HR 1589 Introduced – CBRN Intelligence

Last week Rep. Walker (R,NC) introduced HR 1589, the CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2019. The bill would establish DHS responsibilities for collecting and disseminating intelligence information involving terrorist threats “involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials against the United States” {new §210H(a)(1)}. The bill is very similar to HR 677 from the last session which passed in the House without amendment.

There are a number of relatively small changes made in the current bill. The largest is the addition of the words “the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office and” in paragraph (b). This office was created since HR 677 was introduced in 2017 and it would be added to the list of offices with which the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis would coordinate in developing CBRN information.

Moving Forward

As I mentioned earlier this week, HR 1589 will be considered by the House Homeland Security Committee in a markup hearing today. It is expected to pass by a voice vote without amendment. The bill is likely to come to the House floor in the not too distant future under the suspension of the rules process where there will be limited debate and no floor amendments will be authorized. The bill would be expected to pass there with substantial bipartisan support.

As in the last two sessions of Congress it is likely that this bill will not receive consideration in the Senate.

Commentary

While the word ‘chemical’ in the ‘CBRN’ of the title of this bill and in a couple of places within the language itself, there appears to be little intent to involve DHS intelligence in trying to track terrorist threats to chemical manufacturing or transportation. This bill remains at heart a bill addressing the potential threat of bioterror attacks.

While bioterrorism certainly presents a theatrical level threat, that type of attack is much harder to successfully pull off than a conventional or even a cyber attack on chemical storage or transportation systems. In my opinion paragraph (a)(5) of this bill should be modified to reflect this by making it read:

“(5) share information and provide tailored analytical support on such threats to:

(A) State, local, Tribal, and territorial authorities, and other Federal agencies;

(B) Relevant national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders, as appropriate;

(C) Owners and operators of chemical facilities operating under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards and the Maritime Transportation Security Act; and

(D) Freight rail owners operating under conditions specified in 49 CFR 1580 Subpart B.”

An interesting side note here; HR 677 was introduced by then Rep. McSally (R,AZ). She has since moved on to the Senate and has not yet introduced a version of this bill in the Senate. McSally was the chair of the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee when she introduced HR 677. Walker is not the Ranking Member of that Committee. This would seem to indicate that this bill is a priority for the Republican leadership of the Homeland Security Committee.

House Passes Three Homeland Security Bills

Yesterday the House took up 17 homeland security related bills under the suspension of rules process and passed all of them. Of these, three are probably of interest to readers of this blog:

• HR 437, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act;

• HR 612, the United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017; and

• HR 677, the CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017.

HR 437 passed by a voice vote after less than 10 minutes of ‘debate’; no one spoke in opposition to the bill.

HR 612 passed by a voice vote after about 16 minutes of ‘debate’; no one spoke in opposition to the bill.

HR 677 passed by a voice vote after about 5 minutes of ‘debate’; no one spoke in opposition to the bill.

All three of these bills would almost certainly pass in the Senate if they make it to the floor for consideration. Since earlier versions of all three of these bills passed in the House in the 114^th Congress, but were not taken up by the Senate, it is obvious that consideration by the Senate is not a given.

With these bills being passed in the first 30-days of the 115^th Congress, time constraints will not be a factor in whether or not they make it to the floor. What matters is whether or not there is a champion in the Senate with enough political influence with the leadership to bring them to the floor. If any of these bills are considered, they will most likely be considered under the Senate’s unanimous consent procedure with no debate and no actual vote. A single Senator can block a bill under this procedure.

Committee Hearings – Week of 01-29-17

With both the House and Senate back in town this week the number of committee hearings scheduled begins to approach normal. Of the hearings scheduled this week there is one that may be of specific interest to readers of this blog; electric sector cybersecurity.

Respond to Cybersecurity Threats

On Wednesday the Energy Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on “The Electricity Sector's Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats”. No witness list has yet been made available.

On the Floor

As I have mentioned in a couple of posts, the House will take up a number of homeland security related bills on Tuesday under their suspension of rules procedures. These procedures allow for limited debate (typically 40 minutes of mostly praise for the bill), no amendments, and a super majority required for passage. Bills considered under these procedures typically have significant bipartisan support.

Bills of interest in Tuesdays list include:

• HR 437 – Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act (Sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R,FL) / Homeland Security Committee)

• HR 612 – United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017 (Sponsored by Rep. James Langevin (D,RI) / Homeland Security Committee)

• HR 677 – CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017 (Sponsored by Rep. Martha McSally (R,AZ) / Homeland Security Committee)

HR 677 Introduced – CBRN Intelligence

Last week Rep. McSally (R,AZ) introduced HR 677, the CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017. The bill would require DHS to establish chemical, biological,

radiological, and nuclear intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of

Intelligence and Analysis. The bill is nearly identical to HR 2200 that was passed in the House in the 114^th Congress.

This bill continues to maintain an almost unreasonable emphasis on the biological aspect of the CBRN threat. Again, the only mention of the private sector in the information sharing portion of the bill remains the reference to “relevant national biosecurity and biodefense stakeholders” {§210G(a)(5)}.

This bill is moving to the floor of the House this week. It will be considered on Tuesday as part of a number of homeland security related bills to be considered under suspension of the rules. It will almost certainly pass with substantial bipartisan support. It will be interesting to see if this bill continues to be ignored in the Senate.