I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1232 

To amend titles 40, 41, and 44, United States Code, to eliminate duplication 

and waste in information technology acquisition and management. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2013 

Mr. ISSA (for himself and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend titles 40, 41, and 44, United States Code, to 

eliminate duplication and waste in information technology acquisition and management. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Information 

5 Technology Acquisition Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITHIN 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

Sec. 101. Increased authority of agency Chief Information Officers over information technology. 

Sec. 102. Lead coordination role of Chief Information Officers Council. 

Sec. 103. Reports by Government Accountability Office. 

TITLE II—DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION 

Sec. 201. Purpose. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 

Sec. 203. Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative. 

Sec. 204. Performance requirements related to data center consolidation. 

Sec. 205. Cost savings related to data center optimization. 

Sec. 206. Reporting requirements to Congress and the Federal Chief Information Officer. 

TITLE III—ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATION AND WASTE IN 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION 

Sec. 301. Inventory of information technology assets. 

Sec. 302. Website consolidation and transparency. 

Sec. 303. Transition to the cloud. 

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

TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING AND STREAMLINING INFORMATION 

TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 

Subtitle A—Strengthening and Streamlining IT Program Management 

Practices 

Sec. 401. Establishment of Federal Infrastructure and Common Application 

Collaboration Center. 

Sec. 402. Designation of Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence. 

Subtitle B—Strengthening IT Acquisition Workforce 

Sec. 411. Expansion of training and use of information technology acquisition 

cadres. 

Sec. 412. Plan on strengthening program and project management performance. 

Sec. 413. Personnel awards for excellence in the acquisition of information systems and information technology. 

TITLE V—ADDITIONAL REFORMS 

Sec. 501. Maximizing the benefit of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative. 

Sec. 502. Promoting transparency of blanket purchase agreements. 

Sec. 503. Additional source selection technique in solicitations. 

Sec. 504. Enhanced transparency in information technology investments. 

Sec. 505. Enhanced communication between Government and industry. 

Sec. 506. Clarification of current law with respect to open source software. 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CHIEF ACQUISITION OFFICERS COUNCIL.— 

2 The term ‘‘Chief Acquisition Officers Council’’ 

3 means the Chief Acquisition Officers Council estab4 lished by section 1311(a) of title 41, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (2) CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.—The term 

7 ‘‘Chief Information Officer’’ means a Chief Informa8 tion Officer (as designated under section 3506(a)(2) 

9 of title 44, United States Code) of an agency listed 

10 in section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code. 

11 (3) CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS COUNCIL.— 

12 The term ‘‘Chief Information Officers Council’’ or 

13 ‘‘CIO Council’’ means the Chief Information Officers 

14 Council established by section 3603(a) of title 44, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

17 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg18 et. 

19 (5) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

20 agency’’ means each agency listed in section 901(b) 

21 of title 31, United States Code. 

22 (6) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OR IT.—The 

23 term ‘‘information technology’’ or ‘‘IT’’ has the 

24 meaning provided in section 11101(6) of title 40, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (7) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit3 tees’’ means each of the following: 

4 (A) The Committee on Oversight and Gov5 ernment Reform and the Committee on Armed 

6 Services of the House of Representatives. 

7 (B) The Committee on Homeland Security 

8 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 

9 on Armed Services of the Senate. 

10 TITLE I—MANAGEMENT OF IN11 FORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

12 WITHIN FEDERAL GOVERN13 MENT 

14 SEC. 101. INCREASED AUTHORITY OF AGENCY CHIEF IN15 FORMATION OFFICERS OVER INFORMATION 

16 TECHNOLOGY. 

17 (a) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT OF CIOS OF CER18 TAIN AGENCIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 11315 of title 40, 

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (A) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub22 section (e) and moving such subsection to the 

23 end of the section; and 

24 (B) by inserting before subsection (b) the 

25 following new subsection (a): 


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1 ‘‘(a) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT OR DESIGNATION

2 OF CERTAIN CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be within each 

4 agency listed in section 901(b)(1) of title 31, other 

5 than the Department of Defense, an agency Chief 

6 Information Officer. Each agency Chief Information 

7 Officer shall— 

8 ‘‘(A)(i) be appointed by the President; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) be designated by the President, in 

10 consultation with the head of the agency; and 

11 ‘‘(B) be appointed or designated, as appli12 cable, from among individuals who possess dem13 onstrated ability in general management of, and 

14 knowledge of and extensive practical experience 

15 in, information technology management prac16 tices in large governmental or business entities. 

17 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—An agency Chief In18 formation Officer appointed or designated under this 

19 section shall report directly to the head of the agen20 cy and carry out responsibilities as set forth in this 

21 section and in section 3506(a) of title 44 for Chief 

22 Information Officers designated under paragraph (2) 

23 of such section.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

25 3506(a)(2)(A) of title 44, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by inserting after ‘‘each agency’’ the fol2 lowing: ‘‘, other than an agency with a Presidentially 

3 appointed or designated Chief Information Officer as 

4 provided in section 11315(a)(1) of title 40,’’. 

5 (b) AUTHORITY RELATING TO BUDGET AND PER6 SONNEL.—Section 11315 of title 40, United States Code, 

7 is further amended by inserting after subsection (c) the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES FOR CERTAIN

10 CIOS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) BUDGET-RELATED AUTHORITY.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PLANNING.—The head of each agen13 cy listed in section 901(b)(1) or 901(b)(2) of 

14 title 31, other than the Department of Defense, 

15 shall ensure that the Chief Information Officer 

16 of the agency has the authority to participate 

17 and provide input in the budget planning proc18 ess related to information technology or pro19 grams that include significant information tech20 nology components. 

21 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.—Amounts appro22 priated for any agency listed in section 

23 901(b)(1) or 901(b)(2) of title 31, other than 

24 the Department of Defense, for any fiscal year 

25 that are available for information technology 


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1 shall be allocated within the agency, consistent 

2 with the provisions of appropriations Acts and 

3 budget guidelines and recommendations from 

4 the Director of the Office of Management and 

5 Budget, in such manner as may be specified by, 

6 or approved by, the Chief Information Officer 

7 of the agency. 

8 ‘‘(2) PERSONNEL-RELATED AUTHORITY.—The 

9 head of each agency listed in section 901(b)(1) or 

10 901(b)(2) of title 31, other than the Department of 

11 Defense, shall ensure that the Chief Information Of12 ficer of the agency has the authority necessary to 

13 approve the hiring of personnel who will have infor14 mation technology responsibilities within the agency 

15 and to require that such personnel have the obliga16 tion to report to the Chief Information Officer in a 

17 manner considered sufficient by the Chief Informa18 tion Officer.’’. 

19 (c) REQUIREMENT TO SEEK ADVICE FROM CHIEF

20 INFORMATION OFFICER ON DESIGNATION OR APPOINT21 MENT OF OTHER CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS.— 

22 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 3506(a)(3) of title 

23 44, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(3)’’; and 


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1 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

2 subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(B) Each agency shall have only one individual 

4 with the title and designation of ‘Chief Information 

5 Officer’. Any bureau, office, or subordinate organiza6 tion within the agency may designate one individual 

7 with the title ‘Deputy Chief Information Officer’, 

8 ‘Associate Chief Information Officer’, or ‘Assistant 

9 Chief Information Officer’. The head of the agency 

10 shall seek the advice of the Chief Information Offi11 cer of the agency in designating or appointing any 

12 deputy, associate, or assistant chief information offi13 cer within the agency.’’. 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 3506(a)(3)(B) 

15 of title 44, United States Code, as added by para16 graph (1), shall take effect as of October 1, 2014. 

