S 1761 Introduced – FY 2018 Intel Authorization

Last month Sen. Burr (R,NC) introduced S 1761, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. This bill is the Senate counterpart of HR 3180 that was passed in the House on 7-28-17.

While a good portion of the bill is not publicly available (classified) there are a number of provisions that may be of specific interest to readers of this blog. In addition to Title V (Securing Energy Infrastructure), those sections include:

Sec. 604. Reports on the vulnerabilities equities policy and process of the Federal Government.

Sec. 605. Bug bounty programs.

Sec. 606. Report on cyber-attacks by foreign governments against United States election infrastructure.

Sec. 610. Limitation relating to establishment or support of cyber security unit with the Government of Russia.

Sec. 613. Notification of an active measures campaign.

Securing Energy Infrastructure

Title V is very closely patterned on S 79 of the same title. There are only three significant additions to the language of S 79 found in Title V:

• Adding a definition of the term ‘Director’ as the Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy {§502(2)};

• Adding an interim 180-day report to Congress {§505(a)}; and

• Adding a definition of the term ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ as the intel committees, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee {§505(c)}.

Joint Cybersecurity Unit

Section 610 is similar in intent to the three bills introduced to date (S 1544, HR 3191 and HR 3259)  that would prohibit funding for the establishment of a joint cybersecurity unit with elements of the Russian government. There is, however, a significant difference in the implementation of the restriction.

Section 610(a) would require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report to Congress before and such unit is established. The report would include:

• The purpose of the agreement;

• The nature of any intelligence to be shared pursuant to the agreement;

• The expected value to national security resulting from the implementation of the agreement; and

• Such counterintelligence concerns associated with the agreement as the Director may have and such measures as the Director expects to be taken to mitigate such concerns.

Moving Forward

The Senate Intelligence Committee held a mark-up hearing on July 27^th, 2017 and they approved the current version of the bill. A committee report was published on September 7^th, 2017. The bill will be considered by the Senate at some point in the not too distant future as this is one of the ‘must pass bills’ that each house must consider. A bill will eventually pass, though not necessarily this bill, and it would then be reconciled with the House bill in a conference committee.

Bills Introduced – 08-18-17

Yesterday, both the House and Senate met in pro forma sessions. There were ten bills introduced, including one in the Senate. Senate rules do not normally allow for bill introductions during pro forma sessions, but an exception was made in this case. Interestingly, that is one bill that may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

S 1761 An original bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes. Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]

As is usual with authorization bills, I will be watching this for cybersecurity mentions.

HR 3180 Revived – FY 2018 Intel Authorization

Last night the House Rules Committee met to establish a rule for the consideration of HR 3180 under regular order after it was rejected under the suspension of the rules process. The Committee voted on party lines to bring HR 3180 back to the floor of the House under a closed rule with a longer debate period but no opportunities to amend the bill.

This means that there was nothing done to try to change the votes of the Democrats who opposed the bill so we can expect a similar party line vote. What will be different this time is that only a simple majority will be needed for passage; the bill will almost certainly pass.

The bill will most likely be considered this afternoon.

The bill will be unlikely to be considered in the Senate under its present form. 

HR 3180 Fails in House – FY 2018 Intel Authorization

Today the House failed to pass HR 3180, the FY 2018 Intel authorization bill. It failed on a vote of 241 to 163 with a 2/3 vote (290 Ayes) being required for passage. It was a nearly party-line vote with 10 Republicans voting Nay and 30 Democrats voting Aye. The House Intelligence Committee will have to go back to the drawing board and try to craft a bill that can garner more support from the Democrats if the leadership continues to rely on passing the bill under suspension of the rules.

The other point to remember, however, is that if the bill could not garner the 2/3 vote required under the suspension of the rules process, then it likely would not be able to make it to the floor of the Senate due to the cloture vote requirement (3/5ths vote).

There were no cybersecurity provisions in this bill that would have been of specific interest to readers of this blog.

Bills Introduced – 07-11-17

Yesterday with both the House and Senate in session there were 31 bills introduced. Of those, one may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 3180 To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.  Rep. Nunes, Devin [R-CA-22] 

As always, I will be watching this bill for cybersecurity provisions.