1089 
‘‘(K) Use of integrated program teams, in-
cluding fully dedicated program managers, for 
each complex information technology invest-
ment. 
‘‘(L) Proper assignment of recognition or 
accountability to the members of an integrated 
program team for both individual functional 
goals and overall program success or failure. 
‘‘(M) The development of a technology fel-
lows program that includes provisions for re-
cruiting, for rotation of assignments, and for 
partnering directly with universities with well- 
recognized information technology programs. 
‘‘(N) The capability to properly manage 
other transaction authority (where such author-
ity is granted), including ensuring that the use 
of the authority is warranted due to unique 
technical challenges, rapid adoption of innova-
tive or emerging commercial or noncommercial 
technologies, or other circumstances that can-
not readily be satisfied using a contract, grant, 
or cooperative agreement in accordance with ap-
plicable law and the Federal Acquisition Regu-
lation.
1090 
‘‘(O) The use of student internship and 
scholarship programs as a talent pool for per-
manent hires and the use and impact of special 
hiring authorities and flexibilities to recruit di-
verse candidates. 
‘‘(P) The assessment of hiring manager 
satisfaction with the hiring process and hiring 
outcomes, including satisfaction with the quality 
of applicants interviewed and hires made. 
‘‘(Q) The assessment of applicant satisfac-
tion with the hiring process, including the clar-
ity of the hiring announcement, the user-friend-
liness of the application process, communication 
from the hiring manager or agency regarding 
application status, and timeliness of the hiring 
decision. 
‘‘(R) The assessment of new hire satisfac-
tion with the onboarding process, including the 
orientation process, and investment in training 
and development for employees during their 
first year of employment. 
‘‘(S) Any other matters the Director con-
siders appropriate. 
‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than June 1 
in each of the 5 years following the year of submis-
1091 
sion of the plan required by paragraph (1), the Di-
rector shall submit to the relevant congressional 
committees an annual report outlining the progress 
made pursuant to the plan. 
‘‘(4) GOVERNMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY
OFFICE 
REVIEW OF THE PLAN AND ANNUAL REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) Not later than 1 year after the sub-
mission of the plan required by paragraph (1), 
the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall review the plan and submit to the relevant 
congressional committees a report on the re-
view. 
‘‘(B) Not later than 6 months after the 
submission of the first, third, and fifth annual 
report required under paragraph (3), the Comp-
troller General shall independently assess the 
findings of the annual report and brief the rel-
evant congressional committees on the Comp-
troller General’s findings and recommendations 
to ensure the objectives of the plan are accom-
plished. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘Federal agency’ means 
each agency listed in section 901(b) of title 31.
1092 
‘‘(B) The term ‘relevant congressional 
committees’ means each of the following: 
‘‘(i) The Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform and the Committee on 
Armed Services of the House of Represent-
atives. 
‘‘(ii) The Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs and the 
Committee on Armed Services of the Sen-
ate.’’. 
SEC. 5412. PLAN ON STRENGTHENING PROGRAM AND 
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE. 
(a) PLAN
ON
STRENGTHENING
PROGRAM
AND 
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 
June 1 following the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director, in consultation with the Director of the Of-
fice of Personnel Management, shall submit to the relevant 
congressional committees a plan for improving manage-
ment of IT programs and projects. 
(b) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan required by sub-
section (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following: 
(1) Creation of a specialized career path for 
program management.
1093 
(2) The development of a competency model for 
program management consistent with the IT project 
manager model. 
(3) A career advancement model that requires 
appropriate expertise and experience for advance-
ment. 
(4) A career advancement model that is more 
competitive with the private sector and that recog-
nizes both Government and private sector experi-
ence. 
(5) Appropriate consideration and alignment 
with the needs and priorities of the Infrastructure 
and Common Application Collaboration Center, the 
Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence, and ac-
quisition intern programs. 
(c) COMBINATION WITH OTHER CADRES PLAN.— 
The Director may combine the plan required by subsection 
(a) with the IT Acquisition Cadres Strategic Plan required 
under section 1704(j) of title 41, United States Code, as 
added by section 411. 
SEC. 5413. PERSONNEL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE 
ACQUISITION 
OF 
INFORMATION 
SYSTEMS 
AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of-
1094 
fice of Personnel Management shall develop policy and 
guidance for agencies to develop a program to recognize 
excellent performance by Federal Government employees 
and teams of such employees in the acquisition of informa-
tion systems and information technology for the agency. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The program referred to in sub-
section (a) shall, to the extent practicable— 
(1) obtain objective outcome measures; and 
(2) include procedures for— 
(A) the nomination of Federal Government 
employees and teams of such employees for eli-
gibility for recognition under the program; and 
(B) the evaluation of nominations for rec-
ognition under the program by 1 or more agen-
cy panels of individuals from Government, aca-
demia, and the private sector who have such ex-
pertise, and are appointed in such a manner, as 
the Director of the Office of Personal Manage-
ment shall establish for purposes of the pro-
gram. 
