Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
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Facial recognition

Two bills introduced in the House aim to improve the accuracy of the oft-maligned Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband availability map by changing reporting requirements and allowing community groups access to funds to do their own reporting. […]

election security

In an Oct. 10 letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney, Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called for “stronger coordination of supply chain risk management for information and communications equipment across the Federal government.” […]

Congress Capitol Senate House

After all the negotiations were said and done in the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) ended up with zero dollars for fiscal year 2020 from the upper chamber of Congress. […]

Cybersecurity cyber

The House of Representatives has approved the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation Act (H.R. 3710), which would increase the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) responsibilities in addressing a variety of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. […]

Budget Federal spending

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced two bills to the Senate on Sept. 26, that address underrepresented demographic groups in the science, technology, education, and industry (STEM) field and full talent-pool engagement. […]

A bipartisan group of members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced a bill today to provide $1 billion in aid to remove prohibited equipment from the networks of small communications providers and prevent the usage of Federal funds for “any company that poses a national security risk to American communications networks.” […]

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Federal money spending government

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. […]

White House

More than a year after the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator position was eliminated, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., is urging the Trump administration to reestablish the role, according to a statement released Sept. 18. The recent push comes as President Trump named Robert O’Brien as his new National Security Advisor, following the resignation of John Bolton. […]

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A bipartisan group of senators and representatives are looking to address gaps in Congress’ technology expertise by bringing back the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and making it responsive to member needs, according to a Sept. 18 press release. […]

data privacy, people, personal data, binary

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Sept. 18 expressed general support for Federal data legislation to protect consumer privacy and to preempt state-level data privacy laws, but also cautioned that she does not want to see the U.S. copy the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) framework. […]

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. […]

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The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes multiple provisions in the bill’s report that push the Department of Defense (DoD) to make greater investments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). […]

Capital, House of Representatives, Congress, Senate

The Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government today approved the FY2020 Financial Services and General Government Funding bill that zeros out funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) for FY2020, a source with knowledge confirmed. […]

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Federal money spending government

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a Sept. 13 report that implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019 will cost $35 million over the 2019-2024 period, and an additional $11 million in 2020 to develop the IoT guidelines and standards mandated in the legislation. […]

data privacy, people, personal data, binary

The Business Roundtable trade group asked House and Senate leaders in Congress for action on a “comprehensive consumer data privacy law that strengthens protections for consumers and establishes a national privacy framework to enable continued innovation and growth in the digital economy.” […]

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Congress Capitol Senate House

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. […]

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