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‘‘(ii) by the Chief Information Officer 
of a Federal agency, with respect to IT in-
vestments in that agency; 
if the Director or the Chief Information Officer, 
as the case may be, determines that such a 
waiver or limitation is in the national security 
interests of the United States.’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Para-
graph (3) of section 11302(c) of such title, as redesignated 
by subsection (a), is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘The report shall include an analysis of agency 
trends reflected in the performance risk information re-
quired in paragraph (2).’’. 
SEC. 506. ENHANCED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOVERN-
MENT AND INDUSTRY. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
Council shall prescribe a regulation making clear that 
agency acquisition personnel are permitted and encour-
aged to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges 
with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent 
with existing law and regulation and do not promote an 
unfair competitive advantage to particular firms. 
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SEC. 507. CLARIFICATION OF CURRENT LAW WITH RE-
SPECT TO TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY IN AC-
QUISITION OF SOFTWARE. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es-
tablish guidance and processes to clarify that software ac-
quisitions by the Federal Government are to be made 
using merit-based requirements development and evalua-
tion processes that promote procurement choices— 
(1) based on performance and value, including 
the long-term value proposition to the Federal Gov-
ernment; 
(2) free of preconceived preferences based on 
how technology is developed, licensed, or distributed; 
and 
(3) generally including the consideration of pro-
prietary, open source, and mixed source software 
technologies. 
(b) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to modify the Federal Govern-
ment’s long-standing policy of following technology-neu-
tral principles and practices when selecting and acquiring 
information technology that best fits the needs of the Fed-
eral Government. 
(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, in con-
sultation with the Chief Information Officers Council, 
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shall issue guidance concerning the technology-neutral 
procurement and use of software within the Federal Gov-
ernment. 
(d) MATTERS COVERED.—In issuing guidance under 
subsection (c), the Director shall include, at a minimum, 
the following: 
(1) Guidance to clarify that the preference for 
commercial items in section 3307 of title 41, United 
States Code, includes proprietary, open source, and 
mixed source software that meets the definition of 
the term ‘‘commercial item’’ in section 103 of title 
41, United States Code, including all such software 
that is used for non-Government purposes and is li-
censed to the public. 
(2) Guidance regarding the conduct of market 
research to ensure the inclusion of proprietary, open 
source, and mixed source software options. 
(3) Guidance to define Governmentwide stand-
ards for security, redistribution, indemnity, and 
copyright in the acquisition, use, release, and col-
laborative development of proprietary, open source, 
and mixed source software. 
(4) Guidance for the adoption of available com-
mercial practices to acquire proprietary, open source, 
and mixed source software for widespread Govern-
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ment use, including issues such as security and re-
distribution rights. 
(5) Guidance to establish standard service level 
agreements for maintenance and support for propri-
etary, open source, and mixed source software prod-
ucts widely adopted by the Government, as well as 
the development of Governmentwide agreements that 
contain standard and widely applicable contract pro-
visions for ongoing maintenance and development of 
software. 
(6) Guidance on the role and use of the Federal 
Infrastructure and Common Application Collabora-
tion Center, authorized under section 11501 of title 
40, United States Code (as added by section 401), 
for acquisition of proprietary, open source, and 
mixed source software. 
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 
after the issuance of the guidance required by subsection 
(b), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to the relevant congressional committees a report 
containing— 
(1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
guidance; 
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(2) an identification of barriers to widespread 
use by the Federal Government of specific software 
technologies; and 
(3) such legislative recommendations as the 
Comptroller General considers appropriate to further 
the purposes of this section. 
SEC. 508. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
Except as provided in section 11501(i) of title 40, 
United States Code, as added by section 401, no addi-
tional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements 
of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such 
requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 
authorized or appropriated. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 25, 
2014. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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