I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2116

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 21, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

AN ACT

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 1998’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 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.

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.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

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

6 health of plants and animals, the economies of rural

7 communities, international commerce in food, and

8 food aid rely on the Department of Agriculture for

9 the effective and timely administration of program

10 activities essential to their success and vitality;

11 (2) the successful administration of the pro12 gram activities depends on the ability of the Depart13 ment to use information technology in as efficient

14 and effective manner as is technologically feasible;

15 (3) to successfully administer the program ac16 tivities, the Department relies on information tech17 nology that requires comprehensive and Department18 wide overview and control to avoid needless duplica19 tion and misuse of resources;
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1 (4) to better ensure the continued success and

2 vitality of agricultural producers and rural commu3 nities, it is imperative that measures are taken with4 in the Department to coordinate and centrally plan

5 the use of the information technology of the Depart6 ment;

7 (5) because production control and subsidy pro8 grams are ending, agricultural producers of the

9 United States need the best possible information to

10 make decisions that will maximize profits, satisfy

11 consumer demand, and contribute to the alleviation

12 of hunger in the United States and abroad;

13 (6) a single authority for Department-wide

14 planning is needed to ensure that the information

15 technology architecture of the Department is based

16 on the strategic business plans, information tech17 nology, management goals, and core business proc18 ess methodology of the Department;

19 (7) information technology is a strategic re20 source for the missions and program activities of the

21 Department;

22 (8) year-2000 compliance is 1 of the most im23 portant challenges facing the Federal Government

24 and the private sector;
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1 (9) because the responsibility for ensuring year2 2000 compliance at the Department was initially left

3 to individual offices and agencies, no overall prior4 ities have been established, and there is no assur5 ance that the most important functions of the De6 partment will be operable on January 1, 2000;

7 (10) it is the responsibility of the Chief Infor8 mation Officer to provide leadership in—

9 (A) defining and explaining the importance

10 of achieving year-2000 compliance;

11 (B) selecting the overall approach for

12 structuring the year-2000 compliance efforts of

13 the Department;

14 (C) assessing the ability of the information

15 resource management infrastructures of the De16 partment to adequately support the year-2000

17 compliance efforts; and

18 (D) mobilizing the resources of the Depart19 ment to achieve year-2000 compliance;

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

21 requirement of the Director of the Office of Manage22 ment and Budget that all mission-critical systems of

23 the Department achieve year-2000 compliance would

24 have serious adverse consequences on the program

25 activities of the Department, the economies of rural
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1 communities, the health of the people of the United

2 States, world hunger, and international commerce in

3 agricultural commodities and products;

4 (12) centralizing the approval authority for

5 planning and investment for information technology

6 in the Office of the Chief Information Officer will—

7 (A) provide the Department with strong

8 and coordinated leadership and direction;

9 (B) ensure that the business architecture

10 of an office or agency is based on rigorous core

11 business process methodology;

12 (C) ensure that the information technology

13 architecture of the Department is based on the

14 strategic business plans of the offices or agen15 cies and the missions of the Department;

16 (D) ensure that funds will be invested in

17 information technology only after the Chief In18 formation Officer has determined that—

19 (i) the planning and review of future

20 business requirements of the office or

21 agency are complete; and

22 (ii) the information technology archi23 tecture of the office or agency is based on

24 business requirements and is consistent
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1 with the Department-wide information

2 technology architecture; and

3 (E) cause the Department to act as a sin4 gle enterprise with respect to information tech5 nology, thus eliminating the duplication and in6 efficiency associated with a single office- or

7 agency-based approach; and

8 (13) consistent with the Information Tech9 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C.

10 1401 et seq.), each office or agency of the Depart11 ment should achieve at least—

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

13 incurred for operation and maintenance of in14 formation technology; and

15 (B) a 5 percent per year increase in oper16 ational efficiency through improvements in in17 formation resource management.

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

19 (1) to facilitate the successful administration of

20 programs and activities of the Department through

21 the creation of a centralized office, and Chief Infor22 mation Officer position, in the Department to pro23 vide strong and innovative managerial leadership to

24 oversee the planning, funding, acquisition, and man-
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1 agement of information technology and information

2 resource management; and

3 (2) to provide the Chief Information Officer

4 with the authority and funding necessary to correct

5 the year-2000 compliance problem of the Depart6 ment.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.—The term

10 ‘‘Chief Information Officer’’ means the individual

11 appointed by the Secretary to serve as Chief Infor12 mation Officer (as established by section 5125 of the

13 Information Technology Management Reform Act of

14 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1425)) for the Department.