17 Any individual serving in a position affected by such 

18 section before such date may continue in that posi19 tion if the requirements of such section are fulfilled 

20 with respect to that individual. 

21 SEC. 102. LEAD COORDINATION ROLE OF CHIEF INFORMA22 TION OFFICERS COUNCIL. 

23 (a) LEAD COORDINATION ROLE.—Subsection (d) of 

24 section 3603 of title 44, United States Code, is amended 

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) LEAD INTERAGENCY FORUM.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council is designated 

3 the lead interagency forum for improving agency co4 ordination of practices related to the design, develop5 ment, modernization, use, operation, sharing, per6 formance, and review of Federal Government infor7 mation resources investment. As the lead inter8 agency forum, the Council shall develop cross-agency 

9 portfolio management practices to allow and encour10 age the development of cross-agency shared services 

11 and shared platforms. The Council shall also issue 

12 standards and practices for infrastructure and com13 mon information technology applications, including 

14 expansion of the Federal Enterprise Architecture 

15 process if appropriate. The standards and practices 

16 may address broader transparency, common inputs, 

17 common outputs, and outcomes achieved. The stand18 ards and practices shall be used as a basis for com19 paring performance across diverse missions and op20 erations in various agencies. 

21 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than December 1 in 

22 each of the 6 years following the date of the enact23 ment of this paragraph, the Council shall submit to 

24 the relevant congressional committees a report (to be 

25 known as the ‘CIO Council Report’) summarizing 


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1 the Council’s activities in the preceding fiscal year 

2 and containing such recommendations for further 

3 congressional action to fulfill its mission as the 

4 Council considers appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(3) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—For purposes of the report required by para7 graph (2), the relevant congressional committees are 

8 each of the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) The Committee on Oversight and 

10 Government Reform and the Committee on 

11 Armed Services of the House of Representa12 tives. 

13 ‘‘(B) The Committee on Homeland Secu14 rity and Governmental Affairs and the Com15 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate.’’. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNCTION.—Subsection (f) of sec17 tion 3603 of such title is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(8) Direct the Federal Infrastructure and 

20 Common Application Collaboration Center estab21 lished under section 11501 of title 40.’’. 

22 SEC. 103. REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF23 FICE. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENT TO EXAMINE EFFECTIVENESS.— 

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1 ine the effectiveness of the Chief Information Officers 

2 Council in meeting its responsibilities under section 

3 3603(d) of title 44, United States Code, as added by sec4 tion 102, with particular focus on— 

5 (1) whether agencies are actively participating 

6 in the Council and heeding the Council’s advice and 

7 guidance; and 

8 (2) whether the Council is actively using and 

9 developing the capabilities of the Federal Infrastruc10 ture and Common Application Collaboration Center 

11 created under section 11501 of title 40, United 

12 States Code, as added by section 401. 

13 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year, 3 years, and 

14 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Comptroller General shall submit to the relevant congres16 sional committees a report containing the findings and 

17 recommendations of the Comptroller General from the ex18 amination required by subsection (a). 

19 TITLE II—DATA CENTER 

20 OPTIMIZATION 

21 SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 

22 The purpose of this title is to optimize Federal data 

23 center usage and efficiency. 

24 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this title: 


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1 (1) FEDERAL DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION INI2 TIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Federal Data Center Optimi3 zation Initiative’’ or the ‘‘Initiative’’ means the ini4 tiative developed and implemented by the Director, 

5 through the Federal Chief Information Officer, as 

6 required under section 203. 

7 (2) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 agency’’ means any agency included in the Federal 

9 Data Center Optimization Initiative. 

10 (3) FEDERAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.— 

11 The term ‘‘Federal Chief Information Officer’’ 

12 means the Administrator of the Office of Electronic 

13 Government established under section 3602 of title 

14 44, United States Code. 

15 (4) DATA CENTER.—The term ‘‘data center’’ 

16 means a closet, room, floor, or building for the stor17 age, management, and dissemination of data and in18 formation, as defined by the Federal Chief Informa19 tion Officer under guidance issued pursuant to this 

20 section. 

21 (5) FEDERAL DATA CENTER.—The term ‘‘Fed22 eral data center’’ means any data center of a cov23 ered agency used or operated by a covered agency, 

24 by a contractor of a covered agency, or by another 

25 organization on behalf of a covered agency. 


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1 (6) SERVER UTILIZATION.—The term ‘‘server 

2 utilization’’ refers to the activity level of a server rel3 ative to its maximum activity level, expressed as a 

4 percentage. 

5 (7) POWER USAGE EFFECTIVENESS.—The term 

6 ‘‘power usage effectiveness’’ means the ratio ob7 tained by dividing the total amount of electricity and 

8 other power consumed in running a data center by 

9 the power consumed by the information and commu10 nications technology in the data center. 

11 SEC. 203. FEDERAL DATA CENTER OPTIMIZATION INITIA12 TIVE. 

13 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR INITIATIVE.—The Federal 

14 Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the chief 

15 information officers of covered agencies, shall develop and 

16 implement an initiative, to be known as the Federal Data 

17 Center Optimization Initiative, to optimize the usage and 

18 efficiency of Federal data centers by meeting the require19 ments of this Act and taking additional measures, as ap20 propriate. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PLAN.—Within 6 months 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

23 Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the chief 

24 information officers of covered agencies, shall develop and 

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1 tiative required by subsection (a) by each covered agency. 

2 In developing the plan, the Federal Chief Information Of3 ficer shall take into account the findings and recommenda4 tions of the Comptroller General review required by sec5 tion 205(e). 

6 (c) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan shall include— 

7 (1) descriptions of how covered agencies will 

8 use reductions in floor space, energy use, infrastruc9 ture, equipment, applications, personnel, increases in 

10 multiorganizational use, and other appropriate meth11 ods to meet the requirements of the initiative; and 

12 (2) appropriate consideration of shifting Feder13 ally owned data centers to commercially owned data 

14 centers. 

15 SEC. 204. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO 

16 DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION. 

17 (a) SERVER UTILIZATION.—Each covered agency 

18 may use the following methods to achieve the maximum 

19 server utilization possible as determined by the Federal 

20 Chief Information Officer: 

21 (1) The closing of existing data centers that 

22 lack adequate server utilization, as determined by 

23 the Federal Chief Information Officer. If the agency 

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1 ter should remain in use as part of the submitted 

2 plan. The Federal Chief Information Officer shall in3 clude an assessment of the agency explanation in the 

4 annual report to Congress. 

5 (2) The consolidation of services within existing 

6 data centers to increase server utilization rates. 

7 (3) Any other method that the Federal Chief 

8 Information Officer, in consultation with the chief 

9 information officers of covered agencies, determines 

10 necessary to optimize server utilization. 

11 (b) POWER USAGE EFFECTIVENESS.—Each covered 

12 agency may use the following methods to achieve the max13 imum energy efficiency possible as determined by the Fed14 eral Chief Information Officer: 

15 (1) The use of the measurement of power usage 

16 effectiveness to calculate data center energy effi17 ciency. 

18 (2) The use of power meters in data centers to 

19 frequently measure power consumption over time. 

20 (3) The establishment of power usage effective21 ness goals for each data center. 

