[Senate Report 116-277]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                    Calendar No. 570

116th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
  2d Session  }                                           { 116-277

======================================================================
                         INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

            MODERNIZATION CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 4200

          TO ESTABLISH A PROGRAM TO FACILITATE THE ADOPTION OF
    MODERN TECHNOLOGY BY EXECUTIVE AGENCIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                October 1, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
                
                
                               __________
                               

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
                            WASHINGTON : 2020                     
          
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------          
                
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah                    KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
                   Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
       Patrick J. Bailey, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
               David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
               Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
              Michelle M. Benecke, Minority Senior Counsel
               Andrew C. Cohen, Minority Brookings Fellow
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                     
                                                   Calendar No. 570
 
 116th Congress}                                           { Report
                                  SENATE
   2d Session  }                                           { 116-277
 
======================================================================
 
 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM ACT

                                _______
                                

                October 1, 2020.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 4200]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4200) to establish 
a program to facilitate the adoption of modern technology by 
executive agencies, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The purpose of S. 4200, the Information Technology 
Modernization Centers of Excellence Program Act, is to codify 
the General Services Administration's (GSA) Centers of 
Excellence (COE) program, which facilitates the adoption of 
modern information technology (IT) acquisition and utilization 
of best practices at Federal agencies.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    After learning a painful lesson when its rollout of the 
Affordable Care Act was derailed by an inadequate government 
website, Healthcare.gov, the Obama administration recognized 
the need for in-house IT expertise that could be utilized by 
the whole of the Federal Government as a service to assist 
agencies with IT acquisition and development.\1\ On March 19, 
2014, then-GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini announced the 
creation of 18F, named for the street address of GSA's 
headquarters.\2\ Designed to operate as the Federal 
Government's version of a Silicon Valley tech startup, 18F 
successfully recruited IT talent into the Federal Government on 
the promise of serving their country in an emerging field.\3\ 
Although 18F developed a solid track record of solving discrete 
problems at Federal agencies, IT leaders in the Federal 
government began to realize that, while solving small, discrete 
problems for Federal agencies is a valuable resource, greater 
efforts were needed to improve IT infrastructure, culture, and 
practices to prevent problems from occurring in the first 
place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Daniel Castro, The Rise and Fall of 18F, fedscoop (Feb. 6, 
2018), https://www.fedscoop.com/rise-fall-18f/.
    \2\Jason Miller, GSA envisions 18F will be the new hub of digital 
innovation, Fed. News Network, Mar. 19, 2014, https://
federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2014/03/gsa-envisions-18f-will-
be-the-new-hub-of-digital-innovation/.
    \3\Frank R. Konkel, GSA's New Tech Leader Says Group is Read for 
Its Pixar Moment, Nextgov, Nov. 30, 2016, https://www.nextgov.com/cio-
briefing/2016/11/gsas-new-tech-leader-says-group-ready-its-pixar-
moment/133521/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To take a more whole-of-agency approach, the Office of 
American Innovation and GSA established the COE program, 
designed to transform the entire IT infrastructure of a single 
Federal agency, and then use that process to replicate 
successes and avoid pitfalls when modernizing IT at other 
Federal agencies.\4\ The ``lighthouse'' agency for the new 
concept was the United States Department of Agriculture 
(USDA).\5\ The GSA COE team and USDA officials focused on five 
key areas to transform the large, federated bureau: cloud 
adoption, infrastructure modernization, customer experience, 
service delivery analytics and contact centers.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Frank R. Konkel, White House Unveils Latest Plan to Fix 
Government Technology, Nextgov, Dec. 14, 2017, https://www.nextgov.com/
it-modernization/2017/12/white-house-unveils-it-modernization-center-
excellence/144572/.
    \5\Mark Rockwell, USDA reports success with centers of excellence 
program, FCW, Jun. 28, 2018, https://fcw.com/articles/2018/06/28/usda-
coe-phase2.aspx
    \6\Id.
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    Recognizing the early successes of the COE program at USDA, 
S. 4200 codifies the COE program and requires that the program 
assist agencies in utilizing commercial cloud and other IT 
platforms. It also requires program officials to coordinate 
with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding 
cybersecurity best practices. The program sunsets after seven 
years.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 4200 was introduced on July 2, 2020, by Senators Rob 
Portman (R-OH) and Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH). The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs. The Committee considered S. 4200 at a business meeting 
on July 22, 2020.
    During the business meeting, Senator Portman offered a 
substitute amendment to ensure coordination between GSA and 
DHS, improve reporting requirements, and add a rule of 
construction.
    The substitute amendment was adopted by voice vote en bloc 
with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, 
Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, and Rosen 
present. The bill, as amended, was reported favorably by voice 
vote en bloc with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, 
Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, 
and Rosen present.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Information Technology Modernization Centers of Excellence 
Program Act.''

Section 2. GSA Modernization Centers of Excellence Program

    Subsection (a) defines the terms ``cloud computing,'' 
``executive agency,'' and ``program.''
    Subsection (b) codifies the Information Technology 
Modernization Centers of Excellence Program to help agencies 
update and modernize their IT.
    Subsection (c) requires the COE program to improve 
cooperation between the private sector and executive agencies, 
encourage agencies to adopt commercial IT practices, and assist 
agencies in securing commercial cloud computing systems.
    Subsection (d) requires the Administrator of GSA and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that the IT, tools, 
and framework purchased through the COE program provide 
sufficient cyber security to maintain the integrity of Federal 
information.
    Subsection (e) establishes an annual reporting requirement 
for the program, and subsection (f) provides a seven-year 
sunset.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATES

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 24, 2020.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 4200, the 
Information Technology Modernization Centers of Excellence 
Program Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    S. 4200 would establish the Information Technology 
Modernization Centers of Excellence Program within the General 
Services Administration (GSA) to encourage and support federal 
agencies' efforts to modernize their information technology 
(IT) systems. The bill would require GSA to provide, upon 
request, assistance in planning and adopting cloud computing 
systems from commercial sources, optimizing IT infrastructure, 
and adopting artificial intelligence, among other services.
    CBO expects that any budgetary effects from implementing S. 
4200 would not be significant because the bill would codify 
many existing policies and practices. In 2017, GSA established 
Information Technology Centers of Excellence to accelerate IT 
modernization in federal agencies.The program spends about 
$500,000 annually.
    On September 24, 2020, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 5901, the Information Technology Modernization Centers of 
Excellence Program Act, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Oversight and Reform on September 16, 2020. The 
two pieces of legislation are similar and CBO's estimate of 
their budgetary effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any 
provision of current law, it would not make changes in existing 
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

                                  [all]