee. I also thank the distinguished chairman, Mr. Issa, for his 
leadership on this legislation. I have been proud to cosponsor and 
coauthor this bill with him.
  In the 21st century, Mr. Speaker, effective governance is 
inextricably linked with how well government leverages technology to 
serve its citizens. Yet our current Federal laws governing IT 
management and procurement are antiquated and out of step with 
technological change and growth and yield poor results.
  Far too often, cumbersome bureaucracy stifles innovation and prevents 
government from efficiently buying and deploying cutting-edge 
technology. Program failure and cost overruns plague the vast majority 
of major Federal IT investments.
  As the distinguished chairman indicated, if only the rollout of the 
health care Web site were a unique incident. Unfortunately, it actually 
characterizes most major Federal IT procurement rollouts.
  Some Federal managers report as much as 47 percent of their budgets 
are spent on maintaining inadequate or antiquated IT platforms. That is 
47 percent.
  In recent decades, taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for 
massive IT program failures that ring up staggeringly high costs but 
exhibit astonishingly poor performance. For example, the Air Force 
invested 6 years in a modernization effort that cost more than $1 
billion but failed to deliver a usable product, prompting the Assistant 
Secretary to state:

       I am personally appalled at the limited capabilities that 
     program has produced relative to that amount of investment.

  This status quo is neither acceptable nor sustainable.
  Again, I want to thank Chairman Issa for working with me in a 
productive manner to develop the bipartisan Issa-Connolly Federal 
Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA. This 
bipartisan legislation seeks to comprehensively streamline and 
strengthen the Federal IT acquisition process and promote the adoption 
of the best practices from the technology community.
  The reform measure before us recognizes that effective Federal IT 
procurement reform must start with leadership and accountability. It is 
absolutely essential that a department's top leadership understands how 
critical effective IT investments are to an agency's operations and 
ability to carry out its future mission.
  We must elevate and enhance the prestige and, more importantly, the 
authorities of CIOs across the Federal Government to hold them 
accountable and to give them the flexibility to effectively manage an 
agency's IT portfolio. Agency heads need talented leaders to serve as 
their primary advisers on IT management; to recruit and retain talented 
IT staff, as the distinguished chairman has indicated; and to oversee 
critical IT investments across the organization. Title I of our 
legislation would accomplish this while also avoiding one-size-fits-all 
solutions by allowing agencies significant discretion in implementing 
the various aspects of this new law.
  Our bill would also accelerate data center optimization, as the 
distinguished ranking member indicated, and provide agencies with 
flexibility to leverage efficient cloud services and strengthen the 
accountability and transparency of Federal IT programs.
  If enacted, 80 percent of the approximately $80 billion spent 
annually on Federal IT investment would be required to be posted on the 
public IT Dashboard, compared to the 50 percent or less that 
characterizes that activity today.
  Strengthening the transparency requirements is an urgent and much-
needed reform in light of the most recent January 2014 GAO report that 
revealed the IT Dashboard has not been updated for 15 of the last 24 
months. This finding is as astonishing as it is unacceptable.
  Fortunately, a bipartisan consensus is forming around the urgent need 
to further streamline and strengthen how the Federal Government 
acquires and deploys information technology. President Obama has 
embraced Federal IT procurement reform, and a number of agencies are 
already taking a lead in the area.
  Now is the time, Mr. Speaker, to ensure reforms are adopted 
governmentwide and carry the force of reform law. I urge all of my 
colleagues to join us in

