[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8215 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8215
To improve cybersecurity practices and improve digital literacy among
veterans, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 23, 2022
Ms. Slotkin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve cybersecurity practices and improve digital literacy among
veterans, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Online Information and
Cybersecurity Empowerment Act of 2022'' or the ``VOICE Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Researchers have documented persistent, pervasive, and
coordinated online targeting of members of the Armed Forces,
veterans, and their families by foreign adversaries seeking to
undermine United States democracy in part because of public
trust placed in these communities. Government agencies and
researchers have also documented the targeting of veterans by
fraudsters, especially online scammers, seeking to steal their
government benefits.
(2) According to the Federal Trade Commission, fraud costs
veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and their families
$267,000,000 in 2021. This was a 162-percent increase from 2020
and the median loss for these scam victims was $600, 20 percent
higher than for the median loss for the general public.
According to a 2017 survey conducted by the American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP) veterans are twice as
likely to unknowingly participate in a scam compared to the
general population and an estimated 16 percent of veterans
report having losing some money to fraud, while 78 percent
report encountering scams that have explicitly designed to
exploit their military service.
(3) At the same time, adversaries from Russia, China, and
Iran are using information warfare to influence democracies
across the world, and extremist organizations often use digital
communications to recruit members. Influence campaigns from
foreign adversaries reached tens of millions of voters during
the 2016 and 2018 elections with racially and divisively
targeted messages. The United States can fight these influences
by ensuring that citizens of the United States possess the
necessary skills to discern disinformation and misinformation
and protect themselves from foreign influence campaigns.
(4) The Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate
found in its investigation of the interference in the 2016
election that social media posts by the Internet Research
Agency (IRA) of Russia reached tens of millions of voters in
2016 and were meant to pit the people of the United States
against one another and sow discord. Volume II of the
Committee's investigation found that the Internet Research
Agency's Instagram account with the second largest reach used
the handle ``@american.veterans'' and was ``aimed at patriotic,
conservative audiences, collected 215,680 followers, and
generated nearly 18.5 million engagements.''.
(5) A 2019 investigative report by the Vietnam Veterans of
America (VVA) titled ``An Investigation into Foreign Entities
who are Targeting Troops and Veterans Online'', found that the
Internet Research Agency targeted veterans and the followers of
several congressionally chartered veterans service
organizations with at least 113 advertisements during and
following the 2016 election and that ``this represents a
fraction of the Russian activity that targeted this community
with divisive propaganda.''. The report also found that foreign
actors have been impersonating veterans through social-media
accounts and interacting with veterans and veterans groups on
social media to spread propaganda and disinformation. To
counter these acts, Vietnam Veterans of America recommended
that the Department of Veterans Affairs ``immediately develop
plans to make the cyber-hygiene of veterans an urgent priority
within the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA must educate
and train veterans on personal cybersecurity: how to mitigate
vulnerabilities, vigilantly maintain safe practices, and
recognize threats, including how to identify instances of
online manipulation.''.
(6) The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a bicameral and
bipartisan commission, established by section 1652 of the John
S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2019 (Public Law 115-232), concluded in its finished report
that the ``U.S. government should promote digital literacy,
civics education, and public awareness to build societal
resilience to foreign, malign cyber-enabled information
operations and that the U.S. government must ensure that
individual Americans have both the digital literacy tools and
the civics education they need to secure their networks and
their democracy from cyber-enabled information operations.''.
The report recommended that Congress authorize grant programs
to do this.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that, given the threat foreign
influence campaigns pose for United States democracy, the effect of
online scams on veterans and their families, and the findings and
recommendations of Congress, Federal agencies, and experts, Congress
should immediately act to pass legislative measures to increase digital
and media literacy, as well as cybersecurity best practices among
veterans of the United States.
SEC. 4. VETERANS CYBERSECURITY AND DIGITAL LITERACY GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Required.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
promote digital citizenship and media literacy, through which the
Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to enable those
eligible entities to carry out the activities described in subsection
(c).
(b) Application.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under the
program required by subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an
application therefor at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require, including, at a minimum the
following:
(1) A description of the activities the eligible entity
intends to carry out with the grant funds.
(2) An estimate of the costs associated with such
activities.
(3) Such other information and assurances as the Secretary
may require.
(c) Activities.--An eligible entity shall use the amount of a grant
awarded under the program required by subsection (a) to carry out one
or more of the following activities to promote cybersecurity best
practices and increase digital and media literacy among veterans:
(1) Develop competencies in cybersecurity best practices.
(2) Develop media literacy and digital citizenship
competencies by promoting veterans'--
(A) research and information fluency;
(B) critical thinking and problem solving skills;
(C) technology operations and concepts;
(D) information and technological literacy;
(E) concepts of media and digital representation
and stereotyping;
(F) understanding of explicit and implicit media
and digital messages;
(G) understanding of values and points of view that
are included and excluded in media and digital content;
(H) understanding of how media and digital content
may influence ideas and behaviors;
(I) understanding of the importance of obtaining
information from multiple media sources and evaluating
sources for quality;
(J) understanding how information on digital
platforms can be altered through algorithms, editing,
and augmented reality;
(K) ability to create media and digital content in
civically and socially responsible ways; and
(L) understanding of influence campaigns conducted
by foreign adversaries and the tactics employed by
foreign adversaries for conducting influence campaigns.
(d) Reporting.--
(1) Reports by grant recipients.--Each recipient of a grant
under the program required by subsection (a) shall, not later
than one year after the date on which the recipient first
receives funds pursuant to the grant, submit to the Secretary a
report describing the activities the recipient carried out
using grant funds and the effectiveness of those activities.
(2) Report by the secretary.--Not later than 90 days after
the date on which the Secretary receives the last report the
Secretary expects to receive under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report describing the activities
carried out under this section and the effectiveness of those
activities.
(e) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Secretary should--
(1) establish and maintain a list of eligible entities that
receive a grant under the program required by subsection (a),
and individuals designated by those eligible entities as
participating individuals; and
(2) make that list available to those eligible entities and
participating individuals in order to promote communication and
further exchange of information regarding sound digital
citizenship and media literacy practices among recipients of
grants under the program required by subsection (a).
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2023, 2025, and 2027.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Cybersecurity best practices.--The term ``cybersecurity
best practices'' means practices and steps that users of
computers and other internet connected devices take to maintain
and improve online security, maintain the proper functioning of
computers devices, and protect computers and devices from
cyberattacks and unauthorized use.
(2) Digital citizenship.--The term ``digital citizenship''
means the ability to--
(A) safely, responsibly, and ethically use
communication technologies and digital information
technology tools and platforms;
(B) create and share media content using principles
of social and civic responsibility and with awareness
of the legal and ethical issues involved; and
(C) participate in the political, economic, social,
and cultural aspects of life related to technology,
communications, and the digital world by consuming and
creating digital content, including media.
(3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a civil society organization, including
community groups, nongovernmental organizations,
nonprofit organization, labor organizations, indigenous
groups, charitable organizations, professional
associations, and foundations; and
(B) congressionally chartered veterans service
organizations.
(4) Media literacy.--The term ``media literacy'' means the
ability to--
(A) access relevant and accurate information
through media in a variety of forms;
(B) critically analyze media content and the
influences of different forms of media;
(C) evaluate the comprehensiveness, relevance,
credibility, authority, and accuracy of information;
(D) make educated decisions based on information
obtained from media and digital sources;
(E) operate various forms of technology and digital
tools; and
(F) reflect on how the use of media and technology
may affect private and public life.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs.
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