22 (4) The adoption of best practices for man23 aging— 

24 (A) temperature and airflow in data cen25 ters; and 


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1 (B) power supply efficiency. 

2 (5) The implementation of any other method 

3 that the Federal Chief Information Officer, in con4 sultation with the Chief Information Officers of cov5 ered agencies, determines necessary to optimize data 

6 center energy efficiency. 

7 SEC. 205. COST SAVINGS RELATED TO DATA CENTER OPTI8 MIZATION. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT TO TRACK COSTS.—Each covered 

10 agency shall track costs resulting from implementation of 

11 the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative within 

12 the agency and submit a report on those costs annually 

13 to the Federal Chief Information Officer. Covered agencies 

14 shall determine the net costs from data consolidation on 

15 an annual basis. 

16 (1) FACTORS.—In calculating net costs each 

17 year under subsection (a), a covered agency shall use 

18 the following factors: 

19 (A) Energy costs. 

20 (B) Personnel costs. 

21 (C) Real estate costs. 

22 (D) Capital expense costs. 

23 (E) Operating system, database, and other 

24 software license expense costs. 


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1 (F) Other appropriate costs, as determined 

2 by the agency in consultation with the Federal 

3 Chief Information Officer. 

4 (b) REQUIREMENT TO TRACK SAVINGS.—Each cov5 ered agency shall track savings resulting from implemen6 tation of the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative 

7 within the agency and submit a report on those savings 

8 annually to the Federal Chief Information Officer. Cov9 ered agencies shall determine the net savings from data 

10 consolidation on an annual basis. 

11 (1) FACTORS.—In calculating net savings each 

12 year under subsection (b), a covered agency shall use 

13 the following factors: 

14 (A) Energy savings. 

15 (B) Personnel savings. 

16 (C) Real estate savings. 

17 (D) Capital expense savings. 

18 (E) Operating system, database, and other 

19 software license expense savings. 

20 (F) Other appropriate savings, as deter21 mined by the agency in consultation with the 

22 Federal Chief Information Officer. 

23 (c) REQUIREMENT TO USE COST-EFFECTIVE MEAS24 URES.—Covered agencies shall use the most cost-effective 


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1 measures to implement the Federal Data Center Optimi2 zation Initiative. 

3 (d) USE OF SAVINGS.—Any savings resulting from 

4 implementation of the Federal Data Center Optimization 

5 Initiative within a covered agency shall be used for the 

6 following purposes: 

7 (1) To offset the costs of implementing the Ini8 tiative within the agency. 

9 (2) To further enhance information technology 

10 capabilities and services within the agency. 

11 (e) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE12 VIEW.—Not later than 3 months after the date of the en13 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

14 States shall examine methods for calculating savings from 

15 the Initiative and using them for the purposes identified 

16 in subsection (d), including establishment and use of a 

17 special revolving fund that supports data centers and serv18 er optimization, and shall submit to the Federal Chief In19 formation Officer and Congress a report on the Comp20 troller General’s findings and recommendations. 

21 SEC. 206. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO CONGRESS AND 

22 THE FEDERAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFI23 CER. 

24 (a) AGENCY REQUIREMENT TO REPORT TO CIO.— 

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1 eral Chief Information Officer a report on the implementa2 tion of the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative, 

3 including savings resulting from such implementation. The 

4 report shall include an update of the agency’s plan for im5 plementing the Initiative. 

6 (b) FEDERAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER RE7 QUIREMENT TO REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each year, the 

8 Federal Chief Information Officer shall submit to the rel9 evant congressional committees a report that assesses 

10 agency progress in carrying out the Federal Data Center 

11 Optimization Initiative and updates the plan under section 

12 203. The report may be included as part of the annual 

13 report required under section 3606 of title 44, United 

14 States Code. 

15 TITLE III—ELIMINATION OF DU16 PLICATION AND WASTE IN IN17 FORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

18 ACQUISITION 

19 SEC. 301. INVENTORY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS20 SETS. 

21 (a) PLAN.—The Director shall develop a plan for con22 ducting a Governmentwide inventory of information tech23 nology assets. 

24 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan required by sub25 section (a) shall cover the following: 


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1 (1) The manner in which Federal agencies can 

2 achieve the greatest possible economies of scale and 

3 cost savings in the procurement of information tech4 nology assets, through measures such as reducing 

5 hardware or software products or services that are 

6 duplicative or overlapping and reducing the procure7 ment of new software licenses until such time as 

8 agency needs exceed the number of existing and un9 used licenses. 

10 (2) The capability to conduct ongoing Govern11 mentwide inventories of all existing software licenses 

12 on an application-by-application basis, including du13 plicative, unused, overused, and underused licenses, 

14 and to assess the need of agencies for software li15 censes. 

16 (3) A Governmentwide spending analysis to 

17 provide knowledge about how much is being spent 

18 for software products or services to support deci19 sions for strategic sourcing under the Federal stra20 tegic sourcing program managed by the Office of 

21 Federal Procurement Policy. 

22 (c) OTHER INVENTORIES.—In developing the plan re23 quired by subsection (a), the Director shall review the in24 ventory of information systems maintained by each agency 

25 under section 3505(c) of title 44, United States Code, and 


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1 the inventory of information resources maintained by each 

2 agency under section 3506(b)(4) of such title. 

3 (d) AVAILABILITY.—The inventory of information 

4 technology assets shall be available to Chief Information 

5 Officers and such other Federal officials as the Chief In6 formation Officers may, in consultation with the Chief In7 formation Officers Council, designate. 

8 (e) DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, the Director shall complete and submit to Con11 gress the plan required by subsection (a). 

12 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than two years 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

14 shall complete implementation of the plan required by sub15 section (a). 

16 (g) REVIEW BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later 

17 than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Comptroller General of the United States shall review 

19 the plan required by subsection (a) and submit to the rel20 evant congressional committees a report on the review. 

21 SEC. 302. WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION AND TRANSPARENCY. 

22 (a) WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION.—The Director 

23 shall— 

24 (1) in consultation with Federal agencies, and 

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1 ernment websites of each agency (as required to be 

2 established and updated under section 207(f)(3) of 

3 the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107– 

4 347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note)), assess all the publicly 

5 available websites of Federal agencies to determine 

6 whether there are duplicative or overlapping 

7 websites; and 

8 (2) require Federal agencies to eliminate or 

9 consolidate those websites that are duplicative or 

10 overlapping. 

11 (b) WEBSITE TRANSPARENCY.—The Director shall 

12 issue guidance to Federal agencies to ensure that the data 

13 on publicly available websites of the agencies are open and 

14 accessible to the public. 

15 (c) MATTERS COVERED.—In preparing the guidance 

16 required by subsection (b), the Director shall— 

17 (1) develop guidelines, standards, and best 

18 practices for interoperability and transparency; 

19 (2) identify interfaces that provide for shared, 

20 open solutions on the publicly available websites of 

21 the agencies; and 

22 (3) ensure that Federal agency Internet home 

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1 formance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 

2 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

3 (d) DEADLINE FOR GUIDANCE.—The guidance re4 quired by subsection (b) shall be issued not later than 180 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 303. TRANSITION TO THE CLOUD. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that transition to cloud computing offers significant 

9 potential benefits for the implementation of Federal infor10 mation technology projects in terms of flexibility, cost, and 

11 operational benefits. 

