FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2017
PSC Applauds Committee Action on Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act
Momentum Building in Congress and the Executive Branch for IT Investments
|
Arlington, Va.— The Professional Services Council (PSC) today applauded the swift passage by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee of the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017 (the “MGT Act”). PSC strongly supports this legislation to help make government more effective and its networks more secure, while reducing overall costs.
“The MGT Act will make a critical investment in the government’s IT infrastructure and provide a much-needed upgrade to the legacy systems that are draining federal agencies’ IT budgets,” said PSC President & CEO David Berteau. “With early action by the Committee in this Congress, coupled with the Administration’s strong support, we are optimistic that the bill will be signed into law.”
The MGT Act would establish a critical source of dependable funding for federal agencies to invest in IT system modernization, incentivize agencies to utilize the funds for agency priorities, and accelerate the transition to the cloud.
“PSC is pleased that both the Administration and Congress are working to modernize the government’s outdated IT infrastructure,” said Berteau, in reference to the executive order signed yesterday by President Trump creating the American Technology Council, a top-level group of government leaders who will focus on federal government technology issues and service delivery.
“We thank the Committee for its early action on the MGT Act and urge the House leadership to bring this bill to a vote expeditiously,” Berteau continued.
PSC believes enactment of the Act would begin addressing the immense challenges associated with upgrading federal information technology systems and limiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities inherent in the government’s computer systems. PSC
previously supported an earlier version of the MGT Act, along with predecessor legislation, the “MOVE IT” Act. Last week, identical bipartisan bills were introduced in the House and Senate, and PSC welcomed their introduction in an
April 27 letter to the bill’s sponsors.
###
About PSC: PSC is the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s more than 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states.
Follow PSC on Twitter @PSCSpeaks. To learn more, visit www.pscouncil.org.