Bills Introduced – 1-4-21

Yesterday with both the House and Senate in session (117^th Congress), there were 192 bills introduced. Of those bills four may receive further coverage in this blog:

HR 117 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a DHS Cybersecurity On-the-Job Training and Employment Apprentice Program, and for other purposes.  Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18] 

HR 118 To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a report on cyber vulnerability disclosures, and for other purposes.  Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]

HR 119 To require the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense National Guard.  Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18] 

HR 171 To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to identify vulnerabilities in supply chains for United States entities, and for other purposes.  Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11]

It is not unusual to see such a large number of bills introduced during the first month of a new Congress. A very large number of the bills being introduced are political statements with a number of them being re-introduced in each new session. Again, the vast majority of bills introduced in Congress are never considered in committee, fewer are brought to the floor of the respective house for consideration, and even fewer make it to the President’s desk for signature. Seeing a particularly objectionable bill introduced is not cause for undue alarm; the 537 politicians in congress need to make political statements to their supporters from time to time.

I suspect that HR 117 will apply only to the federal government workforce. If that is the case it will probably not be covered here.

Both HR 118 and HR 119 will receive future coverage in this blog.

I will be watching HR 171 for language and definitions that address cybersecurity vulnerabilities, but I suspect that this will be dealing with commercial vulnerabilities in supply chains.