II 

Calendar No. 666 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1695 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2024 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To improve the visibility, accountability, and oversight of 

agency software asset management practices, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Agency 

5 Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv10 ices. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 3502 of title 44, 

3 United States Code, except that such term does not 

4 include an element of the intelligence community. 

5 (3) CLOUD COMPUTING.—The term ‘‘cloud 

6 computing’’ has the meaning given the term in Spe7 cial Publication 800–145 of the National Institute of 

8 Standards and Technology, or any successor docu9 ment. 

10 (4) CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

11 ‘‘cloud service provider’’ has the meaning given the 

12 term in section 3607(b) of title 44, United States 

13 Code. 

14 (5) COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

15 ‘‘comprehensive assessment’’ means a comprehensive 

16 assessment conducted pursuant to section 3(a). 

17 (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

18 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg19 et. 

20 (7) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

21 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given the 

22 term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 

23 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (8) PLAN.—The term ‘‘plan’’ means the plan 

2 developed by a Chief Information Officer, or equiva3 lent official, pursuant to section 4(a). 

4 (9) SOFTWARE ENTITLEMENT.—The term 

5 ‘‘software entitlement’’ means any software that— 

6 (A) has been purchased, leased, or licensed 

7 by or billed to an agency under any contract or 

8 other business arrangement; and 

9 (B) is subject to use limitations. 

10 (10) SOFTWARE INVENTORY.—The term ‘‘soft11 ware inventory’’ means the software inventory of an 

12 agency required pursuant to— 

13 (A) section 2(b)(2)(A) of the Making Elec14 tronic Government Accountable By Yielding 

15 Tangible Efficiencies Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 

16 11302 note; Public Law 114–210); or 

17 (B) subsequent guidance issued by the Di18 rector pursuant to that Act. 

19 SEC. 3. SOFTWARE INVENTORY UPDATE AND EXPANSION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable, and not 

21 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act, the Chief Information Officer of each agency, in con23 sultation with the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Ac24 quisition Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and General 

25 Counsel of the agency, or the equivalent officials of the 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 1695 PCS

1 agency, shall complete a comprehensive assessment of the 

2 software paid for by, in use at, or deployed throughout 

3 the agency, which shall include— 

4 (1) the current software inventory of the agen5 cy, including software entitlements, contracts and 

6 other agreements or arrangements of the agency, 

7 and a list of the largest software entitlements of the 

8 agency separated by provider and category of soft9 ware; 

10 (2) a comprehensive, detailed accounting of— 

11 (A) any software used by or deployed with12 in the agency, including software developed or 

13 built by the agency, or by another agency for 

14 use by the agency, including shared services, as 

15 of the date of the comprehensive assessment, 

16 including, to the extent identifiable, the con17 tracts and other agreements or arrangements 

18 used by the agency to acquire, build, deploy, or 

19 use such software; 

20 (B) information and data on software enti21 tlements, which shall include information on 

22 any additional fees or costs, including fees or 

23 costs for the use of cloud services, that are not 

24 included in the initial costs of the contract, 

25 agreement, or arrangement— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (i) for which the agency pays; 

2 (ii) that are not deployed or in use by 

3 the agency; and 

4 (iii) that are billed to the agency 

5 under any contract or business arrange6 ment that creates duplication, or are other7 wise determined to be unnecessary by the 

8 Chief Information Officer of the agency, or 

9 the equivalent official, in the deployment 

10 or use by the agency; and 

11 (C) the extent— 

12 (i) to which any software paid for, in 

13 use, or deployed throughout the agency is 

14 interoperable; and 

15 (ii) of the efforts of the agency to im16 prove interoperability of software assets 

17 throughout the agency enterprise; 

18 (3) a categorization of software entitlements of 

19 the agency by cost, volume, and type of software; 

20 (4) a list of any provisions in the software enti21 tlements of the agency that may restrict how the 

22 software can be deployed, accessed, or used, includ23 ing any such restrictions on desktop or server hard24 ware, through a cloud service provider, or on data 

25 ownership or access; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (5) an analysis addressing— 

2 (A) the accuracy and completeness of the 

3 comprehensive assessment; 

4 (B) agency management of and compliance 

5 with all contracts or other agreements or ar6 rangements that include or reference software 

7 entitlements or software management within 

8 the agency; 

9 (C) the extent to which the agency accu10 rately captures the total cost of software enti11 tlements and related costs, including the total 

12 cost of upgrades over the life of a contract, 

13 cloud usage costs, and any other cost associated 

14 with the maintenance or servicing of contracts; 

15 and 

16 (D) compliance with software license man17 agement policies of the agency. 

18 (b) CONTRACT SUPPORT.— 

19 (1) AUTHORITY.—The head of an agency may 

20 enter into 1 or more contracts to support the re21 quirements of subsection (a). 

