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House Adopts 4 Connolly Amendments in FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act

Today, the House of Representatives passed the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included four legislative priorities offered by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee. Connolly’s provisions included the FedRAMP Authorization Act, the Global Health Security Act, efforts to streamline federal agency performance plans, and important Inspectors General oversight reforms. 


“I want to thank Chairman Smith for his leadership on this year’s NDAA,” Chairman Connolly said. “In particular, after years of effort, I am proud to get FedRAMP and the Global Health Security Act across the finish line.  All told, the FY23 NDAA will help modernize our federal IT, prepare our global community for future pandemics, provide necessary oversight to the Inspectors General community, and adopt efficiencies in the federal government.”


The following provisions were included in the legislation headed to the Senate: 


FedRAMP Authorization: Connolly’s FedRAMP Authorization Act was included in the NDAA. The legislation codifies and standardizes the existing FedRAMP program, reducing duplication and unnecessary costs in certifying cloud technologies.  The provision establishes a “presumption of adequacy” for which cloud technologies that achieve authorization at one agency should be presumed appropriate for use at agencies with identical security requirements.  The bill also establishes a Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee as a forum for public and private sector collaboration to streamline the acquisition of effective cloud technologies. FedRAMP legislation offered by Connolly has now passed the House seven times.


Global Health Security Act: The NDAA includes Connolly’s bipartisan Global Health Security Act, which creates a presidentially designated Coordinator for Global Health Security, reinforces the government-wide infrastructure for coordinating pandemic prevention and response which was dismantled by the Trump Administration, and authorizes up to $5 billion in U.S. funding for a multilateral financing mechanism for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.


Performance Enhancement Reform Act (PERA):  The legislation requires agencies to integrate information technology modernization and evidence metrics more effectively into their performance plans, leading to improved outcomes for American taxpayers.  It also requires agencies’ top officials – including performance officials, chief information officers, chief human capital officers, and others – to work collaboratively to prepare annual agency performance plans to create a unified vision of success and how agencies measure performance improvement.


Provisions to Make Oversight of the Inspector General Community More Transparent: The NDAA includes provisions from Chairman Connolly's Integrity Committee Transparency Act as part of a collection of improvements to the transparency, operations, and oversight of federal inspectors general (IGs).   Among Chairman Connolly's provisions included in the NDAA, is a requirement that the Chairperson of the Integrity Committee (IC), the oversight entity for allegations of wrongdoing in the IG community, report to Congress and the President within seven days any particularly serious or flagrant allegations against an IG – as well as a requirement for the IC to provide Information to appropriate congressional committees regarding how it evaluated allegations made by a member of Congress if the review is closed without referral.

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