House Dem stumps for Obama’s tech modernization push

One of Capitol Hill’s most prominent cybersecurity voices is supporting a new bill that would earmark billions of dollars to modernize the government’s technology infrastructure.

“If we do not invest in our technology and cybersecurity now, we will have no one to blame for the next data breach but ourselves,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), a first-term member who has become a regular voice on government digital security efforts, said Tuesday in a statement.

{mosads}The bill was unveiled on Monday by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranking House Democrat. The legislation would earmark $3.1 billion to establish an Information Technology Modernization Fund (ITMF), which would overhaul what are widely seen as antiquated government networks.

The fund is meant to help federal agencies better defend themselves from the foreign hackers who have pillaged personal information from numerous agencies in recent years. Most notably, over 20 million federal workers had their data exposed in a digital raid of the Office of Personnel Management last summer.

“The self-sustaining investment fund is an innovative way to rapidly upgrade our outdated and vulnerable IT systems while supporting our federal technology infrastructure for the future,” said Lieu, who holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Stanford University.

The idea was initially included in President Obama’s latest budget proposal as part of a sweeping plan to bolster the government’s cyber defenses. In addition to the ITMF concept, the White House established a new senior federal cyber official and created a presidential commission on cyber to establish a long-term road map.

Lieu was the first lawmaker to take the ITMF proposal to Capitol Hill. He tried to attach it to the GOP’s 2017 budget bill but was shot down by Republicans, who rejected all 29 amendments offered by the Democrats.

Both Lieu and Hoyer are hoping the GOP opposition during budget negotiations was a political move, not an indication of actual opposition to the idea itself. 

They believe the proposal might gain bipartisan support as a stand-alone measure.

“A 21st Century government depends on technology to serve the people, and this legislation will go a long way in making sure that our IT systems are both modern and secure throughout the government,” Lieu said.

“I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us in this effort.”