[[Page 3256]]

this bipartisan effort in supporting this important and urgently needed 
reform.
  In the 21st century, effective governance is inextricably linked with 
how well government leverages technology to serve its citizens.
  Yet, our current Federal laws governing Federal IT management remain 
out of step with technological change and growth, with bureaucracy 
stifling innovation and preventing government from efficiently buying 
and deploying cutting edge technology.
  Simply put, today Federal IT acquisition is often a cumbersome, 
bureaucratic, and wasteful exercise--characterized by a Federal 
Government that has no idea what technology it needs, struggles to 
manage what it has, and consequently wastes billions of taxpayer 
dollars on failed IT investments.
  In recent decades, taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for 
massive IT program failures that ring up staggeringly high costs, but 
exhibit astonishingly poor performance.
  Program failure and cost overruns still plague the vast majority of 
major Federal IT investments, while Federal managers' report that 47 
percent of their budget is spent on maintaining antiquated and 
inadequate IT platforms.
  The annual price tag of this wasteful spending on Federal IT programs 
is estimated to add up to approximately $20 billion.
  The Air Force invested six years in a modernization effort that cost 
more than $1 billion, but failed to deliver a usable product, prompting 
its Assistant Secretary to state, quote ``I am personally appalled at 
the limited capabilities that program has produced relative to that 
amount of investment.''
  Of course, failing mission-critical IT investments do not only waste 
taxpayer dollars, but they jeopardize our Nation's safety, security, 
and economy.
  From malfunctioning Census handheld computers that threatened to 
undermine a critical constitutional responsibility . . . to a promised 
electronic border fence that never materialized . . . time and time 
again, agency missions have been sabotaged by failed IT acquisitions 
and gross mismanagement.
  This status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable.
  The question facing us today is how can we modernize an IT 
procurement process designed for the 20th century to meet the growing 
technology demands of the 21st?
  There are no quick fixes or legislative silver bullets. However, I 
strongly believe that if Congress can limit partisan posturing, we may 
finally have an opportunity to address the core problem at the heart of 
the HealthCare.gov challenge--our Nation's broken Federal IT 
procurement system.
  I want to thank Chairman Issa for working with me in a productive 
manner to develop the bipartisan Issa-Connolly Federal Information 
Technology Acquisition Reform Act, also known as FITARA.
  Our bipartisan legislation seeks to comprehensively streamline and 
strengthen the Federal IT acquisition process and promote the adoption 
of best practices from the technology community.
  We have solicited extensive input from all stakeholders to refine and 
improve our bill in an open and transparent manner.
  The resulting Issa-Connolly reform measure recognizes that effective 
Federal IT procurement reform must start with leadership and 
accountability.
  It is absolutely vital that a Department's top leadership understands 
how critical effective IT investments are to an agency's operations and 
ability to carry out its mission.
  After reviewing the findings of extensive oversight reviews, and 
feedback from those in the trenches, I believe we must elevate and 
enhance the prestige, and more importantly, the authorities, of CIOs 
across the Federal Government to hold them accountable for effectively 
managing an agency's IT portfolio.
  Agency heads must have talented leaders to serve as primary advisors 
on IT management . . . recruit and retain talented IT staff . . . and 
oversee critical IT investments.
  Title I of FITARA would accomplish this, while also avoiding ``one-
size-fits-all'' solutions by allowing agencies significant discretion 
in implementing the law.
  In many respects, FITARA simply provides the force of law behind the 
August 2011 memorandum authored by then-OMB Director Jacob Lew, which 
announced that the Administration was committed to, quote:

       ``changing the role of Agency Chief Information Officers 
     away from just policymaking and infrastructure maintenance, 
     to encompass true portfolio management for all IT.
       This will enable CIOs to focus on delivering IT solutions 
     that support the mission and business effectiveness of their 
     agencies and overcome bureaucratic impediments to deliver 
     enterprise-wide solutions.''

