[Senate Report 117-262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 653
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-262
_______________________________________________________________________
LEGACY IT REDUCTION ACT OF 2022
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 3897
TO REQUIRE THE REDUCTION OF THE RELIANCE AND
EXPENDITURES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON LEGACY
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 15, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-010 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Michelle M. Benecke, Senior Counsel
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Jeremy H. Hayes, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 653
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-262
======================================================================
LEGACY IT REDUCTION ACT OF 2022
_______
December 15, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 3897]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 3897), to require
the reduction of the reliance and expenditures of the Federal
government on legacy information technology systems, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with amendments 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 of the Bill, as Reported............. 3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 5
VI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5
I. Purpose and Summary
The purpose of S. 3897, the Legacy IT Reduction Act, is to
reduce the federal government's reliance on legacy information
technology (IT) systems in order to reduce costs, increase
cybersecurity, and improve user experience. The bill requires
agencies to develop an inventory of their legacy IT systems and
write modernization plans to update or dispose of those
systems. It also requires the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to issue guidance to assist agencies with identifying
legacy IT systems and modernizing them. Additionally, the bill
codifies the Computers for Learning Program, which allows
agencies to transfer gently used computers and software to
educators and schools. A Government Accountability Office (GAO)
report examining the implementation of the bill alongside
existing IT modernization policies and programs is required, in
order to improve coordination and outcomes.
II. Background and the Need for Legislation
GAO issued a report in June 2019 entitled Information
Technology: Agencies Need to Develop Modernization Plans for
Critical Legacy Systems. In this report, GAO analyzed 65 legacy
systems and identified ten critical systems most in need of
modernization. GAO found that, of the ten departments and
agencies responsible for these legacy systems, three
departments--Education, Health and Human Services, and
Transportation--did not have documented modernization plans. Of
the seven agencies with documented plans for modernizing their
legacy systems, only the Departments of the Interior and
Defense had plans that included key elements identified by GAO
as best practices: milestones, a description of the work
necessary to complete the modernization, and a plan for the
disposition of the legacy system. The report concluded that,
without complete modernization plans, all ten departments and
agencies will be at increased risk of cost overruns, schedule
delays, and project failures.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Government Accountability Office, Information Technology:
Agencies Need to Develop Modernization Plans for Critical Legacy
Systems (GAO-19-471) (June 11, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In June 2020, Senator Maggie Hassan sent an oversight
letter to these departments and agencies to ask how officials
planned to modernize the systems GAO identified. In April 2021,
as Chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending
Oversight, Senator Hassan held a hearing with the GAO report
author and three former federal chief information officers on
the challenges presented by outdated technology and the
barriers to modernization.\2\ In September 2021, Senator Hassan
held a second hearing on the issue with witnesses from the
Biden Administration.\3\ The Legacy IT Reduction Act of 2022
reflects the feedback and information gathered from the
oversight letter and hearings.
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\2\Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight,
Cutting Wasteful Government Spending and Saving Taxpayer Dollars, 117th
Cong. (Apr. 27, 2021).
\3\Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight,
Reducing Wasteful Government Spending and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by
Updating IT Systems, 117th Cong. (Sept. 28, 2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Legislative History
Senator Hassan (D-NH) introduced S. 3897, the Legacy IT
Reduction Act, on March 22, 2022, with Senator Cornyn (R-TX).
The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 3897 at a business meeting on
March 30, 2022. During the business meeting, Senator Hassan
offered Hassan Amendment 1. The amendment clarified the scope
of the IT modernization plans under section 4 of the bill and
the factors OMB may choose to include in its guidance to
agencies regarding how to write an IT modernization plan.
Hassan Amendment 2 was not offered. The bill was approved by
voice vote en bloc as amended by Hassan Amendment 1 with
Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla,
Ossoff, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley present.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the short title of the bill: ``Legacy
IT Reduction Act of 2022.''
Section 2. Definitions
For most key terms, this section draws definitions from
other areas of the U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations.
``Administrator'' refers to the head of the General
Services Administration (GSA).
``Agency'' refers to the 24 CFO Act agencies listed in 31
U.S.C. 901(b)(1)-(2).
``Chief Information Officer'' (CIO) is the person
designated under 44 U.S.C. 3506(a)(2) to carry out an agency's
information resources management to improve productivity,
efficiency, and effectiveness.
``Comptroller General'' refers to the head of the
Government Accountability Office (GAO).
``Congressional Oversight Committee'' refers to the Senate
and House committees or subcommittees that provide oversight of
a particular agency.
``Director'' refers to the head of the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB).