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

16 means the Department of Agriculture.

17 (3) INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.—

18 The term ‘‘information resource management’’

19 means the process of managing information re20 sources to accomplish agency missions and to im21 prove agency performance.

22 (4) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.—

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

24 technology’’ means any equipment or inter25 connected system or subsystem of equipment
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1 that is used by an office or agency in the auto2 matic acquisition, storage, manipulation, man3 agement, movement, control, display, switching,

4 interchange, transmission, or reception of data

5 or information.

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

7 subparagraph (A), equipment is used by an of8 fice or agency if the equipment is used by—

9 (i) the office or agency directly; or

10 (ii) a contractor under a contract with

11 the office or agency—

12 (I) that requires the use of the

13 equipment; or

14 (II) to a significant extent, that

15 requires the use of the equipment in

16 the performance of a service or the

17 furnishing of a product.

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

19 technology’’ includes computers, ancillary equip20 ment, software, firmware and similar proce21 dures, services (including support services), and

22 related resources.

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

24 technology’’ does not include any equipment
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1 that is acquired by a Federal contractor that is

2 incidental to a Federal contract.

3 (5) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITEC4 TURE.—The term ‘‘information technology architec5 ture’’ means an integrated framework for developing

6 or maintaining existing information technology, and

7 acquiring new information technology, to achieve or

8 effectively use the strategic business plans, informa9 tion resources, management goals, and core business

10 processes of the Department.

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

12 agency’’ means, as applicable, each—

13 (A) national, regional, county, or local of14 fice or agency of the Department;

15 (B) county committee established under

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

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

18 590h(b)(5));

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

20 service center of the Department; and

21 (D) group of multiple offices and agencies

22 of the Department that are, or will be, con23 nected through common program activities or

24 systems of information technology.
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1 (7) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘program

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

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

4 agencies of the Department.

5 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

6 the Secretary of Agriculture.

7 (9) YEAR-2000 COMPLIANCE.—The term ‘‘year8 2000 compliance’’, with respect to the Department,

9 means a condition in which information systems are

10 able to accurately process data relating to the 20th

11 and 21st centuries—

12 (A) within the Department;

13 (B) between the Department and local and

14 State governments;

15 (C) between the Department and the pri16 vate sector;

17 (D) between the Department and foreign

18 governments; and

19 (E) between the Department and the inter20 national private sector.

21 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF YEAR-2000 COMPLIANCE AT DE22 PARTMENT.

23 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the Chief Infor24 mation Officer of the Department has not been provided
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1 the funding and authority necessary to adequately manage

2 the year-2000 compliance problem at the Department.

3 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The Chief Information Officer

4 shall provide the leadership and innovative management

5 within the Department to—

6 (1) identify, prioritize, and mobilize the re7 sources needed to achieve year-2000 compliance;

8 (2) coordinate the renovation of computer sys9 tems through conversion, replacement, or retirement

10 of the systems;

11 (3) develop verification and validation strategies

12 (within the Department and by independent persons)

13 for converted or replaced computer systems;

14 (4) develop contingency plans for mission-criti15 cal systems in the event of a year-2000 compliance

16 system failure;

17 (5) coordinate outreach between computer sys18 tems of the Department and computer systems in—

19 (A) the domestic private sector;

20 (B) State and local governments;

21 (C) foreign governments; and

22 (D) the international private sector, such

23 as foreign banks;

24 (6) identify, prioritize, and mobilize the re25 sources needed to correct periodic date problems in
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1 computer systems within the Department and be2 tween the Department and outside computer sys3 tems; and

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

5 enactment of this Act and ending on June 1, 2000,

6 consult, on a quarterly basis, with the Committee on

7 Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the

8 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

9 of the Senate on actions taken to carry out this sec10 tion.

11 (c) FUNDING AND AUTHORITIES.—To carry out sub12 section (b), the Chief Information Officer shall use—

13 (1) the authorities in sections 7, 8, and 9, par14 ticularly the authority to approve the transfer or ob15 ligation of funds described in section 7(a) intended

16 for information technology and information resource

17 management; and

18 (2) the transferred funds targeted by offices

19 and agencies for information technology and infor20 mation resource management under section 8.

