Senators Hassan and Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Update Outdated Government IT Systems
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chair of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee, and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) reintroduced the Legacy IT Reduction Act to modernize outdated and obsolete federal agency technology – helping reduce costs, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve customer experience for taxpayers.
“Too many of the government technology systems that we rely on every day are not up to today’s standards. Updating these systems is a commonsense way to help strengthen cybersecurity, improve taxpayers’ experience using these systems, and ultimately save taxpayer dollars,” said Senator Hassan.
“Outdated IT systems are an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and a threat to the federal government’s cybersecurity,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This commonsense bill would modernize these systems and ensure we’re investing in technology that is secure, user-friendly, and fiscally responsible.”
The Legacy IT Reduction Act of 2023 takes a number of steps to reduce the federal government’s reliance on outdated technology, including:
- Requiring agencies to develop an inventory of legacy IT systems;
- Requiring agencies to write modernization plans to update or dispose of their legacy IT systems; and
- Requiring the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to assist agencies with identifying legacy IT and modernizing it.
This bill is part of Senator Hassan’s ongoing efforts to modernize legacy IT systems. Earlier this month, Senator Hassan led a hearing of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee on the need to modernize outdated technology at the Department of Homeland Security.
Read the text of the bill here.
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