Review – S 244 Introduced - ROUTERS Act

Last month Sen Blackburn (R,TN) introduced S 244, the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act. The bill would require the Department of Commerce to conduct a study on the national security risks of routers and modems manufactured in China. No new funding is authorized by the legislation.

The bill is very similar to S 4572 that was introduced by Blackburn in June of 2024. No action was taken on that bill. The language in this bill is more similar to the reported version of HR 7589 that was passed in the House on September 9^th, 2024 by a voice vote. While the bills described above are technically different, they would all have required the same actions to be taken.

Moving Forward

Both Blackburn and one of her two cosponsors {Sen Lujan (D,CO)} are members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition to the provisions of the bill.

 

For more information on the provisions of the bill and a discussion about the process by which the bill could be passed in the Senate, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-244-introduced - subscription required.

Review - S 4572 Introduced – ROUTERS Act

Back in June, Sen Blackburn (R,TN) introduced S 4572, the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act. The bill would require the Department of Commerce to conduct a study on the national security risks of routers and modems manufactured in China. No new funding is authorized by the legislation.

This bill is VERY similar to HR 7589 which was reported favorably by the House Energy and Commerce Committee back in May. The two bills are technically not identical because the definition subsection is in §2(c) in the House bill and in §2(a) in the Senate bill. Otherwise, the provisions of the two bills are the same.

Moving Forward

Both Blackburn and her sole cosponsor {Sen Lujan (D,NM)} are members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that the bill will receive substantial bipartisan support in Committee. As with most bills introduced in the Senate, this one has none of the political pressure necessary to bring the bill to the floor of the Senate under regular order. It is, however, a prime candidate for consideration under the unanimous consent process.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-4572-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 6-18-24

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 67 bills introduced. Two of those bills may receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 8775 To require an assessment on manual operations for critical infrastructure, and for other purposes. Crenshaw, Dan [Rep.-R-TX-2]

S 4572 A bill to direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, to conduct a study of the national security risks posed by consumer routers, modems, and devices that combine a modem and router, and for other purposes. Blackburn, Marsha [Sen.-R-TN]

I will be covering HR 8775.

I will be watching S 4572 for language and definitions that would specifically include the consideration of industrial control system in critical infrastructure operations as part of the ‘national security risks’ to be included in the scope of the study required by this bill

Mention in Passing

I would like to mention in passing one space-technology bill introduced yesterday:

HR 8787 To establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris and to require the development of uniform orbital debris standard practices in order to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment, and for other purposes. Neguse, Joe [Rep.-D-CO-2] 

As the number of commercial space launches continues to increase, the problem of space debris is going to be an even larger problem as time progresses. It will be interesting to see how the bill intends to fund the demonstration program.