12 (b) GOVERNMENTWIDE APPLICATION.—In assessing 

13 cloud computing opportunities, the Chief Information Of14 ficers Council shall define policies and guidelines for the 

15 adoption of Governmentwide programs providing for a 

16 standardized approach to security assessment and oper17 ational authorization for cloud products and services. 

18 (c) ADDITIONAL BUDGET AUTHORITIES FOR TRANSI19 TION.—In transitioning to the cloud, a Chief Information 

20 Officer of an agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31, 

21 United States Code, may establish such cloud service 

22 Working Capital Funds as may be necessary to transition 

23 to cloud-based solutions. These cloud service Working 

24 Capital Funds may preserve funding for cloud service 


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1 transitions for a period not to exceed 5 years per appro2 priation. 

3 SEC. 304. ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION 

4 OF CONTRACTS BY REQUIRING BUSINESS 

5 CASE ANALYSIS. 

6 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to le7 verage the Government’s buying power and achieve admin8 istrative efficiencies and cost savings by eliminating un9 necessary duplication of contracts. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR BUSINESS CASE AP11 PROVAL.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on and after 180 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, an 

14 executive agency may not issue a solicitation for a 

15 covered contract vehicle unless the agency performs 

16 a business case analysis for the contract vehicle and 

17 obtains an approval of the business case analysis 

18 from the Administrator for Federal Procurement 

19 Policy. 

20 (2) REVIEW OF BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any 

22 covered contract vehicle, the Administrator for 

23 Federal Procurement Policy shall review the 

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1 approval within 100 days after the date of sub2 mission. Any business case analysis not dis3 approved within such 100-day period is deemed 

4 to be approved. 

5 (B) BASIS FOR APPROVAL OF BUSINESS

6 CASE.—The Administrator for Federal Procure7 ment Policy shall approve or disapprove a busi8 ness case analysis based on the adequacy of the 

9 analysis submitted. The Administrator shall 

10 give primary consideration to whether an agen11 cy has demonstrated a compelling need that 

12 cannot be satisfied by existing Governmentwide 

13 contract vehicles in a timely and cost-effective 

14 manner. 

15 (3) CONTENT OF BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS.— 

16 The Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy 

17 shall issue guidance specifying the content for a 

18 business case analysis submitted pursuant to this 

19 section. At a minimum, the business case analysis 

20 shall include details on the administrative resources 

21 needed for such contract vehicle, including an anal22 ysis of all direct and indirect costs to the Federal 

23 Government of awarding and administering such 

24 contract vehicle and the impact such contract vehicle 


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1 will have on the ability of the Federal Government 

2 to leverage its purchasing power. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 

4 (1) COVERED CONTRACT VEHICLE.—The term 

5 ‘‘covered contract vehicle’’ has the meaning provided 

6 by the Administrator for Federal Procurement Pol7 icy in guidance issued pursuant to this section and 

8 includes, at a minimum, any Governmentwide con9 tract vehicle , whether for acquisition of information 

10 technology or other goods or services, in an amount 

11 greater than $50,000,000 (or $10,000,000, deter12 mined on an average annual basis, in the case of 

13 such a contract vehicle performed over more than 

14 one year). The term does not include a multiple 

15 award schedule contract awarded by the General 

16 Services Administration, a Governmentwide acquisi17 tion contract for information technology awarded 

18 pursuant to sections 11302(e) and 11314(a)(2) of 

19 title 40, United States Code, or orders against exist20 ing Governmentwide contract vehicles. 

21 (2) GOVERNMENTWIDE CONTRACT VEHICLE

22 AND EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘Govern23 mentwide contract vehicle’’ and ‘‘executive agency’’ 

24 have the meanings provided in section 11501 of title 

25 40, United States Code, as added by section 401. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—Not later than June 1 in each of the 

2 next 6 years following the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy 

4 shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a 

5 report on the implementation of this section, including a 

6 summary of the submissions, reviews, approvals, and dis7 approvals of business case analyses pursuant to this sec8 tion. 

9 (e) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator for Federal Pro10 curement Policy shall issue guidance for implementing this 

11 section. 

12 (f) REVISION OF FAR.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

14 Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to implement this 

15 section. 


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1 TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING AND 

2 STREAMLINING INFORMA3 TION TECHNOLOGY ACQUISI4 TION MANAGEMENT PRAC5 TICES 

6 Subtitle A—Strengthening and 

7 Streamlining IT Program Man8 agement Practices 

9 SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

10 AND COMMON APPLICATION COLLABORA11 TION CENTER. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 115 of title 40, 

14 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘CHAPTER 115—INFORMATION TECH16 NOLOGY ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT 

17 PRACTICES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘11501. Federal Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration Center. 

18 ‘‘§ 11501. Federal Infrastructure and Common Appli19 cation Collaboration Center 

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—The Direc21 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall estab22 lish a Federal Infrastructure and Common Application 

23 Collaboration Center (hereafter in this section referred to 

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1 agement and Budget in accordance with this section. The 

2 purposes of the Collaboration Center are to serve as a 

3 focal point for coordinated program management practices 

4 and to develop and maintain requirements for the acquisi5 tion of IT infrastructure and common applications com6 monly used by various Federal agencies. 

7 ‘‘(b) ORGANIZATION OF CENTER.— 

8 ‘‘(1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Center shall consist 

9 of the following members: 

10 ‘‘(A) An appropriate number, as deter11 mined by the CIO Council, but not less than 

12 12, full-time program managers or cost special13 ists, all of whom have appropriate experience in 

14 the private or Government sector in managing 

15 or overseeing acquisitions of IT infrastructure 

16 and common applications. 

17 ‘‘(B) At least 1 full-time detailee from 

18 each of the Federal agencies listed in section 

19 901(b) of title 31, nominated by the respective 

20 agency chief information officer for a detail pe21 riod of not less than 2 years. 

22 ‘‘(2) WORKING GROUPS.—The Collaboration 

23 Center shall have working groups that specialize in 

24 IT infrastructure and common applications identi25 fied by the CIO Council. Each working group shall 


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1 be headed by a separate dedicated program manager 

2 appointed by the CIO Council. 

3 ‘‘(c) CAPABILITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COL4 LABORATION CENTER.—For each of the IT infrastructure 

5 and common application areas identified by the CIO Coun6 cil, the Collaboration Center shall perform the following 

7 roles, and any other functions as directed by the CIO 

8 Council: 

9 ‘‘(1) Develop, maintain, and disseminate re10 quirements suitable to establish contracts that will 

11 meet the common and general needs of various Fed12 eral agencies as determined by the Center. In doing 

13 so, the Center shall give maximum consideration to 

14 the adoption of commercial standards and industry 

15 acquisition best practices, including opportunities for 

16 shared services, consideration of total cost of owner17 ship, preference for industry-neutral functional spec18 ifications leveraging open industry standards and 

19 competition, use of open source software, and use of 

20 long-term contracts, as appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(2) Develop, maintain, and disseminate reli22 able cost estimates that are accurate, comprehensive, 

23 well-documented, and credible. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Lead the review of significant or troubled 

2 IT investments or acquisitions as identified by the 

3 CIO Council. 

4 ‘‘(4) Provide expert aid to troubled IT invest5 ments or acquisitions. 

6 ‘‘(d) GUIDANCE.—The Director, in consultation with 

7 the Chief Information Officers Council, shall issue guid8 ance addressing the scope and operation of the Collabora9 tion Center. The guidance shall require that the Collabora10 tion Center report to the Federal Chief Information Offi11 cer or his delegate. 

