HR 2482 Passed in House – NTIA Authorization

This afternoon the House took up  HR 2482, the NTIA Reauthorization Act of 2025, under the suspension of the rules process. After 14 minutes of debate, the House passed the bill by a voice vote. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Last session a similar bill, HR 4510, also passed in the House, but no action was taken on the bill when it reached the Senate. A number of provisions from HR 4510 were not found in HR 2482, so maybe there will be an increased chance of it being considered in Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. As is typical for so many bills introduced, this bill is not politically important enough to take up the time needed for the Senate to consider the bill under the regular order process.

While the whole point of a program authorization bill is for the committee responsible for the oversight of the program to provide direction to the executive agency as to how the program should be carried out, it is often easier to include these relatively small program authorizations in spending bills as the bills are more likely (or at least used to be more likely) to be favorably considered in both bodies.

HR 2482 Introduced – NTIA Reauthorization

Last month Rep Latta (R,OH) introduced HR 2482, the NTIA Reauthorization Act of 2025. This bill is the latest attempt to reauthorization process for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The bill would authorize $57 million in spending (down from $62 million in last year’s bill) for NTIA for FY 2025 and FY 2026. The House Energy and Commerce Committee considered the bill in a business meeting (along with 23 other bills) and approved the bill by a voice vote without amendments.

Last session Latta also introduced an NTIA reauthorization bill, HR 4510. That bill was considered in a business meeting of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and adopted the bill by a vote of 48 to 0. The Committee Report was published on October 25^th, 2023. The full House took up HR 4510 on May 14^th, 2024 and passed the legislation by a vote of 374 to 36. No action was taken on this legislation in Senate the 118^th Congress.

HR 2482 is very different from last session’s bill. Whole titles are missing, and titles that are included are missing a substantial number of sections. Of importance here, Title IV that would have established within NTIA an Office of Policy Development and Cybersecurity has not been included in this bill. This means that there are no cybersecurity provisions within the current legislation.

House Passes HR 4510 – NTIA Reauthorization

Yesterday, the House began consideration of HR 4510, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Reauthorization Act of 2023, under the suspension of the rules process. After about 14 minutes of debate, a recorded vote was demanded. That vote took place this evening. The House passed the bill by a vote of 374 to 36. The legislation now goes to the Senate.

The Senate is unlikely to take up HR 4510 under regular order. With 32 of the 36 nay votes coming from conservative fringe elements of the House, it would seem to be very likely that one of their compatriots in the Senate would object to the bill if it were offered under the Senate’s unanimous consent process. This would mean that the bill would have to be added to some other piece of major legislation as an amendment for this to move forward.

Committee Hearings – Week of 5-13-24

This week, with both the House and Senate in session, there is a relatively busy hearing schedule. FY 2025 budget hearings continue in the oversight committees. There is one markup hearing of note, a Chinese security risk hearing and UAS use hearing.

Budget Hearings

	House	Senate
EPA	EC Subcommittee
TSA	HS Subcommittee
NTIA	EC Subcommittee
DOD Acquisitions		APP Subcommittee

Note: There is a problem with the links to the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning.

Markup Hearing

On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a markup hearing to consider six bills and three postal naming bills. The one bill of specific interest here is:

HR 5255: "To require covered contractors implement a vulnerability disclosure policy consistent with NIST guidelines, and for other purposes."

Chinese Threat Hearing

On Wednesday the Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a hearing on “Red Alert: Countering the Cyberthreat from China”. The witness list includes:

• Charles Carmakal, Mandiant,

• William Evanina, Former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center,

• Rob Joyce, Former Special Assistant to the President and White House Cyber Security Coordinator,

• Steven M. Kelly, Institute for Security and Technology

Expect some FUD pointing by committee members.

UAS Uses

On Thursday the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, both of the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a joint hearing on “Unmanned Aerial Systems: An Examination of the Use of Drones in Emergency Response”. No witness list is currently available.

Without a witness list it is hard to tell, but there is a possibility that UAS cybersecurity issues could be part of this topic.

On the Floor

The House will consider a relatively large number of bills on Tuesday (votes lasting through Wednesday) under their suspension of the rules process this week. Of interest here, this will include:

HR 4510 – NTIA Reauthorization Act of 2024, as amended,

HR 7659 – Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024, as amended, and

Senate Amendment to HR 3935 – FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.

HR 4510 Reported in House – NTIA Reauthorization

Last month, the House Energy and Commerce Committee published their Report on HR 4510, the NTIA Reauthorization Act of 2023. The Committee held conducted a markup of the bill during their July 2023 Business meeting. Substitute language was adopted and the Committee approved the amended bill by a strongly bipartisan vote of 48 to 0. The bill would upgrade the importance of NTIA’s position within the Department of Commerce.

The revised language included a minor change to the proposed §110 for the NTIA Organization Act that I briefly discussed [removed from paywall] earlier.

The bipartisan vote and the lack of an ‘Opposing Views’ section in the Report confirm my earlier assertion that the bill would have strong bipartisan support. This means that the bill will likely move to the floor of the House under the Suspension of the Rules process with limited debate, no floor amendments, and would require a supermajority to pass. This consideration could come at any time.

Review - HR 4510 Introduced – NTIA Reauthorization

Back in July, Rep Latta (R,OH) introduced HR 4510, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Reauthorization Act of 2023. This bill is the latest version of the bi-annual reauthorization process for the NTIAA. The major cybersecurity provisions within the bill are found in Title IV, Office of Policy Development and Cybersecurity. The bill would authorize $62 million in spending for NTIA for FY 2024 and FY 2025 The House Energy and Commerce Committee has amended HR 4510 and ordered it reported favorably.

Committee Markup

On July 27^th, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a business meeting that included consideration of HR 4510. The Committee considered substitute language offered by Rep Matsui (D,CA). In the new §110 included in §401 of the bill, the only change that was made was in §110(b)(3), adding the parenthetical phase “(or a designee of the Under Secretary)” at the end of the sentence. The substitute language was adopted and ordered recommended favorably by a unanimous recorded vote.

Moving Forward

As soon as the Committee publishes their report, this bill will be cleared for consideration by the full House. That will likely take place under the suspension of the rules process. This allows for limited debate, no floor amendments, and requires a supermajority for passage. The bill would probably pass with strong bipartisan support.

 

For more information about the cybersecurity provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-4510-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 7-11-23

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in a pro forma session, there were 35 bills introduced. Four of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 4502 Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act Mace, Nancy [Rep.-R-SC-1]

HR 4510 To reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to update the mission and functions of the agency, and for other purposes. Latta, Robert E. [Rep.-R-OH-5]

HR 4512 To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to establish a Digital Economy and Cybersecurity Board of Advisors, and for other purposes. Pfluger, August [Rep.-R-TX-11] 

S 2215 A bill to authorize the appropriation of amounts for the construction of a cyber instructional facility at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Ossoff, Jon [Sen.-D-GA]

I will be watching H 4502 for language that would expand the training of cybersecurity experts. As I noted yesterday, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will consider this bill in a markup hearing tomorrow.

I will be watching the two NTIA bills for language that would include cybersecurity mandates within the scope of the agency’s operations.

I really do not expect that I will be covering S 2215, but I am interested in trying to understand why Ossoff is trying to authorize the funding of this military facility outside of the NDAA process.