Review – HR 3278 Introduced – Protecting Critical Infrastructure Act

Last month Rep Fallon (R,TX) introduced HR 3278, the Protecting Critical Infrastructure Act. The bill would amend 18 USC 1030 providing enhanced penalties for offenses involving critical infrastructure. It would also require the President to impose sanctions on foreign persons that knowingly accesses or attempts to access critical infrastructure. No new funding is provided in the bill.

Moving Forward

Neither Fallon, nor his three cosponsors, are members of the House Judiciary Committee to which tis bill was assigned for primary consideration. The three cosponsors are all members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to which the bill was assigned for secondary consideration. This means that there will probably not be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in the Judiciary, but there may be sufficient influence to be considered in the Foreign Affairs Committee.

As written, I do not think that the bill would have sufficient support in the Judiciary Committee to be approved if it were considered. The bill would need substantial revision of the §1030 amendment, including qualifying and limiting language like that found in the existing paragraphs of §1030(c). I would expect that there would be some opposition from Democrats based upon the history of the early application of §1030, so there would probably not be sufficient bipartisan support to see the bill considered in the full House under the suspension of the rules process.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-3278-introduced-protecting-critical - subscription required.