12 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall an13 nually submit to the relevant congressional committees a 

14 report detailing the organization, staff, and activities of 

15 the Collaboration Center, including a list of IT infrastruc16 ture and common applications the Center assisted and an 

17 assessment of the Center’s achievement in promoting effi18 ciency, shared services, and elimination of unnecessary 

19 Government requirements that are contrary to commercial 

20 best practices. 

21 ‘‘(f) IMPROVEMENT OF THE DOD ENTERPRISE

22 SOFTWARE INITIATIVE AND GSA SMARTBUY PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Collaboration Center, 

24 in collaboration with the Office of Federal Procure25 ment Policy, the Department of Defense, and the 


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1 General Services Administration, shall identify and 

2 develop a strategic sourcing initiative to enhance 

3 Governmentwide acquisition, shared use, and dis4 semination of software, as well as compliance with 

5 end user license agreements. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATION OF METHODS.—In devel7 oping the strategic sourcing initiative, the Collabora8 tion Center shall examine the use of realistic and ef9 fective demand aggregation models supported by ac10 tual agency commitment to use the models, and sup11 plier relationship management practices, to more ef12 fectively govern the Government’s acquisition of in13 formation technology. 

14 ‘‘(3) GOVERNMENTWIDE USER LICENSE AGREE15 MENT.—The Collaboration Center, in coordination 

16 with the Department of Defense and the General 

17 Services Administration, shall issue guidelines for es18 tablishing a Governmentwide contract vehicle that 

19 allows for the purchase of a license agreement that 

20 is available for use by all executive agencies as one 

21 user. To the maximum extent practicable, in estab22 lishing the Governmentwide contract vehicle, the 

23 Collaboration Center shall pursue direct negotiation 

24 and contracting with major software publishers as 

25 prime contractors. 


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1 ‘‘(g) GUIDELINES FOR ACQUISITION OF IT INFRA2 STRUCTURE AND COMMON APPLICATIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Collaboration Center 

4 shall establish guidelines that, to the maximum ex5 tent possible, eliminate inconsistent practices among 

6 executive agencies and ensure uniformity and con7 sistency in acquisition processes for IT infrastruc8 ture and common applications across the Federal 

9 Government. 

10 ‘‘(2) CENTRAL WEBSITE.—In preparing the 

11 guidelines, the Collaboration Center, in consultation 

12 with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, shall 

13 offer executive agencies the option of accessing a 

14 central website for best practices, templates, and 

15 other relevant information. 

16 ‘‘(h) PRICING TRANSPARENCY.—The Collaboration 

17 Center, in collaboration with the Office of Federal Pro18 curement Policy, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, 

19 the General Services Administration, and the Assisted Ac20 quisition Centers of Excellence, shall compile a price list 

21 and catalogue containing current pricing information by 

22 vendor for each of its IT infrastructure and common appli23 cations categories. The price catalogue shall contain any 

24 price provided by a vendor for the same or similar good 

25 or service to any executive agency. The catalogue shall be 


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1 developed in a fashion ensuring that it may be used for 

2 pricing comparisons and pricing analysis using standard 

3 data formats. The price catalogue shall not be made pub4 lic, but shall be accessible to executive agencies. 

5 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL IT ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT IM6 PROVEMENT FUND.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF

8 FUND.—There is a Federal IT Acquisition Manage9 ment Improvement Fund (in this subsection referred 

10 to as the ‘Fund’). The Administrator of General 

11 Services shall manage the Fund through the Col12 laboration Center to support the activities of the 

13 Collaboration Center carried out pursuant to this 

14 section. The Administrator of General Services shall 

15 consult with the Director in managing the Fund. 

16 ‘‘(2) CREDITS TO FUND.—Five percent of the 

17 fees collected by executive agencies under the fol18 lowing contracts shall be credited to the Fund: 

19 ‘‘(A) Governmentwide task and delivery 

20 order contracts entered into under sections 

21 4103 and 4105 of title 41. 

22 ‘‘(B) Governmentwide contracts for the ac23 quisition of information technology and multi24 agency acquisition contracts for that technology 

25 authorized by section 11314 of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Multiple-award schedule contracts en2 tered into by the Administrator of General 

3 Services. 

4 ‘‘(3) REMITTANCE BY HEAD OF EXECUTIVE

5 AGENCY.—The head of an executive agency that ad6 ministers a contract described in paragraph (2) shall 

7 remit to the General Services Administration the 

8 amount required to be credited to the Fund with re9 spect to the contract at the end of each quarter of 

10 the fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(4) AMOUNTS NOT TO BE USED FOR OTHER

12 PURPOSES.—The Administrator of General Services, 

13 through the Office of Management and Budget, shall 

14 ensure that amounts collected under this subsection 

15 are not used for a purpose other than the activities 

16 of the Collaboration Center carried out pursuant to 

17 this section. 

18 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

19 credited to the Fund remain available to be ex20 pended only in the fiscal year for which they are 

21 credited and the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

22 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘executive 

24 agency’ has the meaning provided that term by sec25 tion 105 of title 5. 


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1 ‘‘(2) GOVERNMENTWIDE CONTRACT VEHICLE.— 

2 The term ‘Governmentwide contract vehicle’ means 

3 any contract, blanket purchase agreement, or other 

4 contractual instrument that allows for an indefinite 

5 number of orders to be placed within the contract, 

6 agreement, or instrument, and that is established by 

7 one executive agency for use by multiple executive 

8 agencies to obtain supplies and services. 

9 ‘‘(3) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘relevant congressional commit11 tees’ means each of the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) The Committee on Oversight and 

13 Government Reform and the Committee on 

14 Armed Services of the House of Representa15 tives. 

16 ‘‘(B) The Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity and Governmental Affairs and the Com18 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate. 

19 ‘‘(k) REVISION OF FAR.—The Federal Acquisition 

20 Regulation shall be amended to implement this section.’’. 

21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

22 to chapter 115 in the table of chapters at the begin23 ning of subtitle III of title 40, United States Code, 

24 is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘115. Information Technology Acquisition Management 

Practices ...................................................................11501’’. 


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1 (b) DEADLINES.— 

2 (1) Not later than 180 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue 

4 guidance under section 11501(d) of title 40, United 

5 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

6 (2) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish 

8 the Federal Infrastructure and Common Application 

9 Collaboration Center, in accordance with section 

10 11501(a) of such title, as so added. 

11 (3) Not later than 2 years after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, the Federal Infrastructure 

13 and Common Application Collaboration Center 

14 shall— 

15 (A) identify and develop a strategic 

16 sourcing initiative in accordance with section 

17 11501(f) of such title, as so added; and 

18 (B) establish guidelines in accordance with 

19 section 11501(g) of such title, as so added. 

20 SEC. 402. DESIGNATION OF ASSISTED ACQUISITION CEN21 TERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

22 (a) DESIGNATION.—Chapter 115 of title 40, United 

23 States Code, as amended by section 401, is further amend24 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 11502. Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence 

2 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to de3 velop specialized assisted acquisition centers of excellence 

4 within the Federal Government to promote— 

5 ‘‘(1) the effective use of best acquisition prac6 tices; 

7 ‘‘(2) the development of specialized expertise in 

8 the acquisition of information technology; and 

9 ‘‘(3) Governmentwide sharing of acquisition ca10 pability to augment any shortage in the information 

11 technology acquisition workforce. 

