Senate Substitute Language for HR 7499 Proposed – FY 2023 NDAA

On Thursday, before the Senate adjourned for the weekend, Sen Reed (D,RI) proposed SA 5499 for HR 7900, the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act which passed in the House back in July. The amendment proposes to substitute the language from S 4543 for the language in the House bill. This is the first step in the process of the consideration of HR 7900, which should probably begin this week.

Senate Consideration of S 4543 – FY 2023 NDAA

While the Senate has not yet officially taken up S 4543, the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, the first steps in that consideration were reflected in yesterday’s Congressional Record, eight amendments were proposed for consideration when the bill is brought to the floor of the Senate. While none of the amendments are of specific interest here, these amendments reflect the understanding of the proposers that the Senate will be taking up the bill.

All of yesterday’s amendments were proposed to S 4543. It is not clear at this point if the Senate will take up that bill or the House version of the NDAA, HR 7900, that was passed in the House back in July. If the Senate takes up the House bill, the first amendment that will be considered is substituting the language of S 4543 for the House language.

Review - S 4543 Introduced – FY 2023 NDAA

Last month, Sen Reed (D,RI) introduced S 4543, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The Senate Armed Services Committee published their Report on the bill. The bill contains some cybersecurity provisions, and the Report includes specific recommendations for increased cybersecurity spending over the amounts requested in the budget.

Moving Forward

The National Defense Authorization Act is a ‘must pass’ piece of legislation. The House took up and passed their version of the bill (HR 7900) last month. When the Senate takes up that bill after the Summer Recess, their first action will be to amend the bill with substitute language based on S 4543.

Interestingly, one amendment has already been submitted in the Senate for S 4543, SA 5190. That amendment would add a new section entitled: “Requirement for Information Sharing Agreements.” This new section would be essentially the same language as found in S 4000. It is not clear at this point whether or not this section would be added to the substitute language used as the basis for Senate consideration of HR 7900.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill and changes in cybersecurity spending, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-4543-introduced - subscription required.