New push for federal CIO

Pushing the creation of a chief information officer for the federal government,

Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas) plans to introduce legislation next month that

would create the executive-level position and codify the executive order

that created the interagency CIO Council.

Turner, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee's

Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee, sees the

federal CIO as a special assistant to the president on matters relating

to the use of information technology. The CIO would be appointed by the

president and confirmed by Congress, according to sources familiar with

the bill.

The federal CIO would:

* Advise the president and the Office of Management and Budget about federal

use of IT.

* Lead the CIO Council.

* Manage multiagency e-government initiatives.

* Manage consultations with other levels of government and foreign governments.

The bill would provide the federal CIO discretion of the General Services

Administration IT fund to support governmentwide IT initiatives.