  More than two years has passed since that policy memorandum was 
distributed to agencies, and it has become clear that efforts to reform 
IT through Administrative actions alone will not suffice.
  In fact, if one takes the time to analyze FITARA vis-a-vis existing 
Administration IT initiatives, one will find that our bipartisan bill 
is consistent with, and seeks to build on, the nascent Federal IT 
initiatives that have emerged over the past five years, including those 
in the 25 Point Plan.
  For example, the Issa-Connolly FITARA would enhance the CIO Council's 
role, tasking it with leading enterprise-wide portfolio management, and 
coordinating shared services and shared platforms across government.
  This bipartisan bill would also empower agencies to eliminate 
duplicative and wasteful IT contracts that have proliferated for 
commonly-used, IT Commodity-like investments, such as e-mail.
  In this era of austerity, agencies cannot afford to spend precious 
dollars and time creating duplicative, wasteful contracts for products 
and licenses they already own. In addition to improving how the 
government procures IT, this amendment would also enhance how the 
government deploys these tools.
  Our bill would accelerate data center optimization, provide agencies 
with flexibility to leverage efficient cloud services, and strengthen 
the accountability and transparency of Federal IT programs.
  If enacted, 80 percent of the approximately $80 billion annual 
Federal IT investment would be required to be posted on the public IT 
Dashboard, compared to the 50 percent coverage that exists today.
  Strengthening the transparency requirements of the IT Dashboard is an 
urgent and much needed reform in light of the recent January 2014 GAO 
report that revealed the IT Dashboard has not been updated for 15 of 
the past 24 months! This finding was as astonishing as it was 
unacceptable.
  The IT Dashboard was launched in 2009 with great fanfare, and to this 
day, OMB continues to claim that, quote ``The IT Dashboard gives the 
public access to the same tools and analysis that the government uses 
to oversee the performance of the Federal IT investments.''
  Clearly providing the public with accurate and updated Federal IT 
investment performance data for only 9 months out of a 2-year period 
fails to give average citizens access to the same analysis used by 
agencies.
  It certainly undermines OMB's claim that the IT Dashboard was 
launched to, quote shine ``light onto the performance and spending of 
IT investments,'' by ensuring that the public has access to data 
indicating not only whether a project is over budget or behind 
schedule, but providing specific dollars figures and dates.
  Consistent with the principle that public contracts are public 
documents, our amendment also strengthens transparency in regard to the 
final negotiated price a company charges a Federal agency for a good or 
service.
  Today, far too many agencies negotiate blanket purchase agreements in 
silos, without any knowledge that another agency has already negotiated 
a BPA with the same exact vendor, for the same exact product, but at a 
different price.
  Nearly two decades has passed since the Information Technology 
Management Reform Act and the Federal Acquisition Reform Act were 
enacted through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
1996--reforms that are better known today as the foundational 
``Clinger-Cohen Act.''
  Fortunately, a bipartisan consensus is finally forming around the 
urgent need to further streamline and strengthen how the Federal 
Government acquires and deploys IT. President Obama has embraced 
Federal IT procurement reform and several agencies are already taking 
the lead in this area.
  Now is the time to ensure reforms are adopted government-wide and 
carry the force of law.
  The bipartisan Issa-Connolly Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act will 
enhance the statutory framework established by Clinger-Cohen to create 
an efficient and effective Federal IT procurement system that best 
serves agencies, industry, and most importantly, the American taxpayer.
  I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this important and 
urgently needed bipartisan reform measure.

                                IT Alliance for Public Sector,

                                Washington, DC, February 25, 2014.
     Re H.R. 1232, the Federal Information Technology Acquisition 
         Reform Act (FITARA)

     Hon. Darrell Issa,
     Chairman, House Oversight & Government Reform, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon. Gerry Connolly,
     House Oversight & Government Reform, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Issa and Representative Connolly: On behalf 
     of the Information

[[Page 3257]]

