House Passes the Modernizing Government Technology Act

Statement

Today, the House unanimously passed the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, legislation sponsored by Representatives Will Hurd, Gerry Connolly, Jason Chaffetz, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, and Congressman Mark Meadows, that will reform federal government IT. The MGT Act marries the MOVE IT Act and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer's IT Modernization Act to authorize a significant upfront investment to retire vulnerable, large-scale legacy systems and allow agencies to invest savings generated by FITARA and other reforms in accelerating our transition to the cloud.

"The federal government must come into the 21st century. We owe it to the people we serve," said Rep. Connolly on the House floor today. "We need to streamline the management of IT assets. We need to make strategic and wise investments and we need to have a schedule of replacement for legacy systems. We need to encrypt and protect against cyberattacks for the sake of the American people."

"The Modernizing Government Technology Act is another piece in the puzzle we are putting together to move federal IT systems into the 21st century," said Connolly. "It will build on the success of FITARA by investing savings in retiring dated, legacy systems and accelerating our transition to the cloud. I am glad to partner with Rep. Hurd on this effort and look forward to this bill hitting the President's desk post haste."

The working capital funds established by the MGT Act will create an incentive for agencies to find savings and reinvest them internally, creating a virtuous cycle. This reform has the potential to significantly speed up the federal government's move to 21st century technologies.

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