President Barack Obama hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India last week, and the Prime Minister addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. The United States and China held their annual Strategic & Economic Dialogue last week in Beijing, issuing a joint statement at the conclusion. Congress was in session last week and will … Continue Reading
President Barack Obama departed on Sunday for what will be his 10th trip to Asia, with scheduled stops in Vietnam and Japan. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released its much-anticipated report reviewing the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (TPP) implications to the U.S. economy last Wednesday. The Administration immediately pointed to the report and called for Congress … Continue Reading
Vice President Joe Biden hosted the U.S.-Caribbean and Central American Energy Summit last week, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to addressing energy security concerns in the Western Hemisphere. President Barack Obama will host the Nordic Leaders Summit in Washington on Friday to deepen U.S.-Nordic cooperation and affirm the U.S. commitment to European security, trans-Atlantic trade and the … Continue Reading
President Barack Obama travelled to Saudi Arabia last week, meeting with Saudi officials on Thursday and attending the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit on Friday to discuss crises in the Middle East. The President then travelled to the United Kingdom (UK), where he urged the UK to remain in the EU ahead of its June … Continue Reading
President Barack Obama hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House last week for an official Head of State Visit, marking the close bilateral relationship between the two countries. President Obama will visit the State Department today to deliver remarks at the Chief of Missions Conference. Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman heads … Continue Reading
Early last week, President Barack Obama hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders in California and announced he will travel in May to Vietnam and Laos. Back in Washington on Wednesday, the President announced another trip in March to Cuba and Argentina. Congress was in recess last week, in observance of the Presidents’ … Continue Reading
Historic snowfall levels kept the U.S. Federal Government from officially reopening until Wednesday of last week. President Barack Obama, however, met the day before with his health and national security teams to discuss the rapid spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses in the Americas and steps being taken to protect U.S. citizens. The President … Continue Reading
The Senate was in session last week, while the House of Representatives remained in recess in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday. On 16 January, Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran took effect, as did a prisoner swap. Washington’s attention then quickly shifted to an impending historic blizzard … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Set to Finalize Major Cybersecurity Information-Sharing Legislation Before adjourning for the holidays, lawmakers could move on compromise cybersecurity legislation after weeks of informal negotiations to secure final language. The measure is expected to merge three separate bills aimed at increasing information sharing between the government and businesses. Ongoing debate over several privacy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Information Sharing Legislation Moves to Conference Last week, the Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA/S. 754) by a 74-21 vote. Before voting on final passage of the bill, the Senate approved an amendment that would sunset the bill ten years after its enactment. All other amendments that were voted on during … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Will Vote on CISA Final Passage on Tuesday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has scheduled a final vote on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA/S. 754) for Tuesday. After months of waiting for the bill to be considered on the Senate floor, the Senate finally began debate of CISA last week … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cyber Legislation Expected on the Senate Floor this Week The Senate returns to Washington today after a one week recess and is expected to consider the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA/S. 754) on the floor this week. While Senators from both sides of the aisle agreed to a package of CISA amendments to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cyber Legislation Coming Soon to the Senate Floor It appears that the Senate may celebrate the fact that October has been designated as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by finally considering the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA/S. 754) on the Senate floor. The timing for the bill’s consideration is dependent on when the Senate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Homeland Security Committee Will Mark up Cyber-Related Legislation On Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee will mark up the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Strategy Act of 2015 (H.R. 3510), which would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop an internal cybersecurity strategy. The bill is in response to DHS’s … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Information Sharing Legislation is Unlikely in September Given a packed schedule in the Senate due to the Iran nuclear deal, the Pope’s visit, and the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 on October 1, it is unlikely that the Senate will pick up where it left off in August on the Cybersecurity Information … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate is Likely to Consider Cybersecurity Legislation Before August Recess Once it completes its work on surface transportation reauthorization legislation, the Senate has indicated that it plans to consider the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA/S. 754) on the Senate floor before it leaves for recess, which is scheduled to begin on August 7. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Action on Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, the House approved a fiscal 2016 intelligence authorization bill that would compel the executive branch to provide Congress more detail on the massive hacking of the federal personnel system and sets requirements for the Cyber Threat Intelligence Center (CTIIC). One of the CTIIC provisions would require … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Fails to Include Cybersecurity Legislation as Part of the National Defense Authorization Act Last week, the Senate attempted to add the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 754) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) but ultimately failed to garner enough votes to move to consideration of the amendment. Senate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Adds Cyber Legislation to Agenda The Senate appears to be willing to take up the Cyber Information Sharing Act or CISA (S. 754) by the end of June, with the Senate Whip adding the bill to the list of legislation to the agenda. After the challenges related to passage of the PATRIOT … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Action on Information Sharing Legislation Unclear Prior to the Memorial Day recess, the Senate was unable to complete its work on its surveillance reform legislation to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act and plans to readdress the issue when the chamber returns this week. Given the debate over the PATRIOT Act and the privacy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity National Defense Authorization Act Passes the House with Cyber Amendments Last week, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2016 by a 269-151 vote. During the floor debate, a number of amendments related to cybersecurity were added to the bill. Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) offered two amendments that both … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Data Breach Legislation Continues to be a Congressional Priority Both House and Senate legislators continue to introduce variations of data security/data breach notification legislation and other bills are expected to be introduced in the near term. To date, only one bill has been marked up in committee and none of the bills have … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Passes Two Information Sharing Bills Last week, during what the House dubbed as “Cyber Week,” the chamber passed two major pieces of cybersecurity legislation that seek to update and authorize voluntary information sharing platforms that allow the federal government and the private sector to share information about cyber threat indicators they are … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity “Cyber Week” Begins April 21st in the House The House has designated this week as “Cyber Week” and plans to expeditiously move key cybersecurity bills focusing on critical information sharing tools. The first is the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act (H.R. 1731), which the House Homeland Security Committee unanimously passed out of Committee … Continue Reading
