The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the Federal Information Acquisition Reform Act proposed by committee chairman Congressman Darrell Issa last year.
Those scheduled to testify include U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chief Information Officer Richard Spires; Government Accountability Office Acquisition and Sourcing Management Director Cristina Champlain; former Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Dan Gordon; Professional Services Council CEO Stan Soloway; and Amazon.com Vice President Paul Misener.
The proposed legislation calls for the creation of a Commodity IT Acquisition Center that would be tasked with overseeing large government-wide information technology contracts. Agencies would be required to consult with the center on most acquisitions over $500 million.
The center would be housed within a federal agency – instead of being independent – with the Office of Management and Budget selecting the agency with a review every few years. The center would be funded by collecting five percent of fees agencies currently receive for managing several types of government-wide contracts.
