II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 949

To clarify and enhance the authorities of the Chief Information Officer

of the Department of Agriculture.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4, 1999

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. FITZGERALD, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To clarify and enhance the authorities of the Chief

Information Officer of the Department of Agriculture.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘USDA Information Technology Reform and Year-2000

6 Compliance Act of 1999’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Management of year-2000 compliance at Department.
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Sec. 5. Position of Chief Information Officer.

Sec. 6. Duties and authorities of Chief Information Officer.

Sec. 7. Funding approval by Chief Information Officer.

Sec. 8. Availability of agency information technology funds.

Sec. 9. Authority of Chief Information Officer over information technology personnel.

Sec. 10. Annual Comptroller General report on compliance.

Sec. 11. Office of Inspector General.

Sec. 12. Technical amendment.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) United States agriculture, food safety, the

4 health of plants and animals, the economies of rural

5 communities, international commerce in food, and

6 food aid rely on the Department of Agriculture for

7 the effective and timely administration of program

8 activities essential to their success and vitality;

9 (2) the successful administration of the pro10 gram activities depends on the ability of the Depart11 ment to use information technology in as efficient

12 and effective manner as is technologically feasible;

13 (3) to successfully administer the program ac14 tivities, the Department relies on information tech15 nology that requires comprehensive and Department16 wide overview and control to avoid needless duplica17 tion and misuse of resources;

18 (4) to better ensure the continued success and

19 vitality of agricultural producers and rural commu20 nities, it is imperative that measures are taken with21 in the Department to coordinate and centrally plan
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1 the use of the information technology of the Depart2 ment;

3 (5) because production control and subsidy pro4 grams are ending, agricultural producers of the

5 United States need the best possible information to

6 make decisions that will maximize profits, satisfy

7 consumer demand, and contribute to the alleviation

8 of hunger in the United States and abroad;

9 (6) a single authority for Department-wide

10 planning is needed to ensure that the information

11 technology architecture of the Department is based

12 on the strategic business plans, information tech13 nology, management goals, and core business proc14 ess methodology of the Department;

15 (7) information technology is a strategic re16 source for the missions and program activities of the

17 Department;

18 (8) year-2000 compliance is 1 of the most im19 portant challenges facing the Federal Government

20 and the private sector;

21 (9) because the responsibility for ensuring year22 2000 compliance at the Department was initially left

23 to individual offices and agencies, no overall prior24 ities have been established, and there is no assur-
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1 ance that the most important functions of the De2 partment will be operable on January 1, 2000;

3 (10) it is the responsibility of the Chief Infor4 mation Officer to provide leadership in—

5 (A) defining and explaining the importance

6 of achieving year-2000 compliance;

7 (B) selecting the overall approach for

8 structuring the year-2000 compliance efforts of

9 the Department;

10 (C) assessing the ability of the information

11 resource management infrastructures of the De12 partment to adequately support the year-2000

13 compliance efforts; and

14 (D) mobilizing the resources of the Depart15 ment to achieve year-2000 compliance;

16 (11) the failure of the Department to meet the

17 requirement of the Director of the Office of Manage18 ment and Budget that all mission-critical systems of

19 the Department achieve year-2000 compliance would

20 have serious adverse consequences on the program

21 activities of the Department, the economies of rural

22 communities, the health of the people of the United

23 States, world hunger, and international commerce in

24 agricultural commodities and products;
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1 (12) centralizing the approval authority for

2 planning and investment for information technology

3 in the Office of the Chief Information Officer will—

4 (A) provide the Department with strong

5 and coordinated leadership and direction;

6 (B) ensure that the business architecture

7 of an office or agency is based on rigorous core

8 business process methodology;

9 (C) ensure that the information technology

10 architecture of the Department is based on the

11 strategic business plans of the offices or agen12 cies and the missions of the Department;

13 (D) ensure that funds will be invested in

14 information technology only after the Chief In15 formation Officer has determined that—

16 (i) the planning and review of future

17 business requirements of the office or

18 agency are complete; and

19 (ii) the information technology archi20 tecture of the office or agency is based on

21 business requirements and is consistent

22 with the Department-wide information

23 technology architecture; and

24 (E) cause the Department to act as a sin25 gle enterprise with respect to information tech-
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1 nology, thus eliminating the duplication and in2 efficiency associated with a single office—or

3 agency-based approach; and

4 (13) consistent with the Information Tech5 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C.

