Committee Hearings Week of 9-25-22

This week with both the House and Senate in session (and the FY spending deadline approaching quickly), there is a relatively light hearing schedule, particularly on the House side of the Hill. We do have a markup hearing of interest, and a hearings on UAS integration.

Homeland Security Markup

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will be holding a business meeting today. It will include nine nomination votes, 22 pieces of legislation and four facility naming bills. Of particular interest here:

S ___, Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act of 2022,

S 4913, Securing Open Source Software Act of 2022,

S 4882, Fire Grants and Safety Act,

S ___, Protecting the Border from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act,

HR 7777, Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Training Act,

HR 6824, President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition Act, and

HR 6873, Bombing Prevention Act of 2022

UAS Integration

The Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will be holding a hearing on “FAA Reauthorization: Integrating New Entrants into the National Airspace System”. The witness list includes:

• Lisa Ellman, Commercial Drone Alliance,

• Gregory Davis, Eviation,

• Stephen P. “Lux” Luxion, FAA Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ASSURE),

• Stéphane Fymat, Honeywell Aerospace, and

• Edward M. Bolen, National Business Aviation Association

Counter drone operations may come up in the discussion.

On the Floor

The 900-lb gorilla this week is the spending bill, or rather a continuing resolution that ‘must’ pass by midnight on Friday. A weekend final vote is not beyond possible.

The House is scheduled to take up 32 bills in this short week under the suspension of the rules process. With spending bill pending, we can expect Republican bomb throwers to demand votes on many if not most of these bills, just to gum up the process. Bills of potential interest here include:

• S 4900 – SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022,

• HR 8956 – FedRAMP,

HR 6873 Passed in House – Bombing Prevention

On Monday the House took up HR 6873, the Bombing Prevention Act of 2022. The bill was considered under the suspension of the rules process. After limited debate and no adverse comments on the bill from the floor, a recorded vote was demanded. That vote took place yesterday and the bill passed with a strong, bipartisan vote of 388 to 26.

The bill would authorize the current Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) and outlines the technical assistance services DHS would provide to counter terrorist explosive threats and attacks.

Multiple attempts have been made over the years to authorize the OBP. Generally, those bills have passed in the House, but were not taken up in the Senate. As with many bills, this bill is not of high enough priority to take up the legislative time necessary for consideration under regular order in the Senate. Since the program is already in existence and regularly funded in DHS spending bills, there is little incentive to consider the bill under the unanimous consent process. This version of the bill is likely to face the same fate.

Review - HR 6873 Introduced – Bombing Prevention

Last month, Rep Malinowski (D,NJ) introduced HR 6873, the Bombing Prevention Act of 2022. The bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002, adding a new Subtitle D, Bombing Prevention. That Subtitle establishes (the existing) Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP). Additionally, the bill would add bombing prevention research coordination and information sharing to the responsibilities of DHS S&T. No spending is authorized by the bill.

The bill was considered by the House Homeland Security Committee last week. After the bill was amended by a voice vote, it was adopted by a vote of 33 to 0.

With the approval of the bill by the House Homeland Security Committee last week, this bill will be cleared to move to the Full House as soon as the Committee publishes their Report. This bill will almost certainly be considered under the suspension of the rules process. That would mean limited floor debate, no amendments from the floor and would require a super-majority for passage. The bill will pass, when considered, with strong bipartisan support.

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-6873-introduced - subscription required.

 

Bills Introduced – 2-28-22

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate back in Washington, there were 38 bills introduced. Four of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 6865 To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard, and for other purposes. Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] 

HR 6868 Cybersecurity Grants for Schools Act of 2022 Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R. [R-NY-2] 

HR 6869 To authorize the President of the United States to issue letters of marque and reprisal for the purpose of seizing the assets of certain Russian citizens, and for other purposes. Rep. Gooden, Lance [R-TX-5]

HR 6873 Bombing Prevention Act of 2022 Rep. Malinowski, Tom [D-NJ-7]

I will be watching HR 6865 for language addressing cybersecurity and the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) program. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration will hold a markup hearing on the bill tomorrow. A committee print of the bill is not yet available on the Committee website.

HR 6868 is a cybersecurity job training package not a bill funding cybersecurity for schools. I will be covering this bill.

HR 6873 is a perennial attempt to codify the existing Office for Bombing Prevention in DHS. I will be covering this bill.

HR 6869 is one of a number of bills that was introduced yesterday that appears to be a response to last week’s invasion of Ukraine. I suspect that this bill is dead on arrival as an overreach, but I will be covering the bill because of the cybersecurity implications it carries.

For those that are interested (there will be no further coverage here), here is a listing of the other bills introduced yesterday that appear to be responses to the Russian invasion:

H.R.6867 To designate the area between the intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia, as "Oswaldo Payá Way". NOTE: This is the location of the Russian Ambassador’s residence.

H.R.6874 To establish a program to reduce the reliance of allied European countries on natural gas, petroleum, and nuclear fuel produced in Russia, and for other purposes.

H.R.6876 To provide authority for the President to authorize the United States Government to lend or lease defense articles to the Government of Ukraine to help bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities and protect its civilian population from potential invasion by the armed forces of the Government of the Russian Federation, and for other purposes.