Review – HR 9689 Introduced – DHS Cybersecurity Interns

Last month, Rep Clarke (D,NY) introduced HR 9689, the DHS Cybersecurity Internship Program Act. The bill would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by adding a new §1334, Cybersecurity internship program. It would require DHS to establish a paid cybersecurity internship program. No new funding is authorized by this legislation.

Moving Forward

Clarke is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. There is nothing in this bill that would engender organized opposition. I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for the legislation, but I am not sure that it would be enough to allow the bill to move to the floor of the House under the suspension of the rule process.

This bill is coming too late in the session to have a much of a chance to move forward. I would expect to see this bill reintroduced next session.

Commentary

One of the problems any intern program in DHS will have to deal with is that potential incidental exposure to classified information will limit the number of offices in which interns could be employed. The relatively brief period of internship would make obtaining a security clearance difficult, so DHS will have to carefully select the positions where these interns could serve. This should be addressed in the annual report to Congress.

 

For more information on the provisions of the program, including suggested changes to bill to deal with the security clearance issue, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-9689-introduced - subscription required.