21 SEC. 5. POSITION OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.

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

23 and most efficient planning, acquisition, administration,

24 and management of information technology within the De-
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1 partment, there is established the position of the Chief In2 formation Officer of the Department.

3 (b) CONFIRMATION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The position of the Chief In5 formation Officer shall be appointed by the Presi6 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen7 ate.

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

9 Chief Information Officer on the date of enactment

10 of this Act shall not be required to be reappointed

11 by the President.

12 (c) REPORT.—The Chief Information Officer shall re13 port directly to the Secretary.

14 (d) POSITION ON EXECUTIVE INFORMATION TECH15 NOLOGY INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD.—The Chief Infor16 mation Officer shall serve as an officer of the Executive

17 Information Technology Investment Review Board (or its

18 successor).

19 SEC. 6. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF CHIEF INFORMATION

20 OFFICER.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law (except the Government Performance and Re23 sults Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–62), amendments

24 made by that Act, and the Information Technology Man25 agement Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.))
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1 and policies and procedures of the Department, in addi2 tion to the general authorities provided to the Chief Infor3 mation Officer by section 5125 of the Information Tech4 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C.

5 1425), the Chief Information Officer shall have the au6 thorities and duties within the Department provided in

7 this Act.

8 (b) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE.—

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

10 effective implementation of program activities of the

11 Department, the Chief Information Officer shall en12 sure that the information technology architecture of

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

14 on the strategic business plans, information re15 sources, goals of information resource management,

16 and core business process methodology of the De17 partment.

18 (2) DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The Chief

19 Information Officer shall manage the design and im20 plementation of an information technology architec21 ture for the Department in a manner that ensures

22 that—

23 (A) the information technology systems of

24 each office or agency maximize—
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1 (i) the effectiveness and efficiency of

2 program activities of the Department;

3 (ii) quality per dollar expended; and

4 (iii) the efficiency and coordination of

5 information resource management among

6 offices or agencies, including the exchange

7 of information between field service centers

8 of the Department and each office or agen9 cy;

10 (B) the planning, transfer or obligation of

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

12 of information technology, by each office or

13 agency most efficiently satisfies the needs of the

14 office or agency in terms of the customers

15 served, and program activities and employees

16 affected, by the information technology; and

17 (C) the information technology of each of18 fice or agency is designed and managed to co19 ordinate or consolidate similar functions of the

20 missions of the Department and offices or agen21 cies, on a Department-wide basis.

22 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH RESULTING ARCHITEC23 TURE.—The Chief Information Officer shall—

24 (A) if determined appropriate by the Chief

25 Information Officer, approve the transfer or ob-
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1 ligation of funds described in section 7(a) in

2 connection with information technology archi3 tecture for an office or agency; and

4 (B) be responsible for the development, ac5 quisition, and implementation of information

6 technology by an office or agency in a manner

7 that—

8 (i) is consistent with the information

9 technology architecture designed under

10 paragraph (2);

11 (ii) results in the most efficient and

12 effective use of information technology of

13 the office or agency; and

14 (iii) maximizes the efficient delivery

15 and effectiveness of program activities of

16 the Department.

17 (4) FIELD SERVICE CENTERS.—The Chief In18 formation Officer shall ensure that the information

19 technology architecture of the Department facilitates

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

21 flexible common computing environment for the field

22 service centers of the Department that—

23 (A) is based on strategic goals, business

24 reengineering, and integrated program delivery;
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1 (B) is flexible enough to accommodate and

2 facilitate future business and organizational

3 changes;

4 (C) provides maximum data sharing, inter5 operability, and communications capability with

6 other Department, Federal, and State agencies

7 and customers; and

8 (D) results in significant reductions in an9 nual operating costs.

10 (c) EVALUATION OF PROPOSED INFORMATION TECH11 NOLOGY INVESTMENTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the Ex13 ecutive Information Technology Investment Review

14 Board (or its successor), the Chief Information Offi15 cer shall adopt criteria to evaluate proposals for in16 formation technology investments that are applicable

17 to individual offices or agencies or are applicable De18 partment-wide.

19 (2) CRITERIA.—The criteria adopted under

20 paragraph (1) shall include consideration of—

21 (A) whether the function to be supported

22 by the investment should be performed by the

23 private sector, negating the need for the invest24 ment;
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1 (B) the Department-wide or Government2 wide impacts of the investment;

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

4 (D) the consistency of the investment with

5 the information technology architecture;

6 (E) the interoperability of information

7 technology or information resource management

8 in offices or agencies; and

9 (F) whether the investment maximizes the

10 efficiency and effectiveness of program activities

11 of the Department.