22 (2) NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Contracts 

23 under paragraph (1) shall not include contractors 

24 with organizational conflicts of interest, within the 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 1695 PCS

1 meaning given that term under subpart 9.5 of the 

2 Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

3 (3) OPERATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.—Over the 

4 course of a comprehensive assessment, contractors 

5 hired pursuant to paragraph (1) shall maintain oper6 ational independence from the integration, manage7 ment, and operations of the software inventory and 

8 software entitlements of the agency. 

9 (c) SUBMISSION.—On the date on which the Chief In10 formation Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Acquisi11 tion Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and General Counsel 

12 of an agency, or the equivalent officials of the agency, 

13 complete the comprehensive assessment, the Chief Infor14 mation Officer shall submit the comprehensive assessment 

15 to the head of the agency. 

16 (d) SUBSEQUENT SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 

17 days after the date on which the head of an agency re18 ceives the comprehensive assessment under subsection (c), 

19 the head of the agency shall submit the comprehensive as20 sessment to— 

21 (1) the Director; 

22 (2) the Administrator; 

23 (3) the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (4) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

2 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

3 (5) the Committee on Oversight and Account4 ability of the House of Representatives. 

5 (e) CONSULTATION.—In order to ensure the utility 

6 and standardization of the comprehensive assessment of 

7 each agency, including to support the development of each 

8 plan and the report required under section 4(e)(2), the 

9 Director, in consultation with the Administrator, shall 

10 share information, best practices, and recommendations 

11 relating to the activities performed in the course of a com12 prehensive assessment of an agency. 

13 (f) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—For each element 

14 of the intelligence community, a comprehensive assess15 ment described under subsection (a) shall be— 

16 (1) conducted separately; 

17 (2) performed only by an entity designated by 

18 the head of the element of the intelligence commu19 nity, in accordance with appropriate applicable laws; 

20 (3) performed in such a manner as to ensure 

21 appropriate protection of information which, if dis22 closed, may adversely affect national security; and 

23 (4) submitted in summary form, not later than 

24 30 days after the date on which the head of the ele25 ment of the intelligence community receives the asVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1695.PCS H1695

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 1695 PCS

1 sessment, by the head of the element of the intel2 ligence community to— 

3 (A) the Director; 

4 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

5 of the Senate; and 

6 (C) the Permanent Select Committee on 

7 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

8 SEC. 4. SOFTWARE MODERNIZATION PLANNING AT AGEN9 CIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Information Officer of 

11 each agency, in consultation with the Chief Financial Offi12 cer, the Chief Acquisition Officer, the Chief Data Officer, 

13 and the General Counsel of the agency, or the equivalent 

14 officials of the agency, shall use the information developed 

15 pursuant to the comprehensive assessment of the agency 

16 to develop a plan for the agency— 

17 (1) to consolidate software entitlements of the 

18 agency; 

19 (2) to ensure that, in order to improve the per20 formance of, and reduce unnecessary costs to, the 

21 agency, the Chief Information Officer, Chief Data 

22 Officer, and Chief Acquisition Officer of the agency, 

23 or the equivalent officers, develop criteria and proce24 dures for how the agency will adopt cost-effective ac25 quisition strategies, including enterprise licensing, 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

HR 1695 PCS

1 across the agency that reduce costs, eliminate excess 

2 licenses, and improve performance; and 

3 (3) to restrict the ability of a bureau, program, 

4 component, or operational entity within the agency 

5 to acquire, use, develop, or otherwise leverage any 

6 software entitlement (or portion thereof) without the 

7 approval of the Chief Information Officer of the 

8 agency, in consultation with the Chief Acquisition 

9 Officer of the agency, or the equivalent officers of 

10 the agency. 

11 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan of an agency 

12 shall— 

13 (1) include a detailed strategy for— 

14 (A) the remediation of any software asset 

15 management deficiencies found during the com16 prehensive assessment of the agency; 

17 (B) the ongoing maintenance of software 

18 asset management upon the completion of the 

19 remediation; 

20 (C) automation of software license man21 agement processes and incorporation of dis22 covery tools across the agency; 

23 (D) ensuring that officers and employees 

24 of the agency are adequately trained in the poli25 cies, procedures, rules, regulations, and guidVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1695.PCS H1695

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
11 

HR 1695 PCS

1 ance relating to the software acquisition and 

2 development of the agency before entering into 

3 any agreement relating to any software entitle4 ment (or portion thereof) for the agency, in5 cluding training on— 

6 (i) negotiating options within con7 tracts to address and minimize provisions 

8 that restrict how the agency may deploy, 

9 access, or use the software, including re10 strictions on deployment, access, or use on 

11 desktop or server hardware and restric12 tions on data ownership or access; 

13 (ii) the differences between acquiring 

14 commercial software products and services 

15 and acquiring or building custom software; 

16 and 

17 (iii) determining the costs of different 

18 types of licenses and options for adjusting 

19 licenses to meet increasing or decreasing 

20 demand; and 

21 (E) maximizing the effectiveness of soft22 ware deployed by the agency, including, to the 

