Davis moves IT to reform committee’s center stage

Congress is giving oversight of federal technology issues a promotion.Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) today announced the elimination of a technology-specific government reform subcommittee. Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said issues such as e-government, cybersecurity, the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, and information sharing will instead get the full committee’s attention for the 109th Congress.“This is not an indication of technology issues being downgraded,” Davis said. “Technology is really something that is throughout all of government and not an issue by itself.”Davis’ decision to bring IT and information policy to the full committee is similar to the move he made when he took over the chairmanship two years ago and brought procurement policy to the full committee, said David Marin, committee spokesman.Davis has reorganized government reform’s seven subcommittees, he said, to reflect the interests of the committee members and all will have the opportunity to work on technology issues. In the last two Congresses, Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) chaired the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census. Putnam left the committee last November to become a member of the Rules Committee.“We will work with the subcommittees to facilitate the technology agenda,” a committee staff member said. “There will be two full committee staff members working on IT and e-government issues, and at least three others working on IT, information policy and agency management issues.”The new subcommittees are: