Hoyer: The Information Technology Modernization Act Will Make Government More Transparent, Efficient, Responsive, Secure

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor this morning about the Information Technology Modernization Act, a bill he introduced on Monday to upgrade government IT infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:  

Click here for a link to the video.

“Mr. Speaker, on Monday I introduced the Information Technology Modernization Act, a bill that will make our government more transparent, more efficient, more responsive, and more secure.

“Dangerously, many federal government agencies, as we've seen, rely on technology systems that are decades old and hinder digital interagency collaboration. As a result, government services are less efficient than they could be, and Americans’ personal data is put at higher risk every year that goes by without critical systems upgrade. This was the experience for some two million employees of our federal government.

“I am partnering with the White House and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Tony Scott to propose a new way to invest in upgrading the government technology infrastructure that serves the American people and this institution. My bill authorizes a one-time investment of $3 billion into a revolving fund that would be overseen by an independent review board. The fund will invest in large-scale rapid systems upgrades deemed to be in the greatest need and that would provide the greatest impact on serving the American people. Once an upgrade is completed, the receiving agency will then begin paying back the Fund over time using the savings achieved from greater efficiency.

“In such a way this one-time investment of $3 billion will support at least a minimal of $12 billion, that is 400% more, worth of upgrades in the first 10 years alone. After which it would continue to fund upgrades into the future. This is a novel approach for government that has been employed successfully in the private sector where it has a proven track record. [U.S. Chief Information Officer] Tony Scott himself, Mr. Speaker, implemented a similar program when he was Chief Information Officer at Microsoft, which was successful and resulted in significant long-term savings.

“Additionally, a fund will ensure that upgrades make use of the latest and best practices from Silicon Valley, including shared services, cloud hosting, and agile development. This will enable agencies to create new user-friendly apps and services and facilitate the sharing of data between agencies to root out fraud and waste and it will promote systems that are secure and prevent cyberattacks. My bill will also ensure transparency by requiring all upgrade projects to provide regular status updates on a publically available digital dash board.

“I want to thank all those who signed on as original sponsors, Mr. Speaker, and I want to say that I had discussions last night with [Rep. Darrell] Issa, the former Chairman of the Government Reform Committee. He is, I think, going to cosponsor this bill with me and we want to see this bill be a bipartisan bill. I’ve also talked to Ranking Members on my side of the aisle in each of the relevant committees, [Ranking Member Elijah] Cummings, [Ranking Member Frank] Pallone, [Rep. José] Serrano, [Rep. Gerry] Connolly, [Rep. Tammy] Duckworth, [Rep.] Robin Kelly, [Rep.] Ted Lieu, all of whom are excited and support this piece of legislation.

“Again, this is a totally nonpartisan bill looking for government efficiency and safety and transparency for the American people. I hope that my friends on both sides of the aisle who care deeply about making government as effective and transparent as possible as well as eliminating fraud and inefficiencies will partner with us by cosponsoring this bill and helping to bring it to the Floor as a bipartisan measure overwhelmingly supported by this House.

“I’m proud of the bipartisan work we've done together already to encourage innovation and the use of technology in Congress, particularly the Hackathon I have hosted with Leader McCarthy and his predecessor, Mr. Cantor.

“Let's work together. Let me say that again. Let's work together to expand that effort to the Executive Branch and make sure that the federal government can and is serving the American people effectively and transparently.”