Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Introduced in the House and Senate On March 2, legislators in both the House of Representatives (House) and the Senate introduced several bills relating to cybersecurity reforms. As of this writing, the text of the bills below has not been publicly released. The following bills were introduced in the House: H.R.1340, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity McCaul Unveils Counterterrorism Strategy, Including TSA Overhaul On Tuesday, September 20, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) unveiled a counterterrorism strategy containing over 100 policy prescriptions and principles designed to combat the rise of global terrorism. The 35-page document, “A National Strategy to Win the War Against Islamist Terror,” follows on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Committee Chairs Call for Reconsideration of IANA Transition On September 8, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and Senate Committee on the Judiciary … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Introduces Joint Resolution to Repeal FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules On April 13, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced a Joint Resolution to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) open Internet rules adopted on February 26. The resolution states that Congress disapproves of the FCC’s rules and that those rules will have no effect. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Hold Hearings on Internet Issues On February 25, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation held companion hearings concerning the Internet and Internet governance. The hearings occurred one day in advance of the Federal Communications Commission’s … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity The Rebuild America Act Includes Funding for Broadband On January 27, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a bill entitled The Rebuild America Act. The legislation envisions a five-year plan to rebuild the country’s network of roads, bridges, transit systems, and other major infrastructure projects. Included in the bill’s $1 trillion investment is $5 … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity GOP Lawmakers Unveil Net Neutrality Bill Restricting FCC Power On January 16, Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate unveiled draft net neutrality bills that would require broadband providers to follow some net neutrality principles while imposing important new restrictions on the power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The legislation proposes to … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) stated that he is optimistic about the prospects for the cybersecurity information sharing legislation that he is currently working on with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). He stated that the two Senators are currently working … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Johnson and Crapo Release GSE Reform Draft On March 16, 2014, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) released a draft legislation to reform the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the section-by-section of the legislation can be found here, and a detailed summary can … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity EPA To Propose New GHG Emissions Rule for Oil and Gas Facilities The EPA is proposing revisions to the greenhouse gas reporting rule for oil and gas facilities that will revise calculation methods, monitoring and data reporting requirements, terms and definitions including confidentiality determinations. Affected parties are likely to include: pipeline transportation of … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Breach Hearings and Legislation In response to the recent Target data breach which compromised the credit and debit card data of millions of customers, several committees will host hearings in the coming weeks to examine data breaches and their effect on customers. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on … Continue Reading