23 extent practicable, leveraging technologies 

24 that— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
12 

HR 1695 PCS

1 (i) measure actual software usage via 

2 analytics that can identify inefficiencies to 

3 assist in rationalizing software spending; 

4 (ii) allow for segmentation of the user 

5 base; 

6 (iii) support effective governance and 

7 compliance in the use of software; and 

8 (iv) support interoperable capabilities 

9 between software; 

10 (2) identify categories of software the agency 

11 could prioritize for conversion to more cost-effective 

12 software licenses, including enterprise licenses, as 

13 the software entitlements, contracts, and other 

14 agreements or arrangements come up for renewal or 

15 renegotiation; 

16 (3) provide an estimate of the costs to move to17 ward more enterprise, open-source, or other licenses 

18 that do not restrict the use of software by the agen19 cy, and the projected cost savings, efficiency meas20 ures, and improvements to agency performance 

21 throughout the total software lifecycle; 

22 (4) identify potential mitigations to minimize 

23 software license restrictions on how such software 

24 can be deployed, accessed, or used, including any 

25 mitigations that would minimize any such restricVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1695.PCS H1695

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
13 

HR 1695 PCS

1 tions on desktop or server hardware, through a cloud 

2 service provider, or on data ownership or access; 

3 (5) ensure that the purchase by the agency of 

4 any software is based on publicly available criteria 

5 that are not unduly structured to favor any specific 

6 vendor, unless prohibited by law (including regula7 tion); 

8 (6) include any estimates for additional re9 sources, services, or support the agency may need to 

10 implement the plan; 

11 (7) provide information on the prevalence of 

12 software products in use across multiple software 

13 categories; and 

14 (8) include any additional information, data, or 

15 analysis determined necessary by the Chief Informa16 tion Officer, or other equivalent official, of the agen17 cy. 

18 (c) SUPPORT.—The Chief Information Officer, or 

19 other equivalent official, of an agency may request support 

20 from the Director and the Administrator for any analysis 

21 or developmental needs to create the plan of the agency. 

22 (d) AGENCY SUBMISSION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date on which the head of an agency submits the 

25 comprehensive assessment pursuant to section 3(d), 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
14 

HR 1695 PCS

1 the head of the agency shall submit to the Director, 

2 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern3 mental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on 

4 Oversight and Accountability of the House of Rep5 resentatives the plan of the agency. 

6 (2) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—Not later 

7 than 1 year after the date on which the head of an 

8 element of the intelligence community submits the 

9 summary assessment pursuant to section 3(f)(4), the 

10 head of the element shall separately submit the plan 

11 of the element to the Director, the Select Committee 

12 on Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent 

13 Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 

14 Representatives. 

15 (e) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—The Di16 rector— 

17 (1) in coordination with the Administrator, the 

18 Chief Information Officers Council, the Chief Acqui19 sition Officers Council, the Chief Data Officers 

20 Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, and 

21 other government and industry representatives iden22 tified by the Director, shall establish processes, 

23 using existing reporting functions, as appropriate, to 

24 identify, define, and harmonize common definitions, 

25 terms and conditions, standardized requirements, 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
15 

HR 1695 PCS

1 and other information and criteria to support agency 

2 heads in developing and implementing the plans re3 quired by this section; and 

4 (2) in coordination with the Administrator, and 

5 not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, submit to the Committee on Homeland 

7 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

8 and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

9 of the House of Representatives a report detailing 

10 recommendations to leverage Government procure11 ment policies and practices with respect to software 

12 acquired by, developed by, deployed within, or in use 

13 at 1 or more agencies to— 

14 (A) increase the interoperability of soft15 ware licenses, including software entitlements 

16 and software built by Government agencies; 

17 (B) consolidate licenses, as appropriate; 

18 (C) reduce costs; 

19 (D) improve performance; and 

20 (E) modernize the management and over21 sight of software entitlements and software 

22 built by Government agencies, as identified 

23 through an analysis of agency plans. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
16 

HR 1695 PCS

1 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

2 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

5 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

6 on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report on— 

8 (1) Government-wide trends in agency software 

9 asset management practices; 

10 (2) comparisons of software asset management 

11 practices among agencies; 

12 (3) the establishment by the Director of proc13 esses to identify, define, and harmonize common 

14 definitions, terms, and conditions under section 4(e); 

15 (4) agency compliance with the restrictions on 

16 contract support under section 3(b); and 

17 (5) other analyses of and findings regarding the 

18 plans of agencies, as determined by the Comptroller 

19 General of the United States. 

20 SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS. 

21 No additional funds are authorized to be appro22 priated for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 4, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 666 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1695 

AN ACT 

To improve the visibility, accountability, and overtices, and for other purposes. sight of agency software asset management pracDECEMBER 5, 2024 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS