Bills Introduced – 04-13-15

The first day back in session and 55 bills are introduced. Seven of those may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 1731 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance multi-directional sharing of information related to cybersecurity risks and strengthen privacy and civil liberties protections, and for other... Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10]

HR 1735 To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year.. Rep. Thornberry, Mac [R-TX-13] 

HR 1738 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to modernize and implement the national integrated public alert and warning system to disseminate homeland... Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12]

HR 1753 To establish a National Office for Cyberspace, and for other purposes. Rep. Langevin, James R. [D-RI-2]

HR 1763 To provide for the minimum size of crews of freight trains, and for other purposes Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large]

H Res 195 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives about a national strategy for the Internet of Things to promote economic growth and consumer empowerment. Rep. Lance, Leonard [R-NJ-7] 

S 902 A bill to prohibit trespassing on critical infrastructure used in or affecting interstate commerce to commit a criminal offense. Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]

HR 1731 is the new cybersecurity information sharing bill that is being marked up by the House Homeland Security Committee today.

HR 1735, the DOD spending bill, may contain cybersecurity language; we’ll see. This is one of the earliest spending bill introductions that I remember. We may actually see at least some of these passed before the start of the fiscal year.

HR 1738 is the second bill to address the national alerting system introduced this year. The first, HR 1472 is being marked up tomorrow. Unless something odd happens with either of these bills this will be the last time that they are mentioned.

HR 1753 could be interesting or it could be a bust. I’ll have to wait until I see the actual language to see if there is something specifically addressing control system security.

HR 1763 is a train safety issue. Unless the bill includes some specific mention of crude oil trains or hazmat shipments this will be the last mention here.

H Res 195 looks like it may be a response to S Res 110 that I lambasted when it was introduced. I’ll have more on this resolution later today.

S 902 looks like it is a re-issue of S 2934 that was introduced late in the last session of Congress. It was issued so late that I never really took a look at it. I’ll have to wait and see what it actually says before I decide to continue to cover it.