S 2393 New Sponsor Added – Ag Cyber Clearinghouse

Earlier this week Sen Warnock (D,GA) was added as a co-sponsor for S 2393 [removed from paywall], the Food and Agriculture Industry Cybersecurity Support Act. Warnock is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that, were there more time remaining in the session, there could be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee, instead it is unlikely to make a difference.

The bill would require National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish a food and agriculture cybersecurity clearinghouse which would include direct support by NTIA to the food and agriculture industry. No funding is authorized by this bill.

This bill is very similar to HR 1219, which was introduced in March. No action has been taken on that bill.

Review - HR 1219 Introduced – Food and Agriculture Cybersecurity

Last month, Rep Pfluger (R,TX) introduced HR 1219, the Food and Agriculture Industry Cybersecurity Support Act. The bill would require National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish a food and agriculture cybersecurity clearinghouse which would include direct support by NTIA to the food and agriculture industry. It also includes an obligatory report to Congress by the GAO. No funding is authorized by this bill.

Moving Forward

Pfluger and his three cosponsors {Rep Veasey (D,TX), Rep Curtis (R,UT), Rep Matsui (D,CA)} are all members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to which this bill was assigned for primary consideration. This means that their should be adequate influence to see this bill considered in Committee. Since no spending is being authorized in this bill, I see nothing that would engender any organized opposition to the bill. I suspect that it would receive substantial bipartisan support in Committee and would probably be able to move to the floor of the House under the suspension of the rules process.

The big problem facing this bill is the potential lack of support on the House Agriculture Committee which has been assigned secondary consideration responsibility. With no cosponsors of the bill on that Committee, there is no one arguing for the support of that Committee. Lack of support from the Ag Committee will kill any chances of this bill being considered on the floor of the House.

Commentary

The definition of the term ‘food and agriculture industry’ used in the bill is very technology oriented and it specifically mentions ‘information technology’ without reference to an existing definition, but it lacks any specific mention of operational or control system technology other than a reference to “computer vision algorithms for precision agriculture” which is sensor technology, not control system tech. This could be rectified by making a relatively simple change to §2(c)(4)(A):

“(A) equipment and control systems utilized in the food and agriculture supply chain, such as computer vision algorithms for precision agriculture, grain silos, and related food and agriculture storage infrastructure;”

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-1219-introduced - subscription required.