12 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF AACES.—Not later than 1 

13 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and 

14 every 3 years thereafter, the Director of the Office of Man15 agement and Budget, in consultation with the Chief Ac16 quisition Officers Council and the Chief Information Offi17 cers Council, shall designate, redesignate, or withdraw the 

18 designation of acquisition centers of excellence within var19 ious executive agencies to carry out the functions set forth 

20 in subsection (c) in an area of specialized acquisition ex21 pertise as determined by the Director. Each such center 

22 of excellence shall be known as an ‘Assisted Acquisition 

23 Center of Excellence’ or an ‘AACE’. 

24 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of each AACE are 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) BEST PRACTICES.—To promote, develop, 

2 and implement the use of best acquisition practices 

3 in the area of specialized acquisition expertise that 

4 the AACE is designated to carry out by the Director 

5 under subsection (b). 

6 ‘‘(2) ASSISTED ACQUISITIONS.—To assist all 

7 Government agencies in the expedient and low-cost 

8 acquisition of the information technology goods or 

9 services covered by such area of specialized acquisi10 tion expertise by engaging in repeated and frequent 

11 acquisition of similar information technology require12 ments. 

13 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING OF IT AC14 QUISITION WORKFORCE.—To assist in recruiting and 

15 training IT acquisition cadres (referred to in section 

16 1704(j) of title 41). 

17 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA.—In designating, redesignating, or 

18 withdrawing the designation of an AACE, the Director 

19 shall consider, at a minimum, the following matters: 

20 ‘‘(1) The subject matter expertise of the host 

21 agency in a specific area of information technology 

22 acquisition. 

23 ‘‘(2) For acquisitions of IT infrastructure and 

24 common applications covered by the Federal Infra25 structure and Common Application Collaboration 


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1 Center established under section 11501 of this title, 

2 the ability and willingness to collaborate with the 

3 Collaboration Center and adhere to the requirements 

4 standards established by the Collaboration Center. 

5 ‘‘(3) The ability of an AACE to develop cus6 tomized requirements documents that meet the 

7 needs of executive agencies as well as the current in8 dustry standards and commercial best practices. 

9 ‘‘(4) The ability of an AACE to consistently 

10 award and manage various contracts, task or deliv11 ery orders, and other acquisition arrangements in a 

12 timely, cost-effective, and compliant manner. 

13 ‘‘(5) The ability of an AACE to aggregate de14 mands from multiple executive agencies for similar 

15 information technology goods or services and fulfill 

16 those demands in one acquisition. 

17 ‘‘(6) The ability of an AACE to acquire innova18 tive or emerging commercial and noncommercial 

19 technologies using various contracting methods, in20 cluding ways to lower the entry barriers for small 

21 businesses with limited Government contracting ex22 periences. 

23 ‘‘(7) The ability of an AACE to maximize com24 mercial item acquisition, effectively manage high-risk 

25 contract types, increase competition, promote small 


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1 business participation, and maximize use of available 

2 Governmentwide contract vehicles. 

3 ‘‘(8) The existence of an in-house cost esti4 mating group with expertise to consistently develop 

5 reliable cost estimates that are accurate, comprehen6 sive, well-documented, and credible. 

7 ‘‘(9) The ability of an AACE to employ best 

8 practices and educate requesting agencies, to the 

9 maximum extent practicable, regarding critical fac10 tors underlying successful major IT acquisitions, in11 cluding the following factors: 

12 ‘‘(A) Active engagement by program offi13 cials with stakeholders. 

14 ‘‘(B) Possession by program staff of the 

15 necessary knowledge and skills. 

16 ‘‘(C) Support of the programs by senior 

17 department and agency executives. 

18 ‘‘(D) Involvement by end users and stake19 holders in the development of requirements. 

20 ‘‘(E) Participation by end users in testing 

21 of system functionality prior to formal end user 

22 acceptance testing. 

23 ‘‘(F) Stability and consistency of Govern24 ment and contractor staff. 


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1 ‘‘(G) Prioritization of requirements by pro2 gram staff. 

3 ‘‘(H) Maintenance of regular communica4 tion with the prime contractor by program offi5 cials. 

6 ‘‘(I) Receipt of sufficient funding by pro7 grams. 

8 ‘‘(10) The ability of an AACE to run an effec9 tive acquisition intern program in collaboration with 

10 the Federal Acquisition Institute or the Defense Ac11 quisition University. 

12 ‘‘(11) The ability of an AACE to effectively and 

13 properly manage fees received for assisted acquisi14 tions pursuant to this section. 

15 ‘‘(e) FUNDS RECEIVED BY AACES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—Notwithstanding any 

17 other provision of law or regulation, funds obligated 

18 and transferred from an executive agency in a fiscal 

19 year to an AACE for the acquisition of goods or 

20 services covered by an area of specialized acquisition 

21 expertise of an AACE, regardless of whether the re22 quirements are severable or non-severable, shall re23 main available for awards of contracts by the AACE 

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1 cal years following the fiscal year in which the funds 

2 were transferred. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—If 

4 the AACE to which the funds are transferred under 

5 paragraph (1) becomes unable to fulfill the require6 ments of the executive agency from which the funds 

7 were transferred, the funds may be transferred to a 

8 different AACE to fulfill such requirements. The 

9 funds so transferred shall be used for the same pur10 pose and remain available for the same period of 

11 time as applied when transferred to the original 

12 AACE. 

13 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING AUTHORI14 TIES.—This subsection does not limit any existing 

15 authorities an AACE may have under its revolving 

16 or working capital funds authorities. 

17 ‘‘(f) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE18 VIEW OF AACE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the 

20 United States shall review and assess the use and 

21 management of fees received by the AACEs pursu22 ant to this section to ensure that an appropriate fee 

23 structure is established and enforced to cover activi24 ties addressed in this section and that no excess fees 

25 are charged or retained. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 designation or redesignation of AACES under sub3 section (b), the Comptroller General shall submit to 

4 the relevant congressional committees a report con5 taining the findings and assessment under para6 graph (1). 

7 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ASSISTED ACQUISITION.—The term ‘as9 sisted acquisition’ means a type of interagency ac10 quisition in which the parties enter into an inter11 agency agreement pursuant to which— 

12 ‘‘(A) the servicing agency performs acquisi13 tion activities on the requesting agency’s behalf, 

14 such as awarding, administering, or closing out 

15 a contract, task order, delivery order, or blanket 

16 purchase agreement; and 

17 ‘‘(B) funding is provided through a fran18 chise fund, the Acquisition Services Fund in 

19 section 321 of this title, sections 1535 and 

20 1536 of title 31, or other available methods. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘executive 

22 agency’ has the meaning provided that term by sec23 tion 133 of title 41. 

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1 tees’ has the meaning provided that term by section 

2 11501 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(h) REVISION OF FAR.—The Federal Acquisition 

4 Regulation shall be amended to implement this section.’’. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

6 at the beginning of chapter 115 of title 40, United States 

7 Code, as amended by section 401, is further amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘11502. Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence.’’. 

9 Subtitle B—Strengthening IT 

10 Acquisition Workforce 

11 SEC. 411. EXPANSION OF TRAINING AND USE OF INFORMA12 TION TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CADRES. 

13 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en14 sure timely progress by Federal agencies toward devel15 oping, strengthening, and deploying personnel with highly 

16 specialized skills in information technology acquisition, in17 cluding program and project managers, to be known as 

18 information technology acquisition cadres. 

