On Wednesday, literally during Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris, we had a sudden read alert — had the CTO been named?

It came in the form of a press release with this headline: “CONNOLLY & MORAN URGE OBAMA TO CHOOSE CHOPRA FOR TECH POST”

Yes, now we see the key word there — “urge.” But we’re all on the edge of our seat for an announcement — everybody is still shocked that there are all these backed-up announcements. More on that in a moment. But first, more on the release itself…

The above mentioned release comes from Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) — a release that neither have posted on their Web sites, I might add — who had sent a letter to President Obama earlier this week urging the administration to select Anish Chopra, the Virginia Secretary of Technology and a person widely beleived to be on the Obama CTO short list.

One of the interesting things is that we’re getting a glimps about what transparency means to Team Obama — data gets shared in some areas but not in others. For example, everybody knows that Vivek Kundra, the CTO for the Washington, DC government, has been named the OMB administrator of e-government and information technology — the former Mark Foreman-Karen Evans job. In fact, Kundra has meet with the federal CIO Council — twice. Yet everybody walks around as if it isn’t the case like something out of the Emperor’s New Clothes.

That being said, I have posted Connolly and Moran’s release after the break… and the Feb. 19 letter that they sent to President Obama.

You can read the Connolly-Moran release here… or I have posted it below… I have also posted the Feb. 19 letter they sent to President Obama:

WASHINGTON ┓ Northern Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran are urging President Obama to choose Virginia┙s Secretary of Technology as the new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the nation. In a letter to the President, Connolly and Moran recommended the selection of Aneesh Chopra, the current Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, for the newly created post.

├Northern Virginia has extraordinary human capital. With a critical mass of technology companies, including many federal contractors, this region will play a central role in developing the innovative technologies that will drive productivity increases and help reinvigorate economic growth,┝ Connolly and Moran said in their letter.

Citing Chopra┙s public and private sector experience in the technology field and offering their ├most enthusiastic recommendation for his appointment, the congressmen said, ├his experience with a focus on health care information technology is ideal for a position that will have responsibilities dealing both with stimulus spending on health care and environmental programs as well as forthcoming efforts to extend health care coverage.┝

Connolly and Moran praised President Obama for his ├visionary plan to appoint a CTO,┝ noting that the post is critical ├as we make unprecedented investments in innovative technology with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.┝ They said, ├The CTO will be essential to the success of the stimulus and to ensuring accountability.┝

Shortly after taking office, Obama signed an Executive Order creating the CTO position.

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