6 1401 et seq.), each office or agency of the Depart7 ment should achieve at least—

8 (A) a 5 percent per year decrease in costs

9 incurred for operation and maintenance of in10 formation technology; and

11 (B) a 5 percent per year increase in oper12 ational efficiency through improvements in in13 formation resource management.

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to facilitate the successful administration of

16 programs and activities of the Department through

17 the creation of a centralized office, and Chief Infor18 mation Officer position, in the Department to pro19 vide strong and innovative managerial leadership to

20 oversee the planning, funding, acquisition, and man21 agement of information technology and information

22 resource management; and

23 (2) to provide the Chief Information Officer

24 with the authority and funding necessary to correct
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1 the year-2000 compliance problem of the Depart2 ment.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.—The term

6 ‘‘Chief Information Officer’’ means the individual

7 appointed by the Secretary to serve as Chief Infor8 mation Officer (as established by section 5125 of the

9 Information Technology Management Reform Act of

10 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1425)) for the Department.

11 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

12 means the Department of Agriculture.

13 (3) INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.—

14 The term ‘‘information resource management’’

15 means the process of managing information re16 sources to accomplish agency missions and to im17 prove agency performance.

18 (4) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘information

20 technology’’ means any equipment or inter21 connected system or subsystem of equipment

22 that is used by an office or agency in the auto23 matic acquisition, storage, manipulation, man24 agement, movement, control, display, switching,
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1 interchange, transmission, or reception of data

2 or information.

3 (B) USE OF EQUIPMENT.—For purposes of

4 subparagraph (A), equipment is used by an of5 fice or agency if the equipment is used by—

6 (i) the office or agency directly; or

7 (ii) a contractor under a contract with

8 the office or agency—

9 (I) that requires the use of the

10 equipment; or

11 (II) to a significant extent, that

12 requires the use of the equipment in

13 the performance of a service or the

14 furnishing of a product.

15 (C) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘information

16 technology’’ includes computers, ancillary equip17 ment, software, firmware and similar proce18 dures, services (including support services), and

19 related resources.

20 (D) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘information

21 technology’’ does not include any equipment

22 that is acquired by a Federal contractor that is

23 incidental to a Federal contract.

24 (5) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITEC25 TURE.—The term ‘‘information technology architec-
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1 ture’’ means an integrated framework for developing

2 or maintaining existing information technology, and

3 acquiring new information technology, to achieve or

4 effectively use the strategic business plans, informa5 tion resources, management goals, and core business

6 processes of the Department.

7 (6) OFFICE OR AGENCY.—The term ‘‘office or

8 agency’’ means, as applicable, each—

9 (A) national, regional, county, or local of10 fice or agency of the Department;

11 (B) county committee established under

12 section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and

13 Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

14 590h(b)(5));

15 (C) State committee, State office, or field

16 service center of the Department; and

17 (D) group of multiple offices and agencies

18 of the Department that are, or will be, con19 nected through common program activities or

20 systems of information technology.

21 (7) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘program

22 activity’’ means a specific activity or project of a

23 program that is carried out by 1 or more offices or

24 agencies of the Department.
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1 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Agriculture.

3 (9) YEAR-2000 COMPLIANCE.—The term ‘‘year4 2000 compliance’’, with respect to the Department,

5 means a condition in which information systems are

6 able to accurately process data relating to the 20th

7 and 21st centuries—

8 (A) within the Department;

9 (B) between the Department and local and

10 State governments;

11 (C) between the Department and the pri12 vate sector;

13 (D) between the Department and foreign

14 governments; and

15 (E) between the Department and the inter16 national private sector.