``Information technology'' (IT) has the meaning given in 40
U.S.C. 11101. It means, with respect to an executive agency,
any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of
equipment, used in the automatic acquisition, storage,
analysis, evaluation, manipulation, management, movement,
control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or
reception of data or information by the executive agency, if
the equipment is used by the agency directly or is used by a
contractor that requires the use of that equipment (but not
acquired incidental to a contract). This includes computers,
ancillary equipment (including imaging peripherals, input,
output, and storage devices necessary for security and
surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be controlled
by the central processing unit of a computer, software,
firmware and similar procedures, services (including support
services), and related resources.
``IT working capital fund'' refers to the funds established
by the Modernizing Government Technology Act (NDAA FY2018, Sec.
1077; codified at 40 U.S.C. 11301 note).
``Legacy information technology system'' also takes its
definition from the Modernizing Government Technology Act (NDAA
FY2018, Sec. 1076; codified at 40 U.S.C. 11301 note), and means
``an outdated or obsolete system of information technology.''
``National Security System'' has the meaning given the term
in 40 U.S.C. 11301.
``Technology Modernization Fund'' refers to the Fund
established under the Modernizing Government Technology Act
(NDAA FY18, Sec. 1078(b)(1); codified at 40 U.S.C. 11301 note).
Section 3. Legacy information technology system inventory
This section requires agency CIOs to develop an initial
inventory of each legacy IT system in use at the agency within
one year of enactment, and then update the inventory every five
years thereafter. The purpose of the inventory is two-fold: (1)
to identify the legacy IT that the agency uses; and (2) inform
the modernization plans required under Section 4.
OMB is directed to issue guidance on what should be
included in the inventory. OMB should consider including the
name or identification of the legacy IT system and the office
or mission of the agency that the legacy IT system supports and
how it is used. To the extent that information is available,
OMB should also consider including the date of the last update
or refresh of the legacy IT system; the annual price (including
recurring costs and costs of contracts for labor and
maintenance); the name and contact information of the vendor;
and the date of the next expected update, retirement, or
disposal of the IT system.
In addition, agencies must make the inventory available to
a House of Congress, congressional oversight committee, GAO, or
the agency's Office of Inspector General upon request. OMB may
also require an agency to include the inventory in other
reporting structures.
Section 4. Agency legacy information technology systems modernization
plans and report
Following development of the legacy IT system inventory,
this section requires agencies to develop a plan to modernize
their legacy IT systems. The initial plan must be published
within two years of enactment, and then updated every five
years thereafter and included as part of the agency's
information resource management strategic plan under 44 U.S.C.
3506(b)(2).
The modernization plans shall include the following
information: (1) an inventory of the agency's legacy IT system
and an identification of legacy IT systems that the agency has
prioritized for updates, modernization, retirement, or
disposal; (2) steps the agency intends to make to update,
modernize, cease use of, or dispose of each legacy IT system
within five years of the submission of the plan; and (3) any
additional information OMB determines necessary or useful for
an agency to consider or include to effectively and efficiently
execute the plan, including capacity of the agency to operate
and maintain the modern system; cost and sources of funding
required for the modernization; and the ability of the agency
to adapt the modernized system to changes in technology and
policy.
Agencies will submit copies of the plans to the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the
House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the committee of
jurisdiction of the agency.
Section 5. Role of the Office of Management and Budget
This section requires OMB to issue guidance on the
implementation of this Act and the amendments it makes. For the
guidance, OMB is tasked with: determining what constitutes
``outdated and obsolete'' IT systems for the purposes of
compiling the inventory under Section 3; developing
instructions and templates for completing the legacy IT system
inventory and modernization plans (or updates to plans if plans
already exist); and determining if any additional guidance is
required to implement this Act.
Section 6. Computers for Learning Program
This section codifies the Computers for Learning Program.
In Executive Order 12999, President Clinton established the
Computers for Learning Program, which allows federal agencies
to transfer gently used computers and other IT equipment to
eligible schools and non-profit organizations. This section
makes several updates to the Executive Order, such as
authorizing GSA to promulgate regulations to prevent fraud and
abuse of the program.
Section 7. Comptroller general review
This section requires GAO to issue a report within three
years of enactment on the implementation of the Act, and how
this Act functions alongside other existing IT modernization
offices, programs, and policies.
Section 8. Protection of sensitive information; exemption of national
security systems
This section states that this legislation does not require
disclosure of sensitive information that is otherwise protected
from disclosure by law or that would compromise security of
federal IT systems. In addition, this section exempts national
security systems from the requirements of this legislation.
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. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 63--TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3710. UTLIZATION OF FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY
* * * * * * *
(j) Computers for Learning Program.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator'
means the Administrator of General Services.
(B) Community based educational
organization.--The term `community-based
educational organization' means a nonprofit
entity--
(i) that is engaged in collaborative
projects with schools; or
(ii) the primary focus of which is
education.