19 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 1704 of title 

20 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(j) STRATEGIC PLAN ON INFORMATION TECH23 NOLOGY ACQUISITION CADRES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN TO CON25 GRESS.—Not later than June 1 following the date of 


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1 the enactment of this subsection, the Director shall 

2 submit to the relevant congressional committees a 5- 

3 year strategic plan (to be known as the ‘IT Acquisi4 tion Cadres Strategic Plan’) to develop, strengthen, 

5 and solidify information technology acquisition cad6 res. The plan shall include a timeline for implemen7 tation of the plan and identification of individuals 

8 responsible for specific elements of the plan during 

9 the 5-year period covered by the plan. 

10 ‘‘(2) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan shall ad11 dress, at a minimum, the following matters: 

12 ‘‘(A) Current information technology ac13 quisition staffing challenges in Federal agen14 cies, by previous year’s information technology 

15 acquisition value, and by the Federal Govern16 ment as a whole. 

17 ‘‘(B) The variety and complexity of infor18 mation technology acquisitions conducted by 

19 each Federal agency covered by the plan, and 

20 the specialized information technology acquisi21 tion workforce needed to effectively carry out 

22 such acquisitions. 

23 ‘‘(C) The development of a sustainable 

24 funding model to support efforts to hire, retain, 

25 and train an information technology acquisition 


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1 cadre of appropriate size and skill to effectively 

2 carry out the acquisition programs of the Fed3 eral agencies covered by the plan, including an 

4 examination of interagency funding methods 

5 and a discussion of how the model of the De6 fense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

7 could be applied to civilian agencies. 

8 ‘‘(D) Any strategic human capital planning 

9 necessary to hire, retain, and train an informa10 tion acquisition cadre of appropriate size and 

11 skill at each Federal agency covered by the 

12 plan. 

13 ‘‘(E) Governmentwide training standards 

14 and certification requirements necessary to en15 hance the mobility and career opportunities of 

16 the Federal information technology acquisition 

17 cadre within the Federal agencies covered by 

18 the plan. 

19 ‘‘(F) New and innovative approaches to 

20 workforce development and training, including 

21 cross-functional training, rotational develop22 ment, and assignments both within and outside 

23 the Government. 

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1 structure and Common Application Collabora2 tion Center, Assisted Acquisition Centers of Ex3 cellence, and acquisition intern programs. 

4 ‘‘(H) Assessment of the current workforce 

5 competency and usage trends in evaluation 

6 technique to obtain best value, including proper 

7 handling of tradeoffs between price and 

8 nonprice factors. 

9 ‘‘(I) Assessment of the current workforce 

10 competency in designing and aligning perform11 ance goals, life cycle costs, and contract incen12 tives. 

13 ‘‘(J) Assessment of the current workforce 

14 competency in avoiding brand-name preference 

15 and using industry-neutral functional specifica16 tions to leverage open industry standards and 

17 competition. 

18 ‘‘(K) Use of integrated program teams, in19 cluding fully dedicated program managers, for 

20 each complex information technology invest21 ment. 

22 ‘‘(L) Proper assignment of recognition or 

23 accountability to the members of an integrated 

24 program team for both individual functional 

25 goals and overall program success or failure. 


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1 ‘‘(M) The development of a technology fel2 lows program that includes provisions for re3 cruiting, for rotation of assignments, and for 

4 partnering directly with universities with well5 recognized information technology programs. 

6 ‘‘(N) The capability to properly manage 

7 other transaction authority (where such author8 ity is granted), including ensuring that the use 

9 of the authority is warranted due to unique 

10 technical challenges, rapid adoption of innova11 tive or emerging commercial or noncommercial 

12 technologies, or other circumstances that can13 not readily be satisfied using a contract, grant, 

14 or cooperative agreement in accordance with ap15 plicable law and the Federal Acquisition Regu16 lation. 

17 ‘‘(O) Any other matters the Director con18 siders appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than June 1 

20 in each of the 5 years following the year of submis21 sion of the plan required by paragraph (1), the Di22 rector shall submit to the relevant congressional 

23 committees an annual report outlining the progress 

24 made pursuant to the plan. 


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1 ‘‘(4) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

2 REVIEW OF THE PLAN AND ANNUAL REPORT.— 

3 ‘‘(A) Not later than 1 year after the sub4 mission of the plan required by paragraph (1), 

5 the Comptroller General of the United States 

6 shall review the plan and submit to the relevant 

7 congressional committees a report on the re8 view. 

9 ‘‘(B) Not later than 6 months after the 

10 submission of the first, third, and fifth annual 

11 report required under paragraph (3), the Comp12 troller General shall independently assess the 

13 findings of the annual report and brief the rel14 evant congressional committees on the Comp15 troller General’s findings and recommendations 

16 to ensure the objectives of the plan are accom17 plished. 

18 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) The term ‘Federal agency’ means 

20 each agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31. 

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘relevant congressional 

22 committees’ means each of the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) The Committee on Oversight and 

24 Government Reform and the Committee on 


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1 Armed Services of the House of Represent2 atives. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The Committee on Homeland Se4 curity and Governmental Affairs and the 

5 Committee on Armed Services of the Sen6 ate.’’. 

7 SEC. 412. PLAN ON STRENGTHENING PROGRAM AND 

8 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE. 

9 (a) PLAN ON STRENGTHENING PROGRAM AND

10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 

11 June 1 following the date of the enactment of this Act, 

12 the Director, in consultation with the Director of the Of13 fice of Personnel Management, shall submit to the relevant 

14 congressional committees a plan for improving manage15 ment of IT programs and projects. 

16 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan required by sub17 section (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

18 (1) Creation of a specialized career path for 

19 program management. 

20 (2) The development of a competency model for 

21 program management consistent with the IT project 

22 manager model. 

23 (3) A career advancement model that requires 

24 appropriate expertise and experience for advance25 ment. 


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1 (4) A career advancement model that is more 

2 competitive with the private sector and that recog3 nizes both Government and private sector experi4 ence. 

5 (5) Appropriate consideration and alignment 

6 with the needs and priorities of the Infrastructure 

7 and Common Application Collaboration Center, the 

8 Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence, and ac9 quisition intern programs. 

10 (c) COMBINATION WITH OTHER CADRES PLAN.— 

11 The Director may combine the plan required by subsection 

12 (a) with the IT Acquisition Cadres Strategic Plan required 

13 under section 1704(j) of title 41, United States Code, as 

14 added by section 411. 

15 SEC. 413. PERSONNEL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE 

16 ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 

17 AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of20 fice of Personnel Management shall develop policy and 

21 guidance for agencies to develop a program to recognize 

22 excellent performance by Federal Government employees 

23 and teams of such employees in the acquisition of informa24 tion systems and information technology for the agency. 


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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The program referred to in sub2 section (a) shall, to the extent practicable— 

3 (1) obtain objective outcome measures; and 

4 (2) include procedures for— 

5 (A) the nomination of Federal Government 

6 employees and teams of such employees for eli7 gibility for recognition under the program; and 

8 (B) the evaluation of nominations for rec9 ognition under the program by 1 or more agen10 cy panels of individuals from Government, aca11 demia, and the private sector who have such ex12 pertise, and are appointed in such a manner, as 

13 the Director of the Office of Personal Manage14 ment shall establish for purposes of the pro15 gram. 

