Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee want the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is handling cybersecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, they said in an October 9 letter. […]

Republican House leadership has its eye on AI, data privacy, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in its newly released emerging tech agenda. […]

The House voted Dec. 16 to approve legislation that would provide $1 billion to smaller-sized private sector communications service providers to remove from their networks equipment purchased from China-based equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, and replace that gear with equipment that does not pose a threat to U.S. national security. […]

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.” […]

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. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee late Wednesday voted 30-22 to approve H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, which would roll back network neutrality rules to their 2015 level. […]

Two senior House leaders with jurisdiction over major tech-sector issues drew familiar battle lines today over the issue of net neutrality – or how providers of Internet service should or should not have their service offerings and operations regulated by the Federal government. […]

The Department of Energy’s new office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) has already begun work to provide support to the nation’s energy grid and critical infrastructure cybersecurity, and the head of the new office appeared in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday to discuss the role of CESER within DoE. […]

Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct biennial reviews and provide dedicated funding to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program after finding erratic contracts and little planning documentation. The request was made via a letter to DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday. […]

Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]

Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., plan to announce legislation that would pave the way for increased innovation in self-driving vehicle technologies. “Ultimately, we expect adoption of self-driving vehicle technologies will save lives, improve mobility for people with disabilities, and create new jobs,” they said in a statement. […]

Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Tim Murphy, R-Pa., sent a letter requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attend a briefing with the Energy and Commerce committee on pharmaceutical companies affected by malware, such as the recent NotPetya malware’s impact on pharmaceutical company Merck. […]

Citing the WannaCry ransomware attacks, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee brought up concerns with Health and Human Services officials that a similar attack could cause severe damage to U.S. health systems. […]