HSGA Takes Action on 3 Bills of Interest –

Today, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held the continuation of last week’s Business Meeting. While not all of the bills listed on the agenda were addressed today, the three bills that I identified as being of potential interest here were amended and recommended reported favorably by a vote of 10 to 1 in all three instances. There were four additional yeah votes cast by proxy, but those are only reported, not counted in the official vote tally. The three bills were:

S 4630, Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act,

S 4697, Healthcare Cybersecurity Act of 2024, and

S 4715, Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024

The Committee does not typically publish substitute language, or other amendments. We will have to wait for the publication of the Committee’s reports on the bills to see what changes have been made.

In all three cases, the Committee adopted substitute language from the original author. For S 4630 and S 4697, that language was further modified by unanimous consent. The one Nay vote for each of the bills came from Sen Paul (R,KY). Paul’s opposition practically means that there is little chance of the bill being considered under the Senate’ unanimous consent process, as he is quick to use his objection to thwart the consideration of bills that he opposes. Since Paul is the Ranking Member, he has effective veto of these bills being considered as amendments to bills being considered on the floor of the Senate.

HSGA Committee Announces Continuation of Markup Hearing – 7-31-24

Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced that it had rescheduled last week’s business meeting for Wednesday. Last week’s meeting only ended up covering one bill (S 1171, the ETHICS Act) out of the 33 scheduled. There are three bills of interest here that are on the list of bills to be considered:

S 4630, Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act,

S 4697, Healthcare Cybersecurity Act of 2024, and

S 4715, Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024.

Review - S 4630 Introduced – Cybersecurity Harmonization

Earlier this month, Sen Peters (D,MI) introduced S 4630, the Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act. The bill would require the National Cyber Director to “establish an interagency committee to be known as the Harmonization Committee to enhance the harmonization of cybersecurity requirements that are applicable within the United States.” In turn, the Committee would be required to “develop a regulatory framework for achieving harmonization of the cybersecurity requirements of each regulatory agency.” No funding is authorized by this legislation.

Moving Forward

This bill was supposed to be considered by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week. Only one bill was actually considered in that meeting. The meeting was adjourned to a date to be determined by the Chair. I suspect that the bill will have some level of bipartisan support. Unfortunately, as with most bills introduced in the Senate, this bill is not politically important enough to take up the time of the Senate necessary for consideration under regular order. There will be some opposition to the bill, so it will not be a good candidate being taken up under the Senate’s unanimous consent process.

Commentary

The inclusion of OIRA on the Harmonization Committee was designed to ensure that rulemakings submitted to that office for pre-publication review, appropriately reflect adherence to the regulatory framework developed by the Committee. While that adherence review is appropriate, there is nothing in this bill that would require agencies to discuss the framework in the preamble to notices of proposed rulemakings and final rules published in the Federal Register. Requiring such discussions would make the process more transparent to the public and regulated communities. Unfortunately, adding this to the bill would require a substantial re-write to add amendments to 5 USC Chapters 5 and 7.

 

For more information about the provisions of this legislation, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-4630-introduced - subscription required.

Review - Congressional Hearings – Week of 7-21-24

This week, with both the House and Senate back in Washington (and looking forward to their August Recess). In addition to some high-profile hearings (not covered here) on the attempted Trump assassination, there is a full slate of hearings in both bodies. Spending bills are being teed up in the House with a Rules Committee hearing. There are two transportation related hearings in the House. There is one cybersecurity regulatory panel scheduled.

Spending Bills

The House Rules Committee will meet today to formulate the rule for the consideration of four spending bills (FinServices, IER, EWR, and ARD).

The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to mark up four spending bill; CJS, IER, State, and Thud.

Transportation Hearings

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on “Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio”.

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on “Examining the Department of Transportation’s Regulatory and Administrative Agenda”.

will not be a DOT spokesperson on the panel.

Cybersecurity

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a hearing on “Enhancing Cybersecurity by Eliminating Inconsistent Regulations”.

Markup Hearings

On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting. The bills of interest here include:

S 4630, Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act,

S 4697, Healthcare Cybersecurity Act of 2024, and

S 4715, Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024

On the Floor

In addition to the two spending bills described above, The House will be taking up 20 bills under the suspension of the rules process, including the following bill of interest here: HR 8812, Water Resources Development Act. That will be considered today, though a final vote (if needed) may not happen until later this week.

 

For more details about these hearings, including witness lists, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/congressional-hearings-week-of-7 - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 7-8-24

Yesterday, with the House and Senate back in Washington, there were 30 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional attention here:

S 4630 A bill to establish an interagency committee to harmonize regulatory regimes in the United States relating to cybersecurity, and for other purposes. Peters, Gary C. [Sen.-D-MI] 

S 4638 A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes. Reed, Jack [Sen.-D-RI]

S 4639 A bill to establish in the National Institute of Standards and Technology the Foundation for Standards and Metrology, and for other purposes. Coons, Christopher A. [Sen.-D-DE]

I will be covering S 4630 and S 4638.

I will be watching S 4639 for language and definitions that would specifically include cybersecurity measurements or chemical safety measurements in the scope of the new foundation.