NDAA Passes Senate with Modernizing Government Technology Act Included

Washington,
D.C. — TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy
CEOs and senior executives, welcomed tonight’s Senate passage of
the Modernizing Government Technology Act as part
of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The revised legislation was included in the NDAA as Amendment #1006 by
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS).

The MGT
Act authorizes funding to improve, retire, or replace current federal
government technology systems, accelerate the transition to cloud computing
platforms, and procure IT products and services to strengthen the federal government’s
cybersecurity defenses. The U.S. House
of Representatives unanimously passed its version of the MGT Act in May. Senators Moran and Tom Udall (D-NM) have led
the efforts on the Senate version of the bill. The House and Senate will now head to a
conference committee to reconcile differences between each chamber’s NDAA.

Following
Senate action, TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore issued the following
statement:

“The MGT Act will help put an end
to the federal government spending 80 percent of its $80 billion IT budget on
maintaining aging, insecure, and expensive legacy systems. Relying on outdated IT systems is
unacceptable in an era of relentless cyberattacks, and because it often
undermines the federal government’s ability to properly serve taxpayers,
veterans, and other citizens seeking assistance.

“TechNet thanks Senators Moran and
Udall for their commitment to modernizing our outdated IT systems, as well as
Congressman Will Hurd for his work on this issue. We urge House and Senate conferees to keep
this language in the final NDAA so we can begin to usher in a new era of better
government services through secure, efficient, and cost-effective government
technology.”