Earlier this month Rep. Rice (D,NY) introduced HR 542, the Supporting
Research and Development for First Responders Act. The bill would authorize the
current DHS National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL). This is essentially
the same bill as HR 4991
from last session. That bill passed in the House by a voice vote under the
suspension of the rules process.
NUSTL
The NUSTL has been in the DHS Science and Technology
Directorate since
2003. As outlined in this bill the purpose of the NUSTL is to “test and
evaluate emerging technologies and conduct research and development to assist
emergency response providers in preparing for, and protecting against, threats
of terrorism” {new §321(a)}.
The bill would require the NUSTL to {new §321(c)}:
• Conduct tests, evaluations, and
assessments of current and emerging technologies, including, as appropriate,
cybersecurity of such technologies that can connect to the internet, for emergency
response providers;
• Conduct research and development
on radiological and nuclear response and recovery;
• Act as a technical advisor to
emergency response providers; and
• Carry out other such activities as the Secretary
determines appropriate.
Moving Forward
Rice is the Chair of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure
Protection, and Innovation Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security
Committee. As such she certainly has the influence to ensure that the bill is
addressed in Committee, if it does not go directly to the floor of the House.
There is no reason to suspect that last sessions bipartisan support for HR 4991
would not be transferred to this bill.
As always, the question is whether or not the bill would be
considered in the Senate. In the last session the bill was referred to the
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee which never took up
the bill. This may be because of the efforts of the Trump administration to
close the NUSTL as a budgetary move.
Commentary
I did not cover HR 4991 last year as there did not seem to
be enough of a connection to cybersecurity concerns. The wording of the bill
has not changed, but there has been a significant increase in cybersecurity concerns
with a variety of urban security technologies. I suspect that the Lab is going
to be spending more time on cybersecurity research in the coming years.
An interesting political aspect of this bill is that the
greatest support for the NUSTL comes from officials in New York City. The lab
is located in NYC and has always received strong support from the NY
congressional delegation.
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