S 2629 Passed in House – Cybercrime Metrics

This evening, the House completed their consideration of S 2629, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act by a moderately bipartisan vote of 37 to 48. They held their debate on the bill yesterday under the House suspension of the rules process.

Normally, the debate on a bill being considered under the suspension of the rules process is mainly congratulating the Committee leadership on the bipartisan process that led to successful development and adoption of the legislation. While there was a certain amount of that in this debate, there was some actual opposition voiced in yesterday’s debate. Rep Bentz (R,OR) complained about the lack of hearings on either this bill or it’s companion legislation HR 4977 in the House. Both bills were considered in their respective committee’s and reported favorably without written report. This means that there is no record of investigational hearings on the record for either bill.

In response, Rep Jackson-Lee added four articles to the record:

Cybercrime Predictions for 2022: Deepfakes, Cryptocurrencies, and Misinformation - by Maya Horowitz,

HO, HO, HO, HOLIDAY SCAMS! - by Beth Anne Steele,

Without Major Changes, More Americans Could be Victims of Online Crime - by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D–VA),

U.S. Military Has Acted Against Ransomware Groups, General Acknowledges - by Julian E. Barnes

The bill now goes to the President, who will almost certainly sign the bill.