HR 6393 Introduced – FY 2017 Intel Authorization

Last week Rep. Nunes (R,CA) introduced HR 6393, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. This bill is apparently a replacement for both HR 5077 (which passed in the House in a strongly bipartisan vote) and S 3017. Both of those bills have stalled in the Senate. I suspect that Nunes and his Committee staff have coordinated with their Senate counterparts to remove/revise any provisions from the earlier bill that have held up consideration.

The cybersecurity intelligence report on US port operations requirement from HR 5077 remains in the new bill. Interestingly Dr. Andy Ozment, the Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published an opinion piece on CSOOnline.com Monday that describes the ICS-CERT response to a cyberattack on a US port control system earlier this year. Other than failing to note that there are only 13 of the vulnerable systems in use worldwide, the article does describe the ICS-CERT process fairly concisely.

HR 6393 is scheduled to be considered on the floor of the House today under the suspension of rules provisions. This provides for limited debate and no amendments from the floor. This bill should pass with strong bipartisan support. I suspect that the Senate will take up the bill under their unanimous consent procedures before the end of the lame duck session.

Bills Introduced – 11-22-16

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday, there were two bills introduced in the House in a pro-forma session. Of those one may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 6393 To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 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]

This bill is very likely to be considered and passed in some form during the lame duck session. I will be watching the unclassified provisions of the bill for cybersecurity provisions.