HR 7659 Passed in House – 2024 CG Authorization

This evening the House considered HR 7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024 under the suspension of the rules process. After about 27 minutes of debate (and a 30 minute recess) the House voted to pass the bill by strong bipartisan vote of 376 to 16. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Moving Forward

This is one of those bills that, in recent years, has typically been pasted onto one of the omnibus spending bills that have so enraged conservatives. Part of the reason is that while this bill is important, it is probably not politically important enough to take up the time of the Senate to consider it under regular order, especially with the approaching election. The 15 radical republican votes against the bill in the House probably means that the Senate would not be able to consider the bill under the unanimous consent process, one or more of their Senate compatriots would object.

I have not yet seen a CG authorization bill for 2024 introduced in the Senate, but I am relatively certain that Sen Cantwell (D,WA), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. would propose substitute language if the bill were considered in the Senate. They would go through the three-cloture motion process that that body went through with the recent FAA bill. And it would be slowed down by the same wrangling over adding non-germane amendments that in recent years has slowed down progress so much in the Senate.

While the FAA is more intertwined with the commerce of this country (almost every county has an airport, there are many fewer ports or Coast Guard Stations), the CG is still an important part of the economy, and it needs to be reauthorized. So, the Senate leadership will probably find a way to get this bill considered, and hopefully before the August recess.

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.

Review – HR 7659 Introduced – CG Authorization

Back in March, Rep Graves introduced HR 7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024. On March 20^th, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a markup hearing that included HR 7659. Graves proposed substitute language for the bill in that hearing, which the Committee adopted by a vote of 53 to 3. On May 8^th, 2024 the Committee published their report (not yet available from the GPO) on the bill. The House is scheduled to take up HR 7659 tomorrow under the suspension of the rules process.

Bill Overview

This review will use the reported version of the bill for simplicities sake.

Sections of potential interest here:

§ 207 Report on establishment of unmanned systems capabilities office.

§ 401 Vessel response plans.

§ 404 Online incident reporting system.

Moving Forward

As mentioned above, the House is scheduled to take up the bill tomorrow. With 14 bills on the calendar, it is very likely that a final vote will not be held until sometime Wednesday. The leadership expects bipartisan support for the legislation, with sufficient support to receive the super majority required for passage under the suspension of the rules process.

 

For more details about the sections of interest, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7659-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 3-13-24

Yesterday, with just the House in session there were 44 bills introduced. Of those bills, there were two that may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7655 To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the safety of pipeline transportation, and for other purposes. Duncan, Jeff [Rep.-R-SC-3]

HR 7659 To authorize and amend authorities, programs, and statutes administered by the Coast Guard. Graves, Sam [Rep.-R-MO-6] 

I will be covering HR 7655.

I will be watching HR 7659 for language and definitions that would include cybersecurity and facility security issues within the scope of coverage of the legislation.

Bills Introduced – 4-25-22

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in pro forma session (they will be in town today), there were 12 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7569 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide financial assistance to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers pursuing certain courses of study relating to cybersecurity and energy infrastructure. Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] 

This is certainly the bill I briefly discussed on Friday, except that Rep Carey (D,NC) is a cosponsor of the bill and Ross is the sponsor.