HR 3055 Introduced – FY 2020 CJS Spending

Earlier this week Rep. Serrano (D,NY) introduced HR 3055, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act, 2020. The bill does not contain any significant cybersecurity language, the Appropriations Committee Report does contain some cyber language; none of it specifically addresses control system security issues.

Cyber Issues

In the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) portion of the report, the Committee briefly addresses cybersecurity issues. On page 20, the Committee “encourages NIST to utilize existing expertise within its Information Technology Laboratory to increase cybersecurity technical training to small manufacturers to strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities”.

In the Department of Justice portion of the report, the Committee briefly touches on cyber-enabled crime. On page 46, the Committee “directs the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to work with the private sector to establish best practices for active cyber defense techniques to better defend American companies from cyberattack.” Later, on page 69, the Report follows up on a not yet submitted report required by the FY 2019 spending bill on “crimes committed against individuals and facilitated by the interstate telecommunications system”; directing DOJ “to submit the report in a timely manner to ensure the Committee has the information necessary to assess and deal with these crimes.”

On page 100 the Report has two cyber related notes for the National Science Foundation (NSF). In the first the Committee “NSF to form partnerships with Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities with respect to cybersecurity research”. Next, after noting that the Committee is continuing funding of the CyberCorps scholarship program at 2019 levels, the Report “urges NSF to continue work with qualified community colleges including through providing scholarships and apprenticeship opportunities”.

Moving Forward

This bill will probably be included in the second ‘minibus’ later this month. This bill will pass in the House. Looking at the ‘Minority Views’ section (pgs 153-4) of the bill, there is some Republican dissatisfaction with some of the terms of the bill, but it hardly seems vociferous. Thus the vote will likely be mostly partisan, but there should be some room for developing a compromise conference bill before the end of the fiscal year.