Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, February 25: The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Reauthorizing TRIA (Terrorism Risk Insurance Act): The State of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Market, Part II.” Thursday, February 27: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to examine the U.S. Strategic Command and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Authorization Bill The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies will hold a hearing to discuss the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Authorization and Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 4007) on Thursday, February 26. This bill, introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Meehan (R-PA), would provide a … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Breach Issues Last week, three Congressional Committees – the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee – held hearings that explored the recent data breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus that compromised the financial data for millions of customers. Officials from … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Breach This week, several Congressional Committees will hold a number of hearings focused on the recent data breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and other large companies that compromised the financial information of millions of customers. The hearings will focus on how to prevent future data breaches and the appropriate course of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies Committee plans to move forward on its cybersecurity bill this week, with plans to follow-up in full committee in the near future. H.R. 3696, the “National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013” is a bipartisan bill designed … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Homeland Security Nominations The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a nomination hearing for President Barack Obama’s nominee to become the next Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), John Roth. Both Majority and Minority Members of the committee expressed support for Roth’s nomination and along with continued … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Security Hearing After hackers were able to access the credit and debit card data of nearly 40 million Target customers last month, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee calling for Congressional … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Homeland Security Nominations President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate two more officials to fill senior homeland security positions. First, he will nominate Leon Rodriguez to serve as Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Rodriguez is currently the Director of the … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act On Wednesday, December 12, House Homeland Security Committee leaders introduced the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Act (H.R. 3696). The committee has been working with numerous stakeholders over the past six months to draft the legislation. The bill seeks to strengthen the cybersecurity of the … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity NIST Cybersecurity Framework Stakeholders have until Friday, December 13 to submit comments on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) draft Cybersecurity Framework that was released in October. As required by the President’s Executive Order (EO) on cybersecurity released in February 2013, NIST will incorporate these comments in the final version … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity HSGAC to Vote on Jeh Johnson Nomination On Wednesday, November 20, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will vote on the nomination of Jeh Johnson to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Both Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-OK) support his nomination, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Wednesday, November 13: The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing at 10:00 am titled “Cyber Side-Effects: How Secure is the Personal Information Entered into the Flawed Healthcare.gov?” Thursday, November 14: At 10:00 am, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing regarding threats to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Two Senators Call for Acting DHS Inspector General to Step Down Since June 2012, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Inspector General Charles K. Edwards has been the subject of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management inquiry related to charges of nepotism and misuse of government … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee approved two cybersecurity bills by a voice vote – the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107). It is unclear how quickly these bills will be considered on the House floor, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senator Threatens to Hold Jeh Johnson Nomination President Barack Obama has nominated former Department of Defense Chief Counsel Jeh Johnson to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has announced that he plans to block all new nominees until the State Department gives … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation After postponing a previously scheduled markup due to the government shutdown, the House Homeland Security Committee plans to mark up the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107) on Thursday, October 24 at 9:00 am. The bills were … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Jeh Johnson Nominated for DHS Secretary President Barack Obama has nominated former U.S. Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh Johnson to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The position has been empty since former Secretary Janet Napolitano stepped down on September 6, and the vacancy has drawn … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) stated that the committee is close to introducing a cybersecurity information sharing bill that will be the Senate equivalent of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act that the House passed in April. The bill would establish a mechanism within the Department of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Impact of Government Shutdown on DHS The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retained more staff than other agencies because many of its operations cover fields deemed “essential,” such as law enforcement and national security. However, DHS officials still report increased challenges due to the overall impact of the shutdown. In response, House … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Impact of Government Shutdown on DHS Despite the government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retained more staff than other agencies because much of its operations cover fields deemed to be “essential,” such as law enforcement and national security. However, DHS officials still report increased challenges due to the overall impact of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) called on the Senate Intelligence Committee to pass a cybersecurity information sharing bill so that it could eventually be conferenced with his bill that passed the House in April – the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 624). Privacy and national … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity U.S. Department of Homeland Security Nomination Hearings On Tuesday, October 1, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will consider Obama administration nominees for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the General Counsel and Under Secretary of Homeland Security. The committee is expected to report out the two nominees to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies marked up two cybersecurity bills – the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement (CIRDA) Act of 2013 (H.R. 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107). The subcommittee passed both bills by voice vote and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity U.S. Department of Homeland Security Nomination Hearings Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-OK) continue to criticize the outstanding number of open leadership slots at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Last week, the committee held a hearing to consider nominees to … Continue Reading
