Review - HR 5376 Introduced – Build Back Better

Yesterday, Rep Yarmuth (D,KY) introduced HR 5376, the latest reconciliation bill (popularly known as the Build Back Better bill). This is the long-awaited Democrat program spending bill that will not be subject to cloture requirements if/when it makes it to the Senate. The 2,468 page bill contains four sections with substantial cybersecurity spending and program requirements and three sections with cybersecurity mentions in passing. There are no chemical security or safety mentions in the bill. And beyond some fee establishment or increase provisons there are no pipeline safety or security mentions either.

The four sections with substantial cybersecurity provisions are:

§31102. Establishment of next generation 9–1–1 cybersecurity center (pg. 732).

§50001. Cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency (pg. 896).

§90009. National aeronautics and space administration oversight and cybersecurity (pg. 1067).

§90010. National Institute of Standards and Technology research (pg. 1068).

The House Rules Committee, as of this writing, has not set a meeting for establishing the rule for the consideration of HR 5376 on the floor of the House. It would seem that the House leadership is still working with members, the Senate and the White House to come up with a final version of this bill that will be able to pass in both the House and Senate.

While this bill is a priority for both President Biden and the Congressional Democratic leadership, Speaker Pelosi (D,CA) is unlikely to bring this bill to the House floor for a vote unless she is sure that the votes are available to pass it in the House, and is reasonably certain that there is support of the full Democratic Caucus in the Senate to pass the bill there.

Additionally, it is likely that the Rules Committee will be adding the debt limit extension to this bill, now that the Republicans in the Senate effectively killed HR 5305 yesterday in a party-line vote on the first cloture vote.

For more details on the cybersecurity provisions, including the cybersecurity mentions in passing, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-5376-introduced - subscription required.