17 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF YEAR-2000 COMPLIANCE AT DE18 PARTMENT.

19 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the Chief Infor20 mation Officer of the Department has not been provided

21 the funding and authority necessary to adequately manage

22 the year-2000 compliance problem at the Department.

23 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The Chief Information Officer

24 shall provide the leadership and innovative management

25 within the Department to—
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1 (1) identify, prioritize, and mobilize the re2 sources needed to achieve year-2000 compliance;

3 (2) coordinate the renovation of computer sys4 tems through conversion, replacement, or retirement

5 of the systems;

6 (3) develop verification and validation strategies

7 (within the Department and by independent persons)

8 for converted or replaced computer systems;

9 (4) develop contingency plans for mission-crit10 ical systems in the event of a year-2000 compliance

11 system failure;

12 (5) coordinate outreach between computer sys13 tems of the Department and computer systems in—

14 (A) the domestic private sector;

15 (B) State and local governments;

16 (C) foreign governments; and

17 (D) the international private sector, such

18 as foreign banks;

19 (6) identify, prioritize, and mobilize the re20 sources needed to correct periodic date problems in

21 computer systems within the Department and be22 tween the Department and outside computer sys23 tems; and

24 (7) during the period beginning on the date of

25 enactment of this Act and ending on June 1, 2001,
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1 consult, on a quarterly basis, with the Committee on

2 Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the

3 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

4 of the Senate on actions taken to carry out this sec5 tion.

6 (c) FUNDING AND AUTHORITIES.—To carry out sub7 section (b), the Chief Information Officer shall use—

8 (1) the authorities in sections 7, 8, and 9, par9 ticularly the authority to approve the transfer or ob10 ligation of funds described in section 7(a) intended

11 for information technology and information resource

12 management; and

13 (2) the transferred funds targeted by offices

14 and agencies for information technology and infor15 mation resource management under section 8.

16 SEC. 5. POSITION OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To ensure the highest quality

18 and most efficient planning, acquisition, administration,

19 and management of information technology within the De20 partment, there is established the position of the Chief In21 formation Officer of the Department.

22 (b) CONFIRMATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The position of the Chief In24 formation Officer shall be appointed by the Presi-
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1 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen2 ate.

3 (2) SUCCESSION.—An official who is serving as

4 Chief Information Officer on the date of enactment

5 of this Act shall not be required to be reappointed

6 by the President.

7 (c) REPORT.—The Chief Information Officer shall re8 port directly to the Secretary.

9 (d) POSITION ON EXECUTIVE INFORMATION TECH10 NOLOGY INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD.—The Chief Infor11 mation Officer shall serve as an officer of the Executive

12 Information Technology Investment Review Board (or its

13 successor).

14 SEC. 6. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF CHIEF INFORMATION

15 OFFICER.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law (except the Government Performance and Re18 sults Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–62), amendments

19 made by that Act, and the Information Technology Man20 agement Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.))

21 and policies and procedures of the Department, in addi22 tion to the general authorities provided to the Chief Infor23 mation Officer by section 5125 of the Information Tech24 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C.

25 1425), the Chief Information Officer shall have the au-
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1 thorities and duties within the Department provided in

2 this Act.

3 (b) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure the efficient and

5 effective implementation of program activities of the

6 Department, the Chief Information Officer shall en7 sure that the information technology architecture of

8 the Department, and each office or agency, is based

9 on the strategic business plans, information re10 sources, goals of information resource management,

11 and core business process methodology of the De12 partment.

