Legislative Activity House Armed Services Chairman Introduces Defense Acquisition Reform Bill On May 18, Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced the Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act (H.R. 2511), a defense acquisition reform bill. The draft legislation would allow the Pentagon to use e-commerce for commercial-off-the-shelf items and streamline the defense contract … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, September 12, at 3:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S.2848, the Water Resources Development Act. By way of reminder, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has filed cloture on Inhofe-Boxer substitute amendment #4979 and on the on the underlying bill, S.2848. The filing … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Appropriations Panel Approves Homeland Security Spending Bill, Scrutinizes “Sanctuary City” Policies This week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2016 spending bill funding homeland security programs. The measure provides $39.3 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), $337 million below the amount enacted for FY 2015 … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity On Monday, February 23, following any Leader remarks, Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) will be recognized to deliver Washington’s Farewell Address. Following the reading, the Senate will recess until 4:30pm. At 4:30pm, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 240, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2105. … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity House Cybersecurity Legislation This week, the House will consider four pieces of cybersecurity legislation on the floor including the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (H.R. 3696), Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act (H.R. 2952), Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107), and Safe and Secure Federal Websites Act of … 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 Activity Senate to Mark Up FY 2015 DHS Appropriations The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security has announced that it will mark up the FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations bill on Tuesday, June 24. The Senate 302(b) spending allocation for homeland security is $45.9 billion, which is $6.7 billion more than the House’s homeland … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity NIST Cybersecurity Framework Implementation The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is planning to hold a cybersecurity workshop this fall to discuss the implementation of the Cybersecurity Framework that NIST developed and released in February. The location and date for the workshop has not been set but NIST intends to discuss … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Appropriations Committee On June 11, the House Appropriations Committee favorably reported out of committee by voice vote the FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. This bill funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and related agency activities, such as border security, law enforcement, cybersecurity protection, counter-narcotics efforts, counter-terrorism activities, and disaster response. … 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 Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson offered some encouraging news to cybersecurity stakeholders in comments at the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit, noting that he believes that Congress is likely to agree on cybersecurity legislation this summer. While he did not comment on any of the specific bills … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Dashboard The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to begin using a new dashboard in January 2015 that will display real-time visual data of the cybersecurity status of federal networks. The dashboard is part of DHS’s cybersecurity efforts through its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM), … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Senate Information Sharing Legislation Last week, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) issued a statement noting their progress on a draft cybersecurity information sharing bill that they have been working on since last year. In the statement, they noted that they have reached an agreement … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity CFATS Bill Advances On April 30, the House Homeland Security Committee reported out of committee by voice vote Rep. James Meehan’s (R-PA) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Authorization and Accountability Act (CFATS) of 2014 (H.R. 4007). This bill would provide multi-year funding for DHS’s chemical facility security program, insure that the Department of … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity U.S. Department of Defense Network Breach Reporting Regulations The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is expected to release draft regulations this summer that would require defense contractors to report network and information system penetrations within a specified amount of time. As part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, DOD was … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Renewed Call for Improved Airport Perimeter Security After a 15-year-old California boy survived a five-and-a-half hour stowaway trip last week, Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) resubmitted a request sent in February by some of his fellow House Homeland Security Committee members to the Government Accountability Office to perform a review of airport perimeter security … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Passes Coast Guard Reauthorization On April 1, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014 (H.R. 4005), which was introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA). This bill would authorize $17.5 … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing last week, Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-OK) announced that the committee is working on legislation that will give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to hire more cybersecurity professionals. Ranking Member Coburn stated that the committee will … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Wednesday, March 26: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing at 10:00 am titled “Strengthening Public-Private Partnerships to Reduce Cyber Risks to Our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure.” Wednesday, March 26: The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing at 2:30 pm titled “Protecting Personal … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Names Acting ICE Leader Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson has announced that Deputy Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Thomas Winkowski – who most recently served as acting director of CBP – will become the acting principal deputy assistant director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), where he will … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, March 11: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Navy Vice Admiral Michael S. Rogers to be Admiral and Director of the National Security Agency, Chief of the Central Security Services, and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command. In addition, the Committee will … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity OMB Releases DHS FY 2015 Budget Request On March 5, the Office of Management and Budget released President Barack Obama’s FY 2015 Budget Request, which recommends $38.2 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), approximately $1 billion less overall than the level of funding appropriated to the agency under … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, March 4: The House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology and Subcommittee on Oversight will host a joint hearing titled “Can Technology Protect Americans from International Cybercriminals?” Dr. Charles Romine, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Secretary Johnson Sets Agency Priorities On February 26, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared before the House Homeland Security Committee to discuss DHS operations and his priorities for the agency. In response to concerns from privacy-minded lawmakers, he stated that he might scale back loans of Customs and Border … Continue Reading
