The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) produced some good commentary from members of Congress and witnesses alike. Here are five comments from testimony and the subsequent discussion that provide perspective on the hearing.

“I am so grateful to this committee for FITARA. I think this is our last chance to get it right.”

?Richard McKinney, chief information officer, Department of Transportation

“We cannot afford to spend $80 billion on IT year after year after year.”

?Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas

Reducing the amount of money spent on legacy IT “also improves the Federal cybersecurity posture by decommissioning antiquated systems that are costly to operate and are often unable to support critical functions like encryption and two-factor authentication.”

?Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott

“I’m actually pleased by the results of a recent survey of Federal IT professionals conducted by MeriTalk, which is a private-public partnership focused on improving the use of Federal IT, that shows nearly 80 percent of those surveyed within the Federal government believe FITARA will have a positive effect on agency IT and their mission.”

?Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.

“The effective and efficient acquisition and management of IT investments has been a long-standing challenge in the Federal government. In particular, the Federal government has spent billions of dollars on failed and poorly performing IT investments, which often suffered from ineffective management; moreover spending on IT operations has been inefficient.”

?Dave Powner, director, Information Technology Management Issues, General Services Administration

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