I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3925
To establish an exchange program between the Federal Government and
the private sector in order to promote the development of expertise
in information technology management, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 12, 2002
Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Govern-
ment Reform
A BILL
To establish an exchange program between the Federal Gov-
ernment and the private sector in order to promote the
development of expertise in information technology man-
agement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Digital Tech Corps Act of 2002’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) unless action is taken soon, there will be a
crisis in the government’s ability to deliver essential
services to the American people;
(2) by 2006, over 50 percent of the Federal
Government’s information technology workforce will
be eligible to retire, creating a huge demand in the
Federal Government for high-skill workers;
(3) despite a 44 percent decrease in the demand
for information technology workers in the private
sector, the Information Technology Association of
America reported in 2001 that employers will need
to fill over 900,000 new information technology jobs
and will be unable to find qualified workers for
425,000 of those jobs;
(4) to highlight the urgency of this situation, in
January 2001, the General Accounting Office added
the Federal Government’s human capital manage-
ment to its list of high-risk problems for which an
effective solution must be found;
(5) despite efforts to increase flexibility in Fed-
eral agencies’ employment practices, compensation
issues continue to severely restrain recruitment for
Federal agencies; and
(6) an effective, efficient, and economical re-
sponse to this crisis would be to create a vibrant, on-
going exchange effort designed to share talent, ex-
pertise, and advances in management between lead-
ing-edge businesses and Federal agencies engaged in
best practices.
SEC. 2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part III of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘CHAPTER 37—INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE PROGRAM
‘‘Sec.
‘‘3701. Definitions.
‘‘3702. General provisions.
‘‘3703. Assignment of employees to private sector organizations.
‘‘3704. Assignment of employees from private sector organizations.
‘‘3705. Application to Office of the Chief Technology Officer of the District of
Columbia.
‘‘3706. Authority of the Office of Personnel Management.
‘‘§ 3701. Definitions
‘‘For purposes of this chapter—
‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ means an Executive
agency, but does not include the General Accounting
Office; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘detail’ means—
‘‘(A) the assignment or loan of an em-
ployee of an agency to a private sector organi-
zation without a change of position from the
agency that employs the individual, or
a career or career-conditional appointment or an appoint-
ment of equivalent tenure in the excepted service.
‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—Each agency that exercises its
authority under this chapter shall provide for a written
agreement between the agency and the employee con-
cerned regarding the terms and conditions of the employ-
ee’s assignment. In the case of an employee of the agency,
the agreement shall—
‘‘(1) require the employee to serve in the civil
service, upon completion of the assignment, for a pe-
riod equal to the length of the assignment; and
‘‘(2) provide that, in the event the employee
fails to carry out the agreement (except for good and
sufficient reason, as determined by the head of the
agency from which assigned) the employee shall be
liable to the United States for payment of all ex-
penses (excluding salary) of the assignment.
An amount under paragraph (2) shall be treated as a debt
due the United States.
‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—Assignments may be termi-
nated by the agency or private sector organization con-
cerned for any reason at any time.
‘‘(d) DURATION.—Assignments under this chapter
shall be for 1 year and may be extended for an additional
period not to exceed 1 year.
‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE.—The Chief Information Officers
Council, by agreement with the Office of Personnel Man-
agement, may assist in the administration of this chapter,
including by maintaining lists of potential candidates for
assignment under this chapter, establishing mentoring re-
lationships for the benefit of individuals who are given as-
signments under this chapter, and publicizing the pro-
gram.
‘‘§ 3703. Assignment of employees to private sector or-
ganizations
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee of an agency as-
signed to a private sector organization under this chapter
is deemed, during the period of the assignment, to be on
detail to a regular work assignment in his agency.
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH CHAPTER 81.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, an employee of an
agency assigned to a private sector organization under this
chapter is entitled to retain coverage, rights, and benefits
under subchapter I of chapter 81, and employment during
the assignment is deemed employment by the United
States, except that, if the employee or the employee’s de-
pendents receive from the private sector organization any
payment under an insurance policy for which the premium
is wholly paid by the private sector organization, or other
benefit of any kind on account of the same injury or death,
then, the amount of such payment or benefit shall be cred-
ited against any compensation otherwise payable under
subchapter I of chapter 81.
‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENTS.—The assignment of an em-
ployee to a private sector organization under this chapter
may be made with or without reimbursement by the pri-
vate sector organization for the travel and transportation
expenses to or from the place of assignment, subject to
the same terms and conditions as apply with respect to
an employee of a Federal agency or a State or local gov-
ernment under section 3375, and for the pay, or a part
thereof, of the employee during assignment. Any reim-
bursements shall be credited to the appropriation of the
agency used for paying the travel and transportation ex-
penses or pay.
‘‘(d) TORT LIABILITY; SUPERVISION.—The Federal
Tort Claims Act and any other Federal tort liability stat-
ute apply to an employee of an agency assigned to a pri-
vate sector organization under this chapter. The super-
vision of the duties of an employee of an agency so as-
signed to a private sector organization may be governed
by an agreement between the agency and the organization.
‘‘§ 3704. Assignment of employees from private sector
organizations
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee of a private sector
organization assigned to an agency under this chapter is
deemed, during the period of the assignment, to be on de-
tail to such agency.
‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An employee of a
private sector organization assigned to an agency under
this chapter—
‘‘(1) may continue to receive pay and benefits
from the private sector organization from which he
is assigned;
‘‘(2) is deemed, notwithstanding subsection (a),
to be an employee of the agency for the purposes
of—
‘‘(A) chapter 73, except for section
7353(a)(1);
‘‘(B) sections 203, 205, 207, 208, 603,
606, 607, 643, 654, 1905, and 1913 of title 18;
‘‘(C) sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of
title 31;
‘‘(D) the Federal Tort Claims Act and any
other Federal tort liability statute;
‘‘(E) the Ethics in Government Act of
1978;
‘‘(F) section 1043 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986; and
‘‘(G) section 27(p)(8) of the Office of Fed-
eral Procurement Policy Act; and
‘‘(3) is subject to such regulations as the Presi-
dent may prescribe.
The supervision of an employee of a private sector organi-
zation assigned to an agency under this chapter may be
governed by agreement between the agency and the private
sector organization concerned. Such an assignment may
be made with or without reimbursement by the agency for
the pay, or a part thereof, of the employee during the pe-
riod of assignment, or for any contribution of the private
sector organization to employee benefit systems.
‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH CHAPTER 81.—An em-
ployee of a private sector organization assigned to an
agency under this chapter who suffers disability or dies
as a result of personal injury sustained while performing
duties during the assignment shall be treated, for the pur-
pose of subchapter I of chapter 81, as an employee as de-
fined by section 8101 who had sustained the injury in the
performance of duty, except that, if the employee or the
employee’s dependents receive from the private sector or-
ganization any payment under an insurance policy for
which the premium is wholly paid by the private sector
organization, or other benefit of any kind on account of
the same injury or death, then, the amount of such pay-
ment or benefit shall be credited against any compensation
otherwise payable under subchapter I of chapter 81.
‘‘§ 3705. Application to Office of the Chief Technology
Officer of the District of Columbia
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Technology Officer of
the District of Columbia may arrange for the assignment
of an employee of the Office of the Chief Technology Offi-
cer to a private sector organization, or an employee of a
private sector organization to such Office, in the same
manner as the head of an agency under this chapter.
‘‘(b) TERMS
AND
CONDITIONS.—An assignment
made pursuant to subsection (a) shall be subject to the
same terms and conditions as an assignment made by the
head of an agency under this chapter, except that in apply-
ing such terms and conditions to an assignment made pur-
suant to subsection (a), any reference in this chapter to
a provision of law or regulation of the United States shall
be deemed to be a reference to the applicable provision
of law or regulation of the District of Columbia, including
the applicable provisions of the District of Columbia Gov-
ernment Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 (sec.
1–601.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) and section 601 of
the District of Columbia Campaign Finance Reform and