[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H6335-H6336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CYBERSECURITY COOPERATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2016
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5843) to establish a grant program at the Department of
Homeland Security to promote cooperative research and development
between the United States and Israel on cybersecurity, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5843
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 ``United States-Israel
Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CYBERSECURITY COOPERATION.
(a) Grant Program.--
(1) Establishment.--The Secretary, in accordance with the
agreement entitled the ``Agreement between the Government of
the United States of America and the Government of the State
of Israel on Cooperation in Science and Technology for
Homeland Security Matters'', dated May 29, 2008 (or successor
agreement), and the requirements specified in paragraph (2),
shall establish a grant program at the Department to
support--
(A) cybersecurity research and development; and
(B) demonstration and commercialization of cybersecurity
technology.
(2) Requirements.--
(A) Applicability.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, in carrying out a research, development, demonstration,
or commercial application program or activity that is
authorized under this section, the Secretary shall require
cost sharing in accordance with this paragraph.
(B) Research and development.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), the
Secretary shall require not less than 50 percent of the cost
of a research, development, demonstration, or commercial
application program or activity described in subparagraph (A)
to be provided by a non-Federal source.
(ii) Reduction.--The Secretary may reduce or eliminate, on
a case-by-case basis, the percentage requirement specified in
clause (i) if the Secretary determines that such reduction or
elimination is necessary and appropriate.
(C) Merit review.--In carrying out a research, development,
demonstration, or commercial application program or activity
that is authorized under this section, awards shall be made
only after an impartial review of the scientific and
technical merit of the proposals for such awards has been
carried out by or for the Department.
(D) Review processes.--In carrying out a review under
subparagraph (C), the Secretary may use merit review
processes developed under section 302(14) of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182(14)).
(3) Eligible applicants.--An applicant shall be eligible to
receive a grant under this subsection if the project of such
applicant--
(A) addresses a requirement in the area of cybersecurity
research or cybersecurity technology, as determined by the
Secretary; and
(B) is a joint venture between--
(i)(I) a for-profit business entity, academic institution,
National Laboratory (as defined in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), or nonprofit entity in
the United States; and
(II) a for-profit business entity, academic institution, or
nonprofit entity in Israel; or
(ii)(I) the Federal Government; and
(II) the Government of Israel.
(4) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this subsection, an applicant shall submit to the Secretary
an application for such grant in accordance with procedures
established by the Secretary, in consultation with the
advisory board established under paragraph (5).
(5) Advisory board.--
(A) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish an
advisory board to--
(i) monitor the method by which grants are awarded under
this subsection; and
(ii) provide to the Secretary periodic performance reviews
of actions taken to carry out this subsection.
(B) Composition.--The advisory board established under
subparagraph (A) shall be composed of three members, to be
appointed by the Secretary, of whom--
(i) one shall be a representative of the Federal
Government;
(ii) one shall be selected from a list of nominees provided
by the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation;
and
(iii) one shall be selected from a list of nominees
provided by the United States-Israel Binational Industrial
Research and Development Foundation.
(6) Contributed funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the Secretary may accept or retain funds contributed
by any person, government entity, or organization for
purposes of carrying out this subsection. Such funds shall be
available, subject to appropriation, without fiscal year
limitation.
(7) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
completion of a project for which a grant is provided under
this subsection, the grant recipient shall submit to the
Secretary a report that contains--
(A) a description of how the grant funds were used by the
recipient; and
(B) an evaluation of the level of success of each project
funded by the grant.
(8) Classification.--Grants shall be awarded under this
subsection only for projects that are considered to be
unclassified by both the United States and Israel.
(b) Termination.--The grant program and the advisory board
established under this section terminate on the date that is
seven years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Prohibition on Additional Funding.--No additional funds
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act.
(d) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``cybersecurity research'' means research,
including social science research, into ways to identify,
protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from
cybersecurity threats;
(2) the term ``cybersecurity technology'' means technology
intended to identify, protect against, detect, respond to,
and recover from cybersecurity threats;
(3) the term ``cybersecurity threat'' has the meaning given
such term in section 102 of the Cybersecurity Information
Sharing Act of 2015 (enacted as title I of the Cybersecurity
Act of 2015 (division N of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113)));
(4) the term ``Department'' means the Department of
Homeland Security; and
(5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Ratcliffe) and the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr.
Langevin) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
to include any extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I thank my colleague, Mr. Langevin, for offering this very important
piece of legislation today.
As I mentioned earlier, both H.R. 5843 and H.R. 5877 were the result
of our successful congressional delegation to the State of Israel,
where we heard and learned firsthand about the importance of strong
collaboration between our two nations--the United States and Israel.
This legislation further builds on the existing agreements between
the United States and Israel by authorizing the Secretary to carry out
a grant program to bolster the cyber defenses of both countries. It is
vitally important that the United States and Israel have robust and
innovative cyber defenses in order to stay ahead of our adversaries,
and this legislation will help ensure that that is achieved.
Again, I thank Mr. Langevin and his staff for their partnership on
this very important issue, and I urge all Members to join me in
supporting this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 5843, the United States-Israel
Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2016. Much like the
previous bill, H.R. 5843 is about enhancing cooperation with our allies
in Israel to develop innovative cybersecurity solutions that are
directly responsive to the needs of our national security.
Specifically, the bill creates a cybersecurity grant program for
joint research and development ventures between Israeli and American
entities. Projects would be selected after a merit-review--peer-
review--process and would have to address requirements in cybersecurity
that are determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The grants
would also be subject to a cost-sharing requirement, with at least 50
percent of project funds coming from a non-Federal source.
Importantly, H.R. 5843 leverages existing United States-Israel R&D
infrastructure, specifically the Binational Industrial Research and
Development, or BIRD, Foundation and the Binational Science Foundation,
or BSF. Both organizations have a proven track record of encouraging
joint research efforts.
[[Page H6336]]
BIRD, for instance, has financed R&D and commercialization projects
that have led to a cumulative $8 billion in commercial sales since its
founding while BSF regularly funds collaborations between the top
scientists in our respective countries, as 45 Nobel laureates have
received support from the foundation. Using the existing
infrastructure, as was done in 2007 when Congress passed the Energy
Independence and Security Act, which led to the creation of BIRD
Energy, also allows us to capitalize on both foundations' robust
networks of American and Israeli entities to help seed these joint
efforts.
All of these factors are particularly critical in the fast-moving
cybersecurity domain where offensive and defensive tactics and
techniques change on a monthly or on