13 (2) DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The Chief

14 Information Officer shall manage the design and im15 plementation of an information technology architec16 ture for the Department in a manner that ensures

17 that—

18 (A) the information technology systems of

19 each office or agency maximize—

20 (i) the effectiveness and efficiency of

21 program activities of the Department;

22 (ii) quality per dollar expended; and

23 (iii) the efficiency and coordination of

24 information resource management among

25 offices or agencies, including the exchange
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1 of information between field service centers

2 of the Department and each office or agen3 cy;

4 (B) the planning, transfer or obligation of

5 funds described in section 7(a), and acquisition

6 of information technology, by each office or

7 agency most efficiently satisfies the needs of the

8 office or agency in terms of the customers

9 served, and program activities and employees

10 affected, by the information technology; and

11 (C) the information technology of each of12 fice or agency is designed and managed to co13 ordinate or consolidate similar functions of the

14 missions of the Department and offices or agen15 cies, on a Department-wide basis.

16 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH RESULTING ARCHITEC17 TURE.—The Chief Information Officer shall—

18 (A) if determined appropriate by the Chief

19 Information Officer, approve the transfer or ob20 ligation of funds described in section 7(a) in

21 connection with information technology archi22 tecture for an office or agency; and

23 (B) be responsible for the development, ac24 quisition, and implementation of information
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1 technology by an office or agency in a manner

2 that—

3 (i) is consistent with the information

4 technology architecture designed under

5 paragraph (2);

6 (ii) results in the most efficient and

7 effective use of information technology of

8 the office or agency; and

9 (iii) maximizes the efficient delivery

10 and effectiveness of program activities of

11 the Department.

12 (4) FIELD SERVICE CENTERS.—The Chief In13 formation Officer shall ensure that the information

14 technology architecture of the Department facilitates

15 the design, acquisition, and deployment of an open,

16 flexible common computing environment for the field

17 service centers of the Department that—

18 (A) is based on strategic goals, business

19 reengineering, and integrated program delivery;

20 (B) is flexible enough to accommodate and

21 facilitate future business and organizational

22 changes;

23 (C) provides maximum data sharing, inter24 operability, and communications capability with
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1 other Department, Federal, and State agencies

2 and customers; and

3 (D) results in significant reductions in an4 nual operating costs.

5 (c) EVALUATION OF PROPOSED INFORMATION TECH6 NOLOGY INVESTMENTS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the Ex8 ecutive Information Technology Investment Review

9 Board (or its successor), the Chief Information Offi10 cer shall adopt criteria to evaluate proposals for in11 formation technology investments that are applicable

12 to individual offices or agencies or are applicable De13 partment-wide.

14 (2) CRITERIA.—The criteria adopted under

15 paragraph (1) shall include consideration of—

16 (A) whether the function to be supported

17 by the investment should be performed by the

18 private sector, negating the need for the invest19 ment;

20 (B) the Department-wide or Government21 wide impacts of the investment;

22 (C) the costs and risks of the investment;

23 (D) the consistency of the investment with

24 the information technology architecture;
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1 (E) the interoperability of information

2 technology or information resource management

3 in offices or agencies; and

4 (F) whether the investment maximizes the

5 efficiency and effectiveness of program activities

6 of the Department.

7 (3) EVALUATION OF INFORMATION TECH8 NOLOGY AND INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGE9 MENT.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with

11 the Executive Information Technology Invest12 ment Review Board (or its successor), the Chief

13 Information Officer shall monitor and evaluate

14 the information resource management practices

15 of offices or agencies with respect to the per16 formance and results of the information tech17 nology investments made by the offices or agen18 cies.