12 (3) EVALUATION OF INFORMATION TECH13 NOLOGY AND INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGE14 MENT.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with

16 the Executive Information Technology Invest17 ment Review Board (or its successor), the Chief

18 Information Officer shall monitor and evaluate

19 the information resource management practices

20 of offices or agencies with respect to the per21 formance and results of the information tech22 nology investments made by the offices or agen23 cies.
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1 (B) GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION.—The

2 Chief Information Officer shall issue Depart3 mental regulations that provide guidelines for—

4 (i) establishing whether the program

5 activity of an office or agency that is pro6 posed to be supported by the information

7 technology investment should be performed

8 by the private sector;

9 (ii)(I) analyzing the program activities

10 of the office or agency and the mission of

11 the office or agency; and

12 (II) based on the analysis, revising the

13 mission-related and administrative proc14 esses of the office or agency, as appro15 priate, before making significant invest16 ments in information technology to be used

17 in support of the program activities and

18 mission of the office or agency;

19 (iii) establishing effective and efficient

20 capital planning for selecting, managing,

21 and evaluating the results of all major in22 vestments in information technology by the

23 Department;

24 (iv) ensuring compliance with govern25 mental and Department-wide policies, reg-
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1 ulations, standards, and guidelines that re2 late to information technology and infor3 mation resource management;

4 (v) identifying potential information

5 resource management problem areas that

6 could prevent or delay delivery of program

7 activities of the office or agency;

8 (vi) validating that information re9 source management of the office or agency

10 facilitates—

11 (I) strategic goals of the office or

12 agency;

13 (II) the mission of the office or

14 agency; and

15 (III) performance measures es16 tablished by the office or agency; and

17 (vii) ensuring that the information se18 curity policies, procedures, and practices

19 for the information technology are suffi20 cient.

21 (d) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—The Chief In22 formation Officer shall ensure that the information tech23 nology architecture of the Department complies with the

24 requirement of section 3332 of title 31, United States

25 Code, that certain current, and all future payments after
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1 January 1, 1999, be tendered through electronic fund

2 transfer.

3 (e) DEPARTMENTAL REGULATIONS.—The Chief In4 formation Officer shall issue such Departmental regula5 tions as the Chief Information Officer considers necessary

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

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

8 through March 1, 2003, the Chief Information Officer

9 shall submit a report to the Committee on Agriculture of

10 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri11 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate that

12 includes—

13 (1) an evaluation of the current and future in14 formation technology directions and needs of the De15 partment;

16 (2) an accounting of—

17 (A) each transfer or obligation of funds de18 scribed in section 7(a), and each outlay of

19 funds, for information technology or informa20 tion resource management by each office or

21 agency for the past fiscal year; and

22 (B) each transfer or obligation of funds de23 scribed in section 7(a) for information tech24 nology or information resource management by
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1 each office or agency known or estimated for

2 the current and future fiscal years;

3 (3) a summary of an evaluation of information

4 technology and information resource management

5 applicable Department-wide or to an office or agen6 cy; and

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

8 by the Chief Information Officer that is required by

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

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

11 1425(c)(3)).

12 SEC. 7. FUNDING APPROVAL BY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFI13 CER.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, an office or agency, without the prior approval

16 of the Chief Information Officer, shall not—

17 (1) transfer funds (including appropriated

18 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Commod19 ity Credit Corporation or any other corporation

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

21 office or agency to another account of a fund or of22 fice or agency for the purpose of investing in infor23 mation technology or information resource manage24 ment involving planning, evaluation, or management,

25 providing services, or leasing or purchasing personal
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1 property (including all hardware and software) or

2 services;

3 (2) obligate funds (including appropriated

4 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Commod5 ity Credit Corporation or any other corporation

6 within the Department) for the purpose of investing

7 in information technology or information resource

8 management involving planning, evaluation, or man9 agement, providing services, or leasing or purchasing

10 personal property (including all hardware and soft11 ware) or services; or

12 (3) obligate funds (including appropriated

13 funds, mandatory funds, and funds of the Commod14 ity Credit Corporation) for the purpose of investing

15 in information technology or information resource

16 management involving planning, evaluation, or man17 agement, providing services, or leasing or purchasing

18 personal property (including all hardware and soft19 ware) or services, obtained through a contract, coop20 erative agreement, reciprocal agreement, or any

21 other type of agreement with an agency of the Fed22 eral Government, a State, the District of Columbia,

23 or any person in the private sector.

