HR 955 Introduced – Cyber National Guard

Last month Rep. Jackson-Lee (D,TX) introduced HR 955, the Cyber Defense National Guard Act. The bill would require the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a report for Congress on the feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense National Guard (CDNG). The bill is virtually the same as HR 60 that was introduced in the 114^th Congress; no action was taken on that bill.

The same thing that stopped this bill from moving forward in the last session almost certainly applies to this version of the bill; Jackson-Lee is not a member of the House Committee on Intelligence. The not-invented-here syndrome is alive and well in Congress. Regardless of the fact that Jackson-Lee is an influential member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees (even with Republican leadership), she has no influence on what bills are considered in the Intelligence Committee.

Bills Introduced – 02-07-17

With both the House and Senate in session there were 133 bills introduced yesterday. Of those six may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 905 To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide that the first sale doctrine applies to any computer program that enables a machine or other product to operate, and for other purposes. Rep. Farenthold, Blake [R-TX-27]

HR 923 To repeal the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. Rep. Amash, Justin [R-MI-3]

HR 935 To codify an office within the Department of Homeland Security with the mission of strengthening the capacity of the agency to attract and retain highly trained computer and information security professionals, and for other purposes. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]

HR 940 To secure communications of utilities from terrorist threats, and for other purposes. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]

HR 945 To codify the objective of Presidential Policy Directive 21 to improve critical infrastructure security and resilience, and for other purposes. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]

HR 955 To require the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense National Guard. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]

It looks like HR 905 would allow the purchaser of ICS software or firmware to sell or transfer that software without permission of the vendor; see 17 USC 109. This may be an interesting bill.

HR 923 is likely a repeat of HR 4350 introduced in the 114^th Congress. The House leadership killed that bill by referring it to eight separate committees for consideration; no action was taken in any of the committees.

HR 935 looks to be a repeat of HR 53 introduced in the 114^th Congress; no action was taken on HR 53.

It looks like HR 940 is new legislation. If it contains specific mention of control system security, it will be covered in this blog.

I will be watching HR 945 for mention of cybersecurity, chemical facility security and/or chemical transportation security.

It looks like HR 955 will be a repeat of HR 60 in the 114^th Congress; no action was taken on that bill.