19 (B) GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION.—The

20 Chief Information Officer shall issue Depart21 mental regulations that provide guidelines for—

22 (i) establishing whether the program

23 activity of an office or agency that is pro24 posed to be supported by the information
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1 technology investment should be performed

2 by the private sector;

3 (ii)(I) analyzing the program activities

4 of the office or agency and the mission of

5 the office or agency; and

6 (II) based on the analysis, revising the

7 mission-related and administrative proc8 esses of the office or agency, as appro9 priate, before making significant invest10 ments in information technology to be used

11 in support of the program activities and

12 mission of the office or agency;

13 (iii) establishing effective and efficient

14 capital planning for selecting, managing,

15 and evaluating the results of all major in16 vestments in information technology by the

17 Department;

18 (iv) ensuring compliance with govern19 mental and Department-wide policies, reg20 ulations, standards, and guidelines that re21 late to information technology and infor22 mation resource management;

23 (v) identifying potential information

24 resource management problem areas that
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1 could prevent or delay delivery of program

2 activities of the office or agency;

3 (vi) validating that information re4 source management of the office or agency

5 facilitates—

6 (I) strategic goals of the office or

7 agency;

8 (II) the mission of the office or

9 agency; and

10 (III) performance measures es11 tablished by the office or agency; and

12 (vii) ensuring that the information se13 curity policies, procedures, and practices

14 for the information technology are suffi15 cient.

16 (d) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—The Chief In17 formation Officer shall ensure that the information tech18 nology architecture of the Department complies with the

19 requirement of section 3332 of title 31, United States

20 Code, that certain current, and all future payments after

21 January 1, 1999, be tendered through electronic fund

22 transfer.

23 (e) DEPARTMENTAL REGULATIONS.—The Chief In24 formation Officer shall issue such Departmental regula-
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1 tions as the Chief Information Officer considers necessary

2 to carry out this Act within all offices and agencies.

3 (f) REPORT.—Not later than March 1 of each year

4 through March 1, 2003, the Chief Information Officer

5 shall submit a report to the Committee on Agriculture of

6 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri7 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate that

8 includes—

9 (1) an evaluation of the current and future in10 formation technology directions and needs of the De11 partment;

12 (2) an accounting of—

13 (A) each transfer or obligation of funds de14 scribed in section 7(a), and each outlay of

15 funds, for information technology or informa16 tion resource management by each office or

17 agency for the past fiscal year; and

18 (B) each transfer or obligation of funds de19 scribed in section 7(a) for information tech20 nology or information resource management by

21 each office or agency known or estimated for

22 the current and future fiscal years;

23 (3) a summary of an evaluation of information

24 technology and information resource management
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1 applicable Department-wide or to an office or agen2 cy; and

3 (4) a copy of the annual report to the Secretary

4 by the Chief Information Officer that is required by

5 section 5125(c)(3) of the Information Technology

6 Management Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C.

7 1425(c)(3)).

8 SEC. 7. FUNDING APPROVAL BY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFI9 CER.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, an office or agency, without the prior approval

12 of the Chief Information Officer, shall not—

13 (1) transfer funds (including appropriated

14 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Com15 modity Credit Corporation or any other corporation

16 within the Department) from 1 account of a fund or

17 office or agency to another account of a fund or of18 fice or agency for the purpose of investing in infor19 mation technology or information resource manage20 ment involving planning, evaluation, or management,

21 providing services, or leasing or purchasing personal

22 property (including all hardware and software) or

23 services;

24 (2) obligate funds (including appropriated

25 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Com-
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1 modity Credit Corporation or any other corporation

2 within the Department) for the purpose of investing

3 in information technology or information resource

4 management involving planning, evaluation, or man5 agement, providing services, or leasing or purchasing

6 personal property (including all hardware and soft7 ware) or services; or

8 (3) obligate funds (including appropriated

9 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Com10 modity Credit Corporation) for the purpose of in11 vesting in information technology or information re12 source management involving planning, evaluation,

13 or management, providing services, or leasing or

14 purchasing personal property (including all hardware

15 and software) or services, obtained through a con16 tract, cooperative agreement, reciprocal agreement,

17 or any other type of agreement with an agency of

18 the Federal Government, a State, the District of

19 Columbia, or any person in the private sector.

20 (b) DISCRETION OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFI21 CER.—The Chief Information Officer may, by Depart22 mental regulation, waive the requirement under subsection

23 (a) applicable to, as the Chief Information Officer deter24 mines is appropriate for the office or agency—
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1 (1) the transfer or obligation of funds described

2 in subsection (a) in an amount not to exceed

3 $200,000; or

4 (2) a specific class or category of information

5 technology.

