Review - HR 9520 Introduced – Federal Cyber Workforce Training

Earlier this month, Rep Fallon (R,TX) introduced HR 9520, the Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024. The bill would require the National Cyber Director to formulate a plan for the establishment of a federal cyber training institute. It does not authorize the actual establishment of the institute, that would require subsequent legislation. The bill specifically does not authorize new spending. This is a companion measure to S 4715 [removed from paywall], which was introduced in July when it was ordered reported favorably with substitute language. That report (and the revised version) has not yet been printed.

Moving Forward

Fallon is a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. With new spending being prohibited, I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that the bill would receive some level of bipartisan support, perhaps enough that it could be considered under the suspension of the rules process.

Commentary

While the proposed institute is not a cybersecurity institute, all cyber work roles should include some level of cybersecurity responsibilities. I think it would be helpful to delineate a responsibility for the institute to establish a minimum level of cybersecurity training for all cyber personnel. To that end, I would like to suggest the insertion of a new §2(b)(2)(C):

“(C) establish a common skill level cybersecurity curriculum for all entry level positions and a more advanced cybersecurity training program for personnel transitioning to mid-career level positions;”

 

For more information about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-9520-introduced - subscription required.