Gsa Technology Accountability Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7524) to amend title 40, United States Code, to require the submission of reports on certain information technology services funds to Congress before expenditures may be made, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7524
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``GSA Technology Accountability Act''. SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY OF GSA FUNDED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.
(a) Transparency on Use of the Federal Citizen Services Fund.--Section 323 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Requirement for Annual Report to Congress.--Not later than September 30 of each year, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that includes, at a minimum, a list of each program funded by expenditures during the previous fiscal year, or that have been funded by expenditures in the previous 5-year period, including the following:
``(1) An explanation of the program.
``(2) Information about how the program is funded, including the amount of expenditures the program received in the previous fiscal year and total amount.
``(3) The amount of reimbursements associated with or anticipated to be associated with the program from another source of funds or another agency, if applicable.
``(4) A description of projects or initiatives associated with the program, including--
``(A) information about when the projects or initiatives were initiated and completed; and
``(B) funding information, to the extent practicable.
``(5) Any additional information, data, or analysis used to determine the information estimated within the report, if applicable.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the Administrator of General Services.
``(2) Expenditure.--The term `expenditure' means any obligation of funds from the Fund.''.
(b) Transparency on Use of the Acquisition Services Fund.-- Section 321 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Requirement for Annual Report to Congress.--Not later than September 30 of each year, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that includes, at a minimum, a list of each program within the Technology Transformation Services funded by expenditures during the previous fiscal year, or that have been funded by expenditures in the previous 5-year period, including the following:
``(1) An explanation of the program.
``(2) Information about how the program is funded, including the amount of expenditures the program received in the previous fiscal year and total amount.
``(3) The amount of reimbursements associated with or anticipated to be associated with the program from another source of funds or another agency, if applicable.
``(4) A description of projects or initiatives associated with the program, including--
``(A) information about when the projects or initiatives were initiated and completed; and
``(B) funding information, to the extent practicable.
``(5) Any additional information, data, or analysis used to determine the information estimated within the report, if applicable.
``(i) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the Administrator of General Services.
``(2) Expenditure.--The term `expenditure' means any obligation of funds from the Acquisition Services Fund for programs referenced in subsection (h).''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the commencement of the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7524, the GSA Technology Accountability Act.
The General Services Administration's Technology and Transformation Services, or TTS, manages several Federal technology projects and initiatives.
These projects and initiatives are mostly funded through two funds-- the Citizen Services Fund and the Acquisition Services Fund.
There is little transparency, however, into how money from these funds is allocated and what TTS is doing with its resources.
This bill requires the administrator of GSA to submit an annual report to Congress regarding each program funded by the Citizen Services Fund and some programs funded by the Acquisition Services Fund.
This annual report will include information about funded programs, projects and initiatives, and reimbursements associated with each program.
This bill provides much-needed transparency into TTS programs and technology-related projects.
I thank Representative Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Oversight Committee Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, and Representative Gerry Connolly for their work on this legislation.
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Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense bill to increase transparency and provide additional oversight of taxpayer dollars.
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