     Technology Alliance for Public Sector (IT Alliance), I would 
     like to thank you for your continued engagement with industry 
     regarding the Federal Information Technology Acquisition 
     Reform Act (FITARA). We believe that these discussions have 
     led to many improvements to the legislation over the past 
     year. We look forward to continuing this dialogue as the bill 
     advances to the Senate.
       The IT Alliance recognizes the importance of revisiting and 
     revising federal information technology management and 
     related acquisition processes, and we appreciate the outreach 
     efforts of the bill's cosponsors and their staffs. We greatly 
     appreciate the additional changes recently made to the bill 
     that include the clarification of applicability to the 
     Department of Defense regarding CIO authorities, the added 
     ``optional-use'' text around the Acquisition Centers of 
     Excellence, and the removal of the term ``low-cost'' from the 
     bill. While we still hold some reservations regarding the 
     Federal Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration 
     Center, we believe making the program into a pilot allows 
     agencies more flexibility. Additionally, we continue to 
     support many of the provisions and authorities in the bill:
       Enhanced Authorities for the Civilian Chief Information 
     Officers (CIOs)--The IT Alliance supports enhanced authority 
     for ClOs, including consolidation of the position to improve 
     management of IT investment decisions, reduce redundancy, and 
     drive efficiency across the entire department. ARWG further 
     supports provisions establishing direct executive agency 
     personnel engagement in the IT investment strategy for the 
     agency.
       Multi-Year Revolving Funds for IT Investment--The IT 
     Alliance strongly supports the funding availability for 
     agencies wishing to transition to the cloud. We see this as a 
     significant improvement that will allow the government 
     acquisition of technology to keep pace with innovation, and 
     to provide more flexibility in budget models than currently 
     exists. We further believe this flexibility should be 
     extended to all IT investments.
       Transition to the Cloud--The IT Alliance supports the 
     provisions that promote the government's transition to a 
     cloud services environment. Industry has emphasized the need 
     for government to utilize the most innovative advancements in 
     information technology to increase efficiency and reduce 
     costs, and transitioning to the cloud will provide the 
     government with more reliable, more affordable and more 
     flexible access to IT infrastructure than currently exists.
       Data Center Optimization--The IT Alliance supports 
     provisions that seek to create effective data center 
     optimization plans. These plans would establish metrics for 
     optimizing data center usage and drive efficiencies in their 
     utilization, while also encouraging the wider use of 
     commercial data centers and commercial cloud services. The 
     bill seeks to eliminate non-optimized data centers, and, 
     subject to appropriations, use the savings achieved to 
     promote other IT capabilities and services throughout the 
     agency involved.
       Strengthening the IT Acquisition Workforce--The IT Alliance 
     is also very supportive of provisions that enhance the IT 
     acquisition workforce's capabilities. These provisions, 
     particularly regarding the development of a career path for 
     IT program management, represent a first step to meaningful 
     improvements in the management of IT investments.
       Enhanced Communication with Industry--ARWG supports the 
     provisions that encourage a more robust dialogue between 
     industry and government. This promotes federal acquisition 
     personnel having responsible and constructive dialogues with 
     industry and we could not encourage this point more.
       Thank you again for your dedication to improving the way 
     the federal government procures information technologies, and 
     for recognizing the need for management, workforce, and 
     technical solutions. We look forward to continuing to work 
     with you and your colleagues as it advances to the Senate to 
     further improve this important bill. Should you have any 
     questions, please feel free to contact Erica McCann of the 
     ITAPS staff if we can be of further assistance.
           Respectfully submitted,
                                       A.R. ``Trey'' Hodgkins III,
                             Senior Vice President, Public Sector.