16 (c) AWARD OF CASH BONUSES AND OTHER INCEN17 TIVES.—In carrying out the program referred to in sub18 section (a), the Director of the Office of Personnel Man19 agement, in consultation with the Director of the Office 

20 of Management and Budget, shall establish policies and 

21 guidance for agencies to reward any Federal Government 

22 employee or teams of such employees recognized pursuant 

23 to the program— 

24 (1) with a cash bonus, to the extent that the 

25 performance of such individual or team warrants the 


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1 award of such bonus and is authorized by any provi2 sion of law; 

3 (2) through promotions and other nonmonetary 

4 awards; 

5 (3) by publicizing— 

6 (A) acquisition accomplishments by indi7 vidual employees; and 

8 (B) the tangible end benefits that resulted 

9 from such accomplishments, as appropriate; 

10 and 

11 (4) through other awards, incentives, or bo12 nuses that the head of the agency considers appro13 priate. 

14 TITLE V—ADDITIONAL REFORMS 

15 SEC. 501. MAXIMIZING THE BENEFIT OF THE FEDERAL 

16 STRATEGIC SOURCING INITIATIVE. 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procure19 ment Policy shall prescribe regulations providing that 

20 when the Federal Government makes a purchase of serv21 ices and supplies offered under the Federal Strategic 

22 Sourcing Initiative (managed by the Office of Federal Pro23 curement Policy) but such Initiative is not used, the con24 tract file for the purchase shall include a brief analysis 

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1 tors, between the services and supplies offered under such 

2 Initiative and services and supplies offered under the 

3 source or sources used for the purchase. 

4 SEC. 502. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY OF BLANKET PUR5 CHASE AGREEMENTS. 

6 (a) PRICE INFORMATION TO BE TREATED AS PUB7 LIC INFORMATION.—The final negotiated price offered by 

8 an awardee of a blanket purchase agreement shall be 

9 treated as public information. 

10 (b) PUBLICATION OF BLANKET PURCHASE AGREE11 MENT INFORMATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

13 General Services shall make available to the public a list 

14 of all blanket purchase agreements entered into by Federal 

15 agencies under its Federal Supply Schedules contracts and 

16 the prices associated with those blanket purchase agree17 ments. The list and price information shall be updated at 

18 least once every 6 months. 

19 SEC. 503. ADDITIONAL SOURCE SELECTION TECHNIQUE IN 

20 SOLICITATIONS. 

21 Section 3306(d) of title 41, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

24 (1); 


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1 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’ 

2 at the end of paragraph (2); and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) stating in the solicitation that the award 

6 will be made using a fixed price technical competi7 tion, under which all offerors compete solely on 

8 nonprice factors and the fixed award price is pre-an9 nounced in the solicitation.’’. 

10 SEC. 504. ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY IN INFORMATION 

11 TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS. 

12 (a) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ABOUT

13 IT INVESTMENTS.—Section 11302(c) of title 40, United 

14 States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para16 graph (3); and 

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol18 lowing new paragraph (2): 

19 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

21 make available to the public the cost, schedule, 

22 and performance data for at least 80 percent 

23 (by dollar value) of all information technology 

24 investments Governmentwide, and 60 percent 

25 (by dollar value) of all information technology 


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1 investments in each Federal agency listed in 

2 section 901(b) of title 31. The Director shall 

3 ensure that the information is current, accu4 rate, and reflects the risks associated with each 

5 covered information technology investment. 

6 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OR LIMITATION AUTHOR7 ITY.—The applicability of subparagraph (A) 

8 may be waived or the extent of the information 

9 may be limited— 

10 ‘‘(i) by the Director, with respect to 

11 IT investments Governmentwide; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) by the Chief Information Officer 

13 of a Federal agency, with respect to IT in14 vestments in that agency; 

15 if the Director or the Chief Information Officer, 

16 as the case may be, determines that such a 

17 waiver or limitation is in the national security 

18 interests of the United States.’’. 

19 (b) ADDITIONAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Para20 graph (3) of section 11302(c) of such title, as redesignated 

21 by subsection (a), is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: ‘‘The report shall include an analysis of agency 

23 trends reflected in the performance risk information re24 quired in paragraph (2).’’. 


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1 SEC. 505. ENHANCED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOVERN2 MENT AND INDUSTRY. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

5 Council shall prescribe a regulation making clear that 

6 agency acquisition personnel are permitted and encour7 aged to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges 

8 with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent 

9 with existing law and regulation and do not promote an 

10 unfair competitive advantage to particular firms. 

11 SEC. 506. CLARIFICATION OF CURRENT LAW WITH RE12 SPECT TO OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE. 

13 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es14 tablish guidance and processes to clarify that open source 

15 software is a valid procurement option that shall receive 

16 full consideration alongside other options, in merit-based 

17 requirements development and evaluation processes that 

18 promote procurement choices based on performance and 

19 value, and free of preconceived preferences based on how 

20 technology is developed, licensed, or distributed within the 

21 Federal Government. 

22 (b) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY.—Nothing in this 

23 section shall be construed to modify the Federal Govern24 ment’s long-standing policy of following technology-neu25 tral principles and practices when selecting and acquiring 


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1 information technology that best fits the needs of the Fed2 eral Government. 

3 (c) STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.—Section 

4 11302(d) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The standards and 

6 guidelines shall include those necessary to enable effective 

7 adoption of open source software.’’. 

8 (d) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, in con10 sultation with the Chief Information Officers Council, 

11 shall issue guidance for the use and collaborative develop12 ment of open source software within the Federal Govern13 ment. 

14 (e) MATTERS COVERED.—In issuing guidance under 

15 subsection (c), the Director shall include, at a minimum, 

16 the following: 

17 (1) Guidance to clarify that the preference for 

18 commercial items in section 3307 of title 41, United 

19 States Code, includes all open source software that 

20 meets the definition of the term ‘‘commercial item’’ 

21 in section 103 of title 41, United States Code, in22 cluding all such software that is used for non-Gov23 ernment purposes and is licensed to the public. 


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1 (2) Guidance regarding the conduct of market 

2 research to ensure the inclusion of open source soft3 ware. 

4 (3) Guidance to establish a program to educate 

5 the acquisition workforce by providing information 

6 to identify and counter misconceptions about open 

7 source software and to keep such information up8 dated. 

9 (4) Guidance to define Governmentwide stand10 ards for security, redistribution, indemnity, and 

11 copyright in the acquisition, use, release, and col12 laborative development of open source software. 

13 (5) Guidance for the adoption of available com14 mercial practices to acquire open source software for 

15 widespread Government use, including issues such as 

16 security and redistribution rights. 

17 (6) Guidance to establish standard service level 

18 agreements for maintenance and support for open 

19 source software products widely adopted by the Gov20 ernment, as well as the development of Government21 wide agreements that contain standard and widely 

22 applicable contract provisions for ongoing mainte23 nance and development of open source software. 

24 (7) Guidance on the role and use of the Federal 

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1 tion Center, established pursuant to section 11501 

2 of title 40, United States Code (as added by section 

3 401), for acquisition of open source software. 

4 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

5 after the issuance of the guidance required by subsection 

6 (b), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

7 submit to the relevant congressional committees a report 

8 containing— 

9 (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

10 guidance; 

11 (2) an identification of barriers to widespread 

12 use by the Federal Government of open source soft13 ware; and 

14 (3) such legislative recommendations as the 

15 Comptroller General considers appropriate to further 

16 the purposes of this section. 

Æ 


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