Washington,
D.C. — TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation
economy CEOs and senior executives, welcomed today’s Senate passage of the 2018
National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) conference report, which contains the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act. The legislation now
heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

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 House version of the MGT
Act was authored by Representative Will Hurd (R-TX). Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Tom Udall
(D-NM) have championed the Senate version of the bill, which they were able to
include in that chamber’s earlier version of the NDAA.

The conference report also excludes a
proposal originally included in the Senate-passed NDAA that would have required
companies to provide their proprietary source code to the Department of Defense
as a condition of doing business with the federal government. TechNet successfully advocated for the
removal of that provision during conference committee negotiations.

The
following statement is attributable to Linda Moore, President & CEO of
TechNet:

“Congress’
passage of the Modernizing Government
Technology Act will help put an end to the federal government spending 80
percent of its $80 billion annual IT budget on maintaining aging, insecure, and
expensive legacy systems. With this law
in place, we can begin to fully implement the modern IT systems we need and
that our people deserve in the 21st century.

“Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Representatives Will Hurd and
Robin Kelly, Senators Jerry Moran and Tom Udall, and the White House’s Office
of American Innovation deserve credit for prioritizing this legislation and
working tirelessly to get it across the finish line. We urge Congress to ensure the MGT Act is fully
funded so we can begin implementing it right away and help the government better
serve our citizens through secure, efficient, and cost-effective IT systems.

“Additionally,
we thank members of the House and Senate who worked to defeat the concerning
source code provision in the Senate’s initial NDAA bill. With Congress’ work on NDAA complete for the
year, we thank lawmakers for working with the tech industry to ensure we can
continue partnering with the military to provide tech solutions in support of
the brave servicemen and women carrying out crucial missions.”

About TechNet

TechNet
is the national, bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives
that promotes the growth of the innovation economy by advocating a targeted
policy agenda at the federal and 50-state level. TechNet’s diverse membership includes dynamic
startups and the most iconic companies on the planet and represents three
million employees and countless customers in the fields of information
technology, e-commerce, the sharing and gig economies, advanced energy,
cybersecurity, biotechnology, venture capital, and finance. TechNet has offices in Washington, D.C.,
Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Sacramento, Austin, Boston, Olympia, Albany, and
Tallahassee.