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, can I inquire as to how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has 12 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Maryland has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  My partners in this are sitting on the other side of the aisle. But 
this committee has come together to look at a problem as simple as 
chief information officer doesn't mean ``chief.'' It is simply a hollow 
title.
  This bill, more than anything else to the American people, means that 
for every piece of major IT procurement, there will be a chief 
information officer; and that CIO will have budget authority and be 
held accountable, but also be given the ability to make those 
decisions, including pulling the ``stop'' button on a bad piece of 
legislation.
  So the title of CIO and CTO and some of the other titles need to mean 
something. Our committee unanimously believes that if you are to be a 
chief, you have to be able to tell the Indians what to do. You can't be 
a chief in name only, and when something doesn't work, find yourself 
without the ability to call ``halt,'' to go directly to the agency head 
or do the other things we would expect the title ``chief'' to mean.
  So, for that reason, I believe it has united a committee behind 
something that must pass today, go to the Senate and be taken up and 
become law, if we are going to begin regaining the American people's 
confidence in our ability to procure large information systems.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I agree with Chairman Issa. If we are going to have a 
chief information officer, they need to be what we say they are. They 
need to have the power to effect change when change is appropriate. 
They have to have the power to make sure decisions are made to carry 
out the issues that come up with IT in an effective and efficient 
manner. I think this legislation is a giant step in the right 
direction.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I would hope and ask all Members of Congress 
to vote in favor of this legislation. As I often say, we can always do 
better. I think that this is one of those times when, through a 
bipartisan effort, we are making a major statement that we are going to 
do better.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In closing, first, I urge all Members to vote on this important 
legislation to send a strong message that this is a do-something 
Congress when it comes to problems that have been around for a very 
long time.
  Secondly, I would like to take a moment, in a bit of personal 
privilege, to say to the American workforce that work for the Federal 
Government that, in every investigation by our committee, we have found 
in every failed project there were legions of good Federal employees 
who recognized the problem, sent letters, and who tried to have a 
program that was not going right to go right or go better.
  It is not for lack of many, many in the Federal workforce who are 
doing their job as best they can. It is for lack of a consolidated and 
predictable chain of command. It is for lack of the ability to have 
somebody know they are in charge, bear the full weight, and be 
qualified.
  I have no doubt that, upon enactment of this law, the Federal 
workforce will begin to breathe a breath of fresh air to know that they 
are being empowered to do the work they so desperately want to do, and 
that the tools are going to be added for them and the titles will 
become a title earned and then used wisely.
  Seldom do we spend a lot of time on the House floor talking about how 
great the Federal workforce is. We are talking about monumental 
failures. Let's understand that it is not for lack of good programmers, 
it is not for lack of good contractors, and it is not for lack of well-
meaning and dedicated Federal workers that we come today. It is for the 
need to organize them in a way in which we believe they can be 
successful. And that is the other part of our committee. We are the 
Committee on Government and Oversight Reform, and today is a structural 
reform in how we purchase information technology.
  For that, I want to thank my partners on the other side of the aisle 
because we have been right next to each other on this all the way. I 
particularly thank Mr. Connolly, who has put his staff and his own 
personal time into every aspect of this, and who also added his earlier 
legislation that allows us to bring about the necessary consolidation 
of duplicative centers spread around the country. They are simply a 
waste of energy and a waste of software power.

[[Page 3258]]

  So I see this as a win-win, one in which Republicans and Democrats 
have come together in a Congress that does not have a great reputation 
but, on occasion, does great things.
  I urge support for this, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1232 because it 
begins to fix a broken procurement system that has been on the GAO's 
``high-risk'' list since the early 1990's.
  Federal IT procurement has been a black hole of taxpayer dollars long 
before the deeply flawed rollout of Healthcare.gov. During my service 
on the House Intelligence Committee from 2003 to 2011, there were 
billions of dollars spent on IT projects that failed, without a shred 
of work product recoverable for the taxpayer.
  H.R. 1232 will go a long way toward addressing these problems by 
empowering agency CIOs and developing new IT acquisition guidelines and 
best practices. This bill is a strong start but I think there's more 
that can be done.
  Congressman Connolly and I have worked together to draft 
complementary legislation to FITARA, called the Reforming Federal 
Procurement of Information Technology Act. Our bill would create a new, 
high-level office of IT experts in the White House charged with 
reviewing major federal IT projects before they get off track.
  Our bill would also make it easier for small, innovative businesses 
to compete for federal projects by simplifying the contracting process. 
The Federal Acquisition Regulation is 1,900 pages long, and some 
agencies have a supplement that's an additional 1,000 pages. This 
rewards incumbent companies familiar with the rules and prevents open 
competition and innovation among vendors.
  I applaud Congressmen Issa and Connolly for working together on this 
important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1232, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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