(c) AWARD OF CASH BONUSES AND OTHER INCEN-
TIVES.—In carrying out the program referred to in sub-
section (a), the Director of the Office of Personnel Man-
agement, in consultation with the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget, shall establish policies and
1095 
guidance for agencies to reward any Federal Government 
employee or teams of such employees recognized pursuant 
to the program— 
(1) with a cash bonus, to the extent that the 
performance of such individual or team warrants the 
award of such bonus and is authorized by any provi-
sion of law; 
(2) through promotions and other nonmonetary 
awards; 
(3) by publicizing— 
(A) acquisition accomplishments by indi-
vidual employees; and 
(B) the tangible end benefits that resulted 
from such accomplishments, as appropriate; 
and 
(4) through other awards, incentives, or bo-
nuses that the head of the agency considers appro-
priate. 
TITLE LV—ADDITIONAL 
REFORMS 
SEC. 5501. MAXIMIZING THE BENEFIT OF THE FEDERAL 
STRATEGIC SOURCING INITIATIVE. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procure-
ment Policy shall prescribe regulations providing that
1096 
when the Federal Government makes a purchase of serv-
ices and supplies offered under the Federal Strategic 
Sourcing Initiative (managed by the Office of Federal Pro-
curement Policy) but such Initiative is not used, the con-
tract file for the purchase shall include a brief analysis 
of the comparative value, including price and nonprice fac-
tors, between the services and supplies offered under such 
Initiative and services and supplies offered under the 
source or sources used for the purchase. 
SEC. 5502. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY OF BLANKET PUR-
CHASE AGREEMENTS. 
(a) PRICE INFORMATION TO BE TREATED AS PUBLIC 
INFORMATION.—The final negotiated price offered by an 
awardee of a blanket purchase agreement shall be treated 
as public information. 
(b) PUBLICATION OF BLANKET PURCHASE AGREE-
MENT INFORMATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
General Services shall make available to the public a list 
of all blanket purchase agreements entered into by Federal 
agencies under its Federal Supply Schedules contracts and 
the prices associated with those blanket purchase agree-
ments. The list and price information shall be updated at 
least once every 6 months.
1097 
SEC. 5503. ADDITIONAL SOURCE SELECTION TECHNIQUE IN 
SOLICITATIONS. 
Section 3306(d) of title 41, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 
(1); 
(2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’ 
at the end of paragraph (2); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) stating in the solicitation that the award 
will be made using a fixed price technical competi-
tion, under which all offerors compete solely on 
nonprice factors and the fixed award price is pre-an-
nounced in the solicitation.’’. 
SEC. 5504. ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY IN INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS. 
(a) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ABOUT 
IT INVESTMENTS.—Section 11302(c) of title 40, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—
1098 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall 
make available to the public the cost, schedule, 
and performance data for at least 80 percent 
(by dollar value) of all information technology 
investments Governmentwide, and 60 percent 
(by dollar value) of all information technology 
investments in each Federal agency listed in 
section 901(b) of title 31, notwithstanding 
whether the investments are for new IT acquisi-
tions or for operations and maintenance of ex-
isting IT. The Director shall ensure that the in-
formation is current, accurate, and reflects the 
risks associated with each covered information 
technology investment. 
‘‘(B) WAIVER
OR
LIMITATION
AUTHOR-
ITY.—The applicability of subparagraph (A) 
may be waived or the extent of the information 
may be limited— 
‘‘(i) by the Director, with respect to 
IT investments Governmentwide; and 
‘‘(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
1099 
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. 5505. ENHANCED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GOV-
ERNMENT 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. 
SEC. 5506. 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
1100 
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, 
shall issue guidance concerning the technology-neutral 
procurement and use of software within the Federal Gov-
ernment.
1101 
(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-
ment use, including issues such as security and re-
distribution rights.
1102 
(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, established pursuant to section 11501 
of title 40, United States Code (as added by section 
5401), 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; 
(2) an identification of barriers to widespread 
use by the Federal Government of specific software 
technologies; and
1103 
(3) such legislative recommendations as the 
Comptroller General considers appropriate to further 
the purposes of this section. 
Passed the House of Representatives June 14, 2013. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1960 
AN ACT 
To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, 
for military construction, and for defense activi-
ties of the Department of Energy, to prescribe 
military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
and for other purposes.