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 House Panel to Consider Port Security This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will hold a hearing on “The Prevention of and Response to the Arrival of a Dirty Bomb at a U.S. Port.” In a memo accompanying the hearing announcement, the Subcommittee staff explained that … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Consider Homeland Security Legislation On Tuesday, October 20, the House of Representatives will consider several bills related to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including: H.R. 3572, the DHS Headquarters Reform and Improvement Act of 2015, which would reorganize DHS functions and update the agency’s acquisitions procedures; H.R. 3350, the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity U.S. Secret Service Allegedly Released Information on Congressional Leader This week, allegations surfaced that the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) had leaked sensitive information on Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) just as the Congressman had been investigating the agency. An Inspector General’s report found that senior USSS officials released information on the head of the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Administration Announces It Will Accept At Least 10,000 Additional Syrian Refugees During FY 2016 This week, the Administration announced it would accept up to 10,000 additional refugees fleeing conflict in Syria during the next fiscal year. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State Foreign Operations, has said … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Continues Oversight of Aviation Security Agency On Thursday, July 23, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security advanced three measures aimed at strengthening the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), after covert TSA testing earlier this year found airport screeners failed to detect prohibited items in 67 out of 70 test cases. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Appropriations Panel to Consider Homeland Security Measure This Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee will meet to consider its draft FY 2016 bill funding homeland security programs. The Subcommittee on Homeland Security unanimously approved the measure, which provides $39.3 billion in discretionary funding, on Thursday, July 9. Though the subcommittee vote was unanimous, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Panel Approves Homeland Security Spending Bill This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2016 Homeland Security spending bill. The measure, adopted 26-4, provides $40.213 billion in funds for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), $765 million above the FY 2015 enacted levels but $1.2 billion less than requested … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Homeland Security IG Testifies Before Congressional Committee On Tuesday, June 9, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General John Roth testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee regarding oversight of the Transportation Secretary Administration (TSA). Mr. Roth’s testimony comes just as TSA continues to address the results of covert … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Respond to Results of TSA Internal Investigation Upon news that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners failed to detect prohibited items in 67 out of 70 test cases conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General undercover teams, the acting TSA Administrator was reassigned and replaced by Acting TSA Deputy Administrator … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Homeland Security Chair Concerned with Flow of Foreign Fighters On Friday, May 29, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-TX) participated in a meeting with top officials from around the world, including U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, at the United Nations to discuss the threat from foreign fighters. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Season About to Begin Congress returns from a two-week recess this week, with work on twelve appropriations bills set to begin very soon. Last week, House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) announced vice chairmen for each of the panel’s subcommittees. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), chair of the Defense Subcommittee, will also serve … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax-Writers to Focus on Obamacare With the tax filing deadline just around the corner in the first tax season with implications from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), tax-writers are slated to host a series of hearings focusing on various tax-related aspects of the law. In the House Ways and Means Committee, Members will … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Bill Would Tighten Requirements for Visa Waiver Program A proposed House bill seeks to strengthen requirements under the visa waiver program in place for nationals from certain countries. The Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 158), originally introduced by Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), aims to tighten requirements under the visa … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Moves Forward on Information Sharing Legislation Last week, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a closed mark-up to consider the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) passing the bill out of committee by a 14-1 vote. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was the only Senator to vote against the bill. The White House … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Committees Move Forward on Information Sharing Legislation Last week, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence began circulating a draft version of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that it plans to introduce in the coming weeks. While the Committee is now led by Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), the bill appears … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Funding Deadline Days Away With days before U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding expires on February 27, Congress appears no closer to resolving the partisan impasse. The Senate has set aside time Monday to vote on the House version of the spending bill (H.R. 240), but it remains to be seen … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Discusses Potential Data Breach Legislation Last week during the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess (R-TX) hinted about his plans to develop legislation addressing federal standards on data security and breach notification. While the Subcommittee Chairman did not explicitly state a timeline for this legislation, it is expected … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Considers Information Sharing Legislation This Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) will host a hearing to discuss information sharing legislation, which is a priority for the HSGAC Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI). Chairman Johnson is expected to work with the Senate Intelligence Committee to draft and consider information sharing … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Carper and McCaul Call for Cyber Legislation in the Lame Duck Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) recently urged Senate leaders to take up his cybersecurity legislation – the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center Act of 2014 (S. 2519). This legislation would codify the existing National … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The lame duck session of Congress will officially begin on Wednesday and it is expected that Senate Democrats will seek to use the remainder of 2014 to complete any outstanding policy items before Republicans take over the Senate in 2015. Although many stakeholders are calling for the Senate to take up … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will mark up two pieces of cybersecurity legislation that have not yet been formally introduced. The first is the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 which would update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002. The second … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is currently in the process of receiving stakeholder comments on its draft cybersecurity information sharing legislation that is likely to be introduced in the coming weeks. Last week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) called on the Senate to act on their … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Consider Environmental Nominations On Tuesday, May 13, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a full committee hearing to evaluate President Obama’s nominations for key environmental positions. Dr. Monica Regalbuto is being nominated for Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) to oversee the department’s Office of Environmental … Continue Reading
