Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who announced today that he would not seek another term in the House, has been focused on information technology issues since his first term in 1996. As a member, and later as chairman, of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Davis has pushed for oversight and innovation in such areas as acquisition reform (the Services Acquisition Reform Act), security (the Federal Information Security Management Act) and e-government (the E-government Act).

The following is a career retrospective as seen in the pages of Federal Computer Week.

Acquisition reform tops list of priorities (March 3, 1996)
In his first term in Congress, Davis , 47, opts to become one of the rare House experts on acquisition reform. "It's not something that will get you elected," he said, even in Northern Virginia . "But I'm going to follow it because it's important."

Rep. Davis floats FSS privatization scenario (May 25, 1997)
Davis proposes week turning the Federal Supply Service into a quasigovernmental corporation that would run the multiple award schedule program more like a commercial business.

Davis plans to resurrect cooperative purchasing (March 15, 1998)
Davis announces he will introduce legislation this year to allow state and local governments to purchase information technology products and services from the General Services Administration's federal supply schedule.

GAO to consider FSS, FTS privatization (July 5, 1998)
Davis says he will ask the General Accounting Office to report on the pros and cons of merging the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service and Federal Technology Service into a quasigovernmental organization operating along the lines of the U.S. Postal Service.

Lawmakers press for fed CIO czar (Sept. 18, 2000)
Davis, who recently introduced a bill calling for a federal IT czar, says the Office of Management and Budget does not have the resources needed to oversee the government's use of information technology.

How the House divides (March 4, 2001)
With the House Government Reform Committee's decision to split oversight of technology issues, Davis takes charge of the Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee.

Davis revives cyberthreat legislation (July 16, 2001)
Davis reintroduces a bill aimed at encouraging the private sector to share cybersecurity incidents with federal agencies.

Davis seeks further reforms (Oct. 28, 2001)
Davis plans to introduce legislation that would bring procurement laws in line with the government's shift from buying products to buying services.