6 (c) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF FUNDING.—

7 Under subsection (a), the Chief Information Officer shall

8 not approve the transfer or obligation of funds described

9 in subsection (a) with respect to an office or agency unless

10 the Chief Information Officer determines that—

11 (1) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

12 described in subsection (a) is consistent with the in13 formation technology architecture of the Depart14 ment;

15 (2) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

16 described in subsection (a) for information tech17 nology or information resource management is con18 sistent with and maximizes the achievement of the

19 strategic business plans of the office or agency;

20 (3) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

21 described in subsection (a) is consistent with the

22 strategic business plan of the office or agency; and

23 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, econo24 mies of scale are realized through the proposed
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1 transfer or obligation of funds described in sub2 section (a).

3 (d) CONSULTATION WITH EXECUTIVE INFORMATION

4 TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD.—To the

5 maximum extent practicable, as determined by the Chief

6 Information Officer, prior to approving a transfer or obli7 gation of funds described in subsection (a) for information

8 technology or information resource management, the Chief

9 Information Officer shall consult with the Executive Infor10 mation Technology Investment Review Board (or its suc11 cessor) concerning whether the investment—

12 (1) meets the objectives of capital planning

13 processes for selecting, managing, and evaluating

14 the results of major investments in information tech15 nology or information resource management; and

16 (2) links the affected strategic plan with the in17 formation technology architecture of the Depart18 ment.

19 SEC. 8. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECH20 NOLOGY FUNDS.

21 (a) TRANSFER.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 1

23 of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer to

24 the appropriations account of the Chief Information
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1 Officer an amount of funds of an office or agency

2 determined under paragraph (2).

3 (2) AMOUNT.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), the amount of funds of an office or

6 agency for a fiscal year transferred under para7 graph (1) may be up to 10 percent of the dis8 cretionary funds made available for that fiscal

9 year by the office or agency for information

10 technology or information resource manage11 ment.

12 (B) ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than Sep13 tember 30 of each fiscal year, the Secretary

14 shall adjust the amount to be transferred from

15 the funds of an office or agency for the fiscal

16 year to the extent that the estimate for the fis17 cal year was in excess of, or less than, the

18 amount actually expended by the office or agen19 cy for information technology or information re20 source management.

21 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds transferred under sub22 section (a) shall be used by the Chief Information

23 Officer—

24 (1) to carry out the duties and authorities of

25 the Chief Information Officer under—
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1 (A) this Act;

2 (B) section 5125 of the Information Tech3 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40

4 U.S.C. 1425); and

5 (C) section 3506 of title 44, United States

6 Code;

7 (2) to direct and control the planning, transfer

8 or obligation of funds described in section 7(a), and

9 administration of information technology or informa10 tion resource management by an office or agency;

11 (3) to meet the requirement of the Director of

12 the Office and Management and Budget that all

13 mission-critical systems achieve year-2000 compli14 ance; or

15 (4) to pay the salaries and expenses of all per16 sonnel and functions of the office of the Chief Infor17 mation Officer.

18 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Chief Informa19 tion Officer shall transfer unexpended funds at the end

20 of a fiscal year to the office or agency that made the funds

21 available under subsection (a), to remain available until

22 expended.

23 (d) NO REDUCTION OF EMPLOYEES OF OFFICES OR

24 AGENCIES.—A transfer of funds under subsection (a)
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1 shall not result in a reduction in the number of employees

2 in an office or agency.

3 (e) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority

4 under this section terminates on September 30, 2004.

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

6 OVER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PER7 SONNEL.

8 (a) AGENCY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS.—

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the concur10 rence of the Chief Information Officer, the head of

11 each office or agency shall establish within the office

12 or agency the position of Agency Chief Information

13 Officer and shall appoint an individual to that posi14 tion.

15 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO HEAD OF OFFICE OR

16 AGENCY.—The Agency Chief Information Officer

17 shall—

18 (A) report to the head of the office or

19 agency; and

20 (B) regularly update the head of the office

21 or agency on the status of year-2000 compli22 ance and other significant information tech23 nology issues.

24 (3) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—The Chief Infor25 mation Officer shall—
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1 (A) provide input for the performance re2 view of an Agency Chief Information Officer of

3 an office or agency;

4 (B) annually review and assess the infor5 mation technology functions of the office or

6 agency; and

7 (C) provide a report on the review and as8 sessment to the Under Secretary or Assistant

9 Secretary for the office or agency.

10 (4) DUTIES.—The Agency Chief Information

11 Officer of an office or agency shall be responsible for

12 carrying out the policies and procedures established

13 by the Chief Information Officer for that office or

14 agency, the Administrator for the office or agency,

15 and the Under Secretary or Assistant Secretary for

16 the office or agency.

17 (b) MANAGERS OF MAJOR INFORMATION TECH18 NOLOGY PROJECTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The assignment, and contin20 ued eligibility for the assignment, of an employee of

21 the Department to serve as manager of a major in22 formation technology project (as defined by the

23 Chief Information Officer) of an office or agency,

24 shall be subject to the approval of the Chief Infor25 mation Officer.
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1 (2) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—The Chief Infor2 mation Officer shall provide input into the perform3 ance review of a manager of a major information

4 technology project.

5 (c) DETAIL AND ASSIGNMENT OF PERSONNEL.—

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employee

7 of the Department may be detailed to the Office of the

8 Chief Information Officer for a period of more than 30

9 days without reimbursement by the Office of the Chief In10 formation Officer to the office or agency from which the

11 employee is detailed.

12 (d) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT OF13 FICERS.—A procurement officer of an office or agency

14 shall procure information technology for the office or

15 agency in a manner that is consistent with the Depart16 mental regulations issued by the Chief Information Offi17 cer.

18 SEC. 10. ANNUAL COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON

19 COMPLIANCE.

20 (a) REPORT.—Not later than May 15 of each year

21 through May 15, 2003, in coordination with the Inspector

22 General of the Department, the Comptroller General of

23 the United States shall submit to the Committee on Agri24 culture of the House of Representatives and the Com25 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen-
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1 ate a report evaluating the compliance with this Act in

2 the past fiscal year by the Chief Information Officer and

3 each office or agency.

4 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report shall

5 include—

6 (1) an audit of the transfer or obligation of

7 funds described in section 7(a) and outlays by an of8 fice or agency for the fiscal year;

9 (2) an audit and evaluation of the compliance

10 of the Chief Information Officer with the require11 ments of section 8(c);

12 (3) a review and evaluation of the performance

13 of the Chief Information Officer under this Act; and

14 (4) a review and evaluation of the success of

15 the Department in—

16 (A) creating a Department-wide informa17 tion technology architecture; and

18 (B) complying with the requirement of the

19 Director of the Office of Management and

20 Budget that all mission-critical systems of an

21 office or agency achieve year-2000 compliance.

22 SEC. 11. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Inspector General

24 of the Department shall be exempt from the requirements

25 of this Act.
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1 (b) REPORT.—The Inspector General of the Depart2 ment shall semiannually submit a report to the Committee

3 on Agriculture and the Committee on Government Reform

4 and Oversight of the House of Representatives and the

5 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the

6 Senate on the progress of the Office of Inspector General

7 regarding—

8 (1) year-2000 compliance; and

9 (2) the establishment of an information tech10 nology architecture for the Office of Inspector Gen11 eral of the Department.

12 SEC. 12. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

13 Section 13 of the Commodity Credit Corporation

14 Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714k) is amended in the second

15 sentence by striking ‘‘section 5 or 11’’ and inserting ‘‘sec16 tion 4, 5, or 11’’.

Æ