In Washington, Rep. Lauren Boebert is actively advocating for legislation that aims to stop federal agencies from outsourcing certain software services to foreign entities. Her concerns are primarily about safeguarding sensitive information.
The proposed bill, known as the America First Act, would be triggered when a platform stores sensitive data belonging to 500 or more government employees.
Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, explained in an interview that “America First” is about prioritizing American workers and businesses, and ensuring that essential government functions aren’t reliant on other countries.
She added, “For too long, Washington has outsourced vital government systems to foreign companies. This has been expensive for taxpayers and poses risks to our country.”
A significant impetus for the bill stems from her worries over the Department of Defense’s collaboration with the German cloud company SAP, notably highlighted by a $1 billion Army contract last year.
SAP is one of Europe’s leading technology companies, recognized as “the world’s largest provider of enterprise software.”
Boebert claims that, beyond being a foreign firm, SAP has not met basic functionality standards.
“Foreign companies like SAP charge our agencies excessive fees without delivering basic services,” she remarked. “American firms can and should perform better than these international corporations.”
Both SAP and the Department of the Army declined to comment on the matter when approached.
Boebert intends to formally introduce the bill on Friday. If it passes, it will prevent federal agencies from granting new contracts, renewing current ones, or undertaking major changes to systems owned primarily by foreign entities.
The bill provides a waiver option that could permit exceptions if agency leaders can demonstrate valid reasons to the appropriate Congressional committee within 30 days.
Boebert reiterated her stance that outsourcing critical systems has cost taxpayers the billions and jeopardized data security.
She stated that the legislation emphasizes that contracts related to sensitive information should be managed by American citizens for American citizens.
“We need to buy American, hire American, and secure our systems. That’s what America First means,” she mentioned.
To ensure compliance, agency leaders would have to certify under penalty of perjury that their vendors aren’t primarily foreign-owned software companies.
The sensitive data in question includes Social Security numbers, health records, and other personal information of federal employees, which could also impact national security.
Boebert admitted that the extent of government contracts with foreign software companies remains largely unclear but pointed out that many issues surfaced during the Trump administration.
She dismissed worries that the legislation could burden government processes, asserting, “I think it’s reasonable to ask our public officials to do a bit more to protect our country.”
“There’s a lot of talk about outsourcing to save money, but often it leads to us being taken advantage of.”
In her view, the bill is straightforward: “Buy American, hire American, and implement American-made systems. That’s the essence of America First.”