(C) Educationally useful federal equipment.--
The term `educationally useful Federal
equipment' means--
(i) a computer or related peripheral
tool that is appropriate for use in
prekindergarten, elementary, middle, or
secondary school education; and
(ii) includes--
(I) a printer, modem, router,
server, switch, wireless access
point, and network management
device;
(II) telecommunications and
research equipment; and
(III) computer software if
the transfer of the license of
the software is permitted.
(D) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible
entity' means--
(i) a school; or
(ii) a community-based educational
organization.
(E) Federal executive board.--The term
`Federal Executive Board' means a Federal
Executive Board established by the President
under section 960.102 of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations or any successor
regulation.
(F) Nonprofit entity.--The term `nonprofit
entity' means an organization described under
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code.
(G) Nonprofit reuse or recycling program.--
The term `nonprofit reuse or recycling program'
a means nonprofit entity that has the ability
to upgrade computer equipment at no or low cost
for an eligible entity that takes title to the
equipment under this subsection.
(H) Research equipment.--The term `research
equipment' means property determined to be
essential to conduct scientific or technical
research.
(I) School.--The term `school'--
(i) means an individual public or
private educational institution for any
grade level between prekindergarten and
twelfth grade; and
(ii) includes public school
districts.
(2) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(A) educationally useful Federal equipment is
a vital resource of the United States; and
(B) educationally useful Federal equipment is
a valuable tool for computer education if--
(i) the equipment can be used as is;
or
(ii) professional technicians,
students, or recycling efforts can
separate the equipment into parts for
other computers or upgrade the
equipment.
(3) Requirement.--To the greatest extent practicable,
each Federal agency shall protect and safeguard
educationally useful Federal equipment of the Federal
agency, particularly when that equipment is declared
excess or surplus, so that the equipment may be
recycled and transferred, if appropriate, to eligible
entities under this subsection.
(4) Efficient transfer of educationally useful
federal equipment to schools and nonprofit
organizations.--
(A) Transfer.--Each Federal agency shall,
where appropriate, identify educationally
useful Federal equipment that the Federal
agency no longer needs and transfer the
educationally useful equipment to eligible
entities by--
(i) conveying excess educationally
useful Federal equipment directly to an
eligible entity pursuant to subsection
(i); or
(ii) in accordance with subparagraph
(B), reporting excess educationally
useful Federal equipment to the
Administrator for donation to eligible
entities when declared surplus, as
described in section 549(b)(2)(A)(ii)
of title 40, United States Code.
(B) Advance reporting.--In reporting excess
educationally useful Federal equipment under
subparagraph (A)(ii), a Federal agency shall
report the equipment as far as possible in
advance of the date the equipment becomes
excess, so that the Administrator may attempt
to arrange direct transfers from the donating
Federal agency to eligible entities under this
subsection.
(C) Requirements.--In conveying educationally
useful Federal equipment under subparagraph
(A)(i)--
(i) title of the equipment shall
transfer directly from the Federal
agency to an eligible entity;
(ii) the Federal agency shall report
the conveyance to the Administrator;
and
(iii) at the direction of the
recipient of the equipment, and if
appropriate, the equipment may be
initially conveyed to a nonprofit reuse
or recycling program for upgrade.
(D) Transfer by nonprofit reuse or recycling
program.--A nonprofit reuse or recycling
program to which educationally useful Federal
equipment is conveyed for the purpose of
upgrading for an eligible entity under
subparagraph (C)(iii) shall transfer the
equipment to the eligible entity upon the
completion of the upgrade.
(E) Responsibility for cost.--Any costs
relating to a transfer of educationally useful
Federal equipment under this subsection shall
be the responsibility of the eligible entity
that receives the transfer.
(F) Outreach.--The Administrator, in
coordination with the Secretary of Education,
shall perform outreach to eligible entities
about the availability of transfers under this
subsection by all practicable means, including
through television or print media, community
announcements, and the internet.
(G) Federal executive boards.--Each Federal
Executive Board shall help facilitate the
transfer of educationally useful Federal
equipment from Federal agencies under this
subsection to eligible entities.
(5) Guidance, regulations, and assistance to chief
information officers.--The Administrator--
(A) may issue guidance or regulations to
facilitate the implementation of this
subsection; and
(B) shall provide assistance to the chief
information officers of Federal agencies to
enhance the participation of Federal agencies
in transfers under this subsection.
(6) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to prohibit a recipient of
educationally useful Federal equipment from lending
that equipment, whether on a permanent or temporary
basis, to a teacher, administrator, student, employee,
or other designated individual in furtherance of
educational goals.
(7) Judicial review.--Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to create any substantive or
procedural right or benefit enforceable by law by a
party against the United States, its agencies, its
officers, or its employees.''
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