The Senate on Sept. 24 passed a bill that would increase the Federal government’s ability to respond to and aid government agencies and private-sector companies that are involved in major cyber incidents. […]
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., on Sept. 24 introduced H.R. 4458, the Cybersecurity and Financial System Resilience Act of 2019, to combat cybersecurity threats facing the Federal Reserve System. […]
The House voted this afternoon to approve a nearly two-month stopgap spending bill that would push current Federal funding levels beyond the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year. The bill, H.R. 4378, passed in a vote of 301-123. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week, sending it to the White House for President Trump’s signature. […]
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a long-time advocate for stronger data privacy rules and current sponsor of the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, said today it’s unlikely that Congress will take action on this issue this year. […]
Reps. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, and Ro Khana, D-Calif., announced today that they will formally introduce the Advancing Continuous Diagnostics Mitigation (CDM) Act later this week. The House bill, which was dropped off on the House floor today, is identical to its Senate companion bill which was introduced on July 30. […]
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., introduced the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Improvement Act on Aug. 30 to help state and local governments combat cyberattacks. The legislation comes in the wake of increasing ransomware attacks targeting state and local governments, including Katko’s own state. […]
On August 22, President Trump signed into law the Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act (CASES Act) which will modernize the inquiry process for constituents by creating electronic forms to improve access and efficiency to Federal services and agencies. […]
Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, confirmed to MeriTalk that he will reintroduce the Advancing Cybersecurity Continuing Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Act. His office said to expect the bill “within the next month or so.” […]
With the year quickly coming to a close, the FedRAMP Authorization Act will be one of Rep. Gerry Connolly’s “big priorities” for legislation, with a markup session expected when the House returns from its August recess, Connolly said during MeriTalk’s Cyber Security Brainstorm today. […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate for S. 406, the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2019, and found that it would cost less than $500,000 annually to implement. […]
Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., introduced the TOWER Infrastructure Deployment Act (TOWER Act) with the goal of increasing broadband deployment across the country and addressing the workforce shortage within telecommunications industry. […]
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on July 31, introduced a bill to combat illegal robocalls. […]
In response to the 2017 Cambridge Analytica scandal, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced the Voter Privacy Act on July 31. The legislation would give voters greater control over how their personal information is used by political candidates and campaigns in Federal elections. Feinstein’s office said currently there is no Federal law regulating the collection and use of voter data by political organizations. […]
Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, reintroduced the Advancing Cybersecurity Continuing Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Act on July 30. […]
Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., introduced new legislation on July 30 that would require the State Department to investigate the potential benefits of establishing a cooperative U.S.-Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. The bill, dubbed the U.S. -Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Act, has garnered bipartisan support in the Senate, and Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., has already introduced a companion bill in the House. […]
Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., co-chair of the House AI Caucus, said last week that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have the potential to create “tremendous public good,” but also warned of risks the technology poses including job losses. […]
A principal author of Senate legislation that would pump $2.2 billion of Federal funding into development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the next five years said last week that investment would help a host of industry sectors including healthcare, energy, and agriculture. […]
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform approved the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2019 on July 25. […]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved four new pieces of IT-related legislation during today’s committee markup. […]
Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., reintroduced the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (AIRWAVES) Act on July 23. The legislation will “encourage the Federal government to continue to free up spectrum for commercial licensed and unlicensed use and leverage the success of spectrum auctions to help close the urban-rural divide,” according to the bill’s sponsors. […]
Following the Federal government’s settlement with Equifax regarding its 2017 data breach, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pledged to renew his push towards passing data privacy legislation. In a statement on July 22, Wyden urged the passage of his Consumer Data Protection Act, which he initially introduced in November of 2018. […]
The Senate on July 8 unanimously approved the Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act, which was sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. […]
The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote this week on a bill that would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to craft rules regarding unwanted robocall and robotext messages that make sure those communications comply with the consumer protection and privacy purposes of Section 227 of the Communications Act. […]
A bill introduced on July 18 by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., would establish a rotating consortium of universities with cyber expertise to advise the Department of Defense (DoD) on cybersecurity issues and coordinate academic feedback to DoD requests for assistance. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a request for information (RFI) on July 16 for Information Assurance Compliance System (IACS) tools that can support FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act) compliance checks and reporting. […]
The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to approve four bipartisan bills related to cybersecurity and energy grid security on July 17, and sent those pieces of legislation to the full House for consideration. […]
Legislation introduced in the House this week by the co-chairs of the House High-Tech Caucus would order up some initial steps that could lead to the U.S. increasing its influence in creating international standards for internet of things (IoT) devices. […]
Members of the House and Senate introduced a bipartisan bill on July 16 to bar both Huawei from U.S. 5G networks and U.S. companies from doing business with the Chinese telecommunications company. […]
The House on July 15 approved two bills that aim to bolster Small Business Administration (SBA) cybersecurity, and help small businesses combat cyberattacks. […]
Six Republican House members earlier this month introduced the Securing American Research from Cyber Theft Act (H.R. 3611), which would fund pilot projects to establish secure computing enclaves at universities to protect research from cyberattacks. […]