Sec. 2. Findings

182 words·~1 min read·/bill/118/s/4066/is/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress makes the following findings: The Government Accountability Office

(GAO)has conducted a trend analysis of Government-wide contracting for each of the last several fiscal years. These analyses show that the Federal dollars obligated through contracts has been steadily increasing. Contract spending accounts for more than 80 percent of the Federal information technology budget. Spending on information security, software, cloud computing, data center solutions and services, software as a service, and artificial intelligence technologies is projected to grow significantly. Rapid technological developments and increased Government demand create a need for a Federal acquisition workforce with an understanding of technology and related procurement considerations. Federal agencies are challenged to shorten the procurement cycle to meet agency technology requirements. Technology acquired through procurements that take years from requirements development to implementation may be obsolete by the time it is fielded. While Federal contracting dollars are increasing year over year, and the number of new business applications filed is at an all-time high, the number of Federal contractors receiving contract awards is shrinking. This trend could impair the Federal Government’s access to innovative commercial technologies.