Congressmen ease IT worries
Two Congressmen say that the impasse over the presidential election would have no longterm impact on hightech policies or federal IT funding
Two members of Congress assured the information technology community on
Thursday that the impasse over the presidential election would have no long-term
impact on high-tech policies or federal funding for IT programs.
Speaking to the Industry Advisory Council, Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and
Jim Moran (D-Va.) said they didn't expect congressional focus on IT issues
until the presidential race is resolved. "These are not high-priority issues,"
Davis said.
Nevertheless, Moran assured the tech executives that he did not expect
funding cuts in the "areas you are concerned about" because lawmakers are
beginning to understand the importance of technology.
"It's not weapons and bombs. It's computer hacking. It's our computer
infrastructure," Moran said.
Davis said it's important to get members up to speed on high-tech issues
that would help industries and businesses in their districts.
He said it is still unclear who will lead the committees that impact
technology policy. Although Davis himself may become chairman of the House
Government Reform Subcommittee on Information and Technology, he said nothing
will be resolved for several weeks.
Moran spoke out against a bill that would require agencies to obtain
a waiver from the Office of Management and Budget before they outsourced
any IT work to a contractor.
The bill, the Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting
Act (H.R.3766), would require the federal government to compete the work
between agencies and private firms. It also would require agencies to analyze
current outsourcing contracts for how much money they save the government.
"We need to stop that [bill]," Moran said. "That's not very helpful."
The bill, which has 193 co-sponsors, is supported by government unions
and strongly opposed by IT lobby groups.
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