I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4891 

To advance Federal Government innovation through the implementation and 

use of multi-cloud computing software technology, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Mr. TIMMONS (for himself, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LANGWORTHY, and Mr. TRONE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To advance Federal Government innovation through the implementation and use of multi-cloud computing software 

technology, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Multi-Cloud Innovation 

5 and Advancement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Federal Government, across multiple 

9 presidential administrations and Congresses, has 


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1 continuously supported the ability of Federal agen2 cies to move to cloud computing, including 

3 through— 

4 (A) the ‘‘Federal Cloud Computing Strat5 egy’’ released by the United States Chief Infor6 mation Officer on February 8, 2011; 

7 (B) the ‘‘2019 Federal Cloud Computing 

8 Strategy-Cloud Smart’’ released by the United 

9 States Chief Information Officer in 2019; 

10 (C) the prioritization of cloud computing 

11 security in Executive Order No. 14028 (86 Fed. 

12 Reg. 26633; relating to improving the Nation’s 

13 cybersecurity), which was issued on May 12, 

14 2021; and 

15 (D) more than a decade of appropriations 

16 and authorization legislation that provides Fed17 eral agencies with relevant authorities and ap18 propriations to modernize on-premises informa19 tion technology systems and more readily adopt 

20 cloud computing products and services. 

21 (2) Federal agencies have adopted cloud com22 puting using various service delivery models, often 

23 through duplicative contract actions and engineering 

24 efforts, which approach, while offering faster deploy25 ments, does not capitalize on opportunities for operVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Aug 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4891.IH H4891

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1 ational efficiencies, standardized security, and cost 

2 reduction through service streamlining and consoli3 dated procurement. 

4 (3) The COVID–19 pandemic accelerated the 

5 adoption of cloud computing by Federal agencies, 

6 prompting such agencies to require assistance man7 aging and developing multi-cloud strategies to allow 

8 Federal agencies to select cloud computing providers 

9 that will meet their mission needs while achieving 

10 the goals of the Federal cloud computing strategies 

11 described in paragraph (1). 

12 (4) There is a shortage of staff within Federal 

13 agencies who have the necessary digital skills and 

14 expertise relating to— 

15 (A) cloud computing services; and 

16 (B) deploying and securing applications on 

17 more than one cloud computing service. 

18 (5) Adoption of multi-cloud software technology 

19 can securely deliver operational and management 

20 consistency and resiliency to optimize Federal agen21 cies’ use of cloud computing environments and pro22 vide a flexible and scalable infrastructure to Federal 

23 agencies. 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTI-CLOUD SOFTWARE 

2 TECHNOLOGY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, in con5 sultation with the Administrator of General Services, the 

6 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech7 nology, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastruc8 ture Security Agency, and the Administrator of the United 

9 States Digital Service, is directed to carry out the fol10 lowing: 

11 (1) Examine how executive agencies can imple12 ment multi-cloud computing software technology ar13 chitecture to allow for portability and interoper14 ability across multiple cloud computing software ven15 dors. 

16 (2) Develop written guidance for all executive 

17 agencies based on the results of the examination de18 scribed in paragraph (1) that— 

19 (A) describes how executive agencies 

20 should use multi-cloud software technology to 

21 allow for applications, data, and programs to be 

22 portable and interoperable between public, pri23 vate, and edge cloud environments; and 

24 (B) outlines a roadmap for implementation 

25 of multi-cloud software technology across execu26 tive agencies no later than January 1, 2025. 


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1 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall provide 

3 to the relevant committees of Congress— 

4 (1) a copy of the written guidance described in 

5 subsection (a); and 

6 (2) a briefing on implementation of multi-cloud 

7 software technology by executive agencies, along 

8 with any recommendations related to expansion or 

9 extension of such implementation. 

10 (c) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STUDY.—Not later 

11 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

12 the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress and 

13 make publicly available a report— 

14 (1) assessing the state of the digital skills and 

15 expertise gap within the Federal workforce relating 

16 to information and communications technology, with 

17 particular attention to the skills and expertise gap 

18 relating to cloud computing and multi-cloud software 

19 technology; 

20 (2) any recommendations for Federal workforce 

21 development activities, including trainings, certifi22 cations, and partnerships, to address any gap identi23 fied as a result of the assessment described in para24 graph (1); and 


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1 (3) any recommendations relating to hiring 

2 practices for executive agencies to address any gap 

3 identified as a result of the assessment described in 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

7 General shall submit to Congress and make publicly avail8 able a report assessing how executive agencies have imple9 mented the guidance developed under subsection (a) to de10 ploy and secure multi-cloud software technology architec11 ture that includes multiple cloud computing software ven12 dors. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) CLOUD COMPUTING.—The term ‘‘cloud 

15 computing’’ has the meaning given the term in Spe16 cial Publication 800–145 of the National Institute of 

17 Standards and Technology, or any successor docu18 ment. 

19 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

20 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen21 eral of the United States. 

22 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg24 et. 


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

2 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

4 (5) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

5 TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘information and commu6 nications technology’’ has the meaning given the 

7 term in subpart 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition 

8 Regulation, or successor regulation, and includes as9 sociated services. 

10 (6) MULTI-CLOUD SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY.— 

11 The term ‘‘multi-cloud software technology’’ means 

12 software technology that allows for data, application, 

13 and program portability and interoperability between 

14 multiple cloud computing software vendors and be15 tween public, private, and edge cloud environments 

16 in a manner that securely delivers operational and 

17 management consistency, comprehensive visibility, 

18 and resiliency. 

19 (7) RELEVANT COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

20 The term ‘‘relevant committees of Congress’’ means 

21 the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

24 Senate. 

Æ 


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