24 (b) DISCRETION OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFI25 CER.—The Chief Information Officer may, by Depart-
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1 mental regulation, waive the requirement under subsection

2 (a) applicable to, as the Chief Information Officer deter3 mines is appropriate for the office or agency—

4 (1) the transfer or obligation of funds described

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

6 $200,000; or

7 (2) a specific class or category of information

8 technology.

9 (c) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF FUNDING.—

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

11 not approve the transfer or obligation of funds described

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

13 the Chief Information Officer determines that—

14 (1) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

15 described in subsection (a) is consistent with the in16 formation technology architecture of the Depart17 ment;

18 (2) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

19 described in subsection (a) for information tech20 nology or information resource management is con21 sistent with and maximizes the achievement of the

22 strategic business plans of the office or agency;

23 (3) the proposed transfer or obligation of funds

24 described in subsection (a) is consistent with the

25 strategic business plan of the office or agency; and
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1 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, econo2 mies of scale are realized through the proposed

3 transfer or obligation of funds described in sub4 section (a).

5 (d) CONSULTATION WITH EXECUTIVE INFORMATION

6 TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD.—To the

7 maximum extent practicable, as determined by the Chief

8 Information Officer, prior to approving a transfer or obli9 gation of funds described in subsection (a) for information

10 technology or information resource management, the Chief

11 Information Officer shall consult with the Executive Infor12 mation Technology Investment Review Board (or its suc13 cessor) concerning whether the investment—

14 (1) meets the objectives of capital planning

15 processes for selecting, managing, and evaluating

16 the results of major investments in information tech17 nology or information resource management; and

18 (2) links the affected strategic plan with the in19 formation technology architecture of the Depart20 ment.

21 SEC. 8. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECH22 NOLOGY FUNDS.

23 (a) TRANSFER.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis25 cal year, the Secretary shall transfer to the appro-
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1 priations account of the Chief Information Officer

2 an amount of funds of an office or agency deter3 mined under paragraph (2).

4 (2) AMOUNT.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (B), the amount of funds of an office or

7 agency for a fiscal year transferred under para8 graph (1) may be up to 10 percent of the dis9 cretionary funds made available for that fiscal

10 year by the office or agency for information

11 technology or information resource manage12 ment.

13 (B) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary may

14 adjust the amount to be transferred from the

15 funds of an office or agency for a fiscal year to

16 the extent that the estimate for a prior fiscal

17 year was in excess of, or less than, the amount

18 actually expended by the office or agency for in19 formation technology or information resource

20 management.

21 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—

22 (1) TRANSFER.—The Chief Information Officer

23 may transfer unexpended funds to an office or agen24 cy.
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1 (2) USE.—Funds transferred under paragraph

2 (1) shall only be used for information technology or

3 information resource management.

4 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds transferred under sub5 section (a) shall be used by the Chief Information

6 Officer—

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

8 the Chief Information Officer under—

9 (A) this Act;

10 (B) section 5125 of the Information Tech11 nology Management Reform Act of 1996 (40

12 U.S.C. 1425); and

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

14 Code;

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

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

17 administration of information technology or informa18 tion resource management by an office or agency;

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

20 the Office and Management and Budget that all

21 mission-critical systems achieve year-2000 compli22 ance; or

23 (4) to pay the salaries and expenses of all per24 sonnel and functions of the office of the Chief Infor25 mation Officer.
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1 (d) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority

2 under this section terminates on September 30, 2003.

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

4 OVER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PERSON5 NEL.

6 (a) AGENCY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS.—

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the concur8 rence of the Chief Information Officer, the head of

9 each office or agency shall establish within the office

10 or agency the position of Agency Chief Information

11 Officer and shall appoint an individual to that posi12 tion.

13 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO HEAD OF OFFICE OR

14 AGENCY.—The Agency Chief Information Officer

15 shall—

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

17 agency; and

18 (B) regularly update the head of the office

19 or agency on the status of year-2000 compli20 ance and other significant information tech21 nology issues.

22 (3) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—The Chief Infor23 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 Commit25 tee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate
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1 a report evaluating the compliance with this Act in the

2 past fiscal year by the Chief Information Officer and each

3 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’’.

Passed the Senate October 12 (legislative day, October 2), 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.