Bills Introduced – 6-30-23

Yesterday, with the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 75 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 4394 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 Fleischmann, Charles J. "Chuck" [Rep.-R-TN-3]

HR 4403 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make improvements to the Securing the Cities program, and for other purposes. Carter, Troy [Rep.-D-LA-2]

HR 4429 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement a standardized training program for employees of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.

I will be covering HR 4394.

I will be watching HR 4403 and 4429 for language or definitions that specifically address chemical security or cybersecurity issues in the scope of the bill.

Mention in Passing

From time to time I will see a bill introduced that makes me wonder what that congress critter was thinking. Usually, I just ignore such bills, secure in the knowledge that institutional inertia will insure that the silliness does not make it into law. But, sometimes, I just need to point them out. Today, there is one such bill:

HR 4399 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the potential inclusion of black box data recorders in tactical vehicles of the Armed Forces. Buchanan, Vern [Rep.-R-FL-16]

Black-box data recorders were developed for aircraft (where they are actually bright-orange to aid in location) to help investigators identify what was going on in an aircraft before it crashed. They have made their way into most modern automobiles where the issue has been raised about the constitutionality (self-incrimination) of the use of their information in criminal or civil proceedings. I do not understand what purpose would be served by installing such devices in tactical military vehicles, but I do know that they would be able to provide a wealth of intelligence information to an adversary who was able to capture such an equipped vehicle on the battlefield. Oh well, the GAO does not have anything better to investigate, I suppose.