A group of Democrat senators urged Congressional leaders to include $1 billion in funding for the Lifeline program, which provides a discount on phone services for low-income consumers, in a future COVID-19 relief package. […]
Here’s an overview of some of the latest developments on the government and tech fronts due to COVID-19. […]
The U.S. 2020 general election is drawing ever closer, but complications posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are adding an enduring set of worries for conducting a smooth election process. Public health experts and election officials alike remain largely stumped on the best ways to conduct the general election amid the pandemic. […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to play out with no firm end-date in sight, its impact on major events has been felt widely and the status of future events grows only more uncertain. […]
As schools have closed down across the country to combat the spread of COVID-19, students are increasingly needing broadband access to take part in digital learning. However, there are still wide swaths of the country – much of it rural – that lack access to broadband. […]
After Congress agreed to pass the CARES Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to House Democrats that it is time to “double down” on those efforts. […]
President Donald Trump signed two wireless bills into law Monday night, one to create a plan for the security of 5G networks and the other to ensure the accuracy of broadband data maps. […]
More than 50 Congressional representatives agreed to a March 18 letter in support of remote voting addressed to House leadership, however, not all representatives physically signed the letter due to concerns about the coronavirus. […]
House members voted 395-13 on March 10 to adopt recommendations from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on establishing a centralized human resources (HR) system and modernizing House IT resources. […]
Implementing a proposed Federal grant program designed to improve state and local government cybersecurity would cost a total of $2.89 billion over the next six years including both expected grant totals and the cost to run the program, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. […]
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed multiple cybersecurity bills, including the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2019 and the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 at a March 11 markup. […]
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission that is set to release recommendations March 11 on how to better defend the U.S. against cyber threats, said today the commission hopes to spark quick action by Congress on at least some of those recommendations. […]
On the same day that several members of Congress entered into voluntary quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February, Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rick Crawford, R-Ark., reintroduced the Members Operating to Be Innovative and Link Everyone (MOBILE) Resolution. […]
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced the Network Security Trade Act on March 5 directing trade officials to make supply chain security a key objective in their telecommunications trade discussions, in the midst of formal trade talks with the United Kingdom and other allies on the matter. […]
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., introduced legislation March 5 that would establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on developing innovative technology to improve water management. […]
Three members of Congress representing big Federal government employee districts introduced legislation today that would protect telework availability for Federal employees. […]
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., introduced legislation Feb. 28 that would increase the number of children who have internet access in their homes to close the “homework gap.” […]
On Feb. 27, the Senate passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 sending the bill to President Trump’s desk. […]
Congressional staffers on House and Senate committees with strong interest in cybersecurity issues said today they are watching for “low-hanging fruit” in the form of easy-to-enact legislative proposals expected to make up some of the recommendations in the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) report set to be released on March 11. […]
The National Governors Association (NGA) urged Congress to take action on key pieces of legislation that will help harden state and local government’s (SLGs) cybersecurity defenses. […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2020 (H.R. 5680) could slightly lower the deficit, but not by a significant amount. The bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. on Jan. 27, would authorize the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to issue administrative subpoenas in rare […]
The House of Representatives is looking to strengthen public safety network resiliency with two new pieces of legislation. […]
Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced the Ethical Use of Facial Recognition Act on Feb. 12 which would institute a moratorium on all Federal use of facial recognition technology until Congress passes legislation outlining “specific uses for the data” collected. […]
A Senate bill that would provide government funding for smaller communications service providers to remove equipment in their networks supplied by Huawei, ZTE and other China-based suppliers would cost $726 billion over ten years to implement, the Congressional Budget Office said on Feb. 11. […]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has drafted a bill that would create a U.S. Federal data strategy agency that would protect citizens’ data and have the authority to enforce data practices across the U.S. […]
The House Homeland Security Committee advanced the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act out of committee on Feb. 12. […]
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee approved two bills on Feb. 12 to harden the U.S. electric grid against cyberattacks. […]
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced legislation Feb. 13 to codify the General Services Administration (GSA) Technology Transformation Services (TTS) Centers of Excellence (CoE) program. […]
During today’s Senate Homeland Security Committee Hearing, both Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs agreed that CISA’s role is largely similar to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mandate. […]
The FedRAMP Authorization Act, sponsored by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., passed unanimously in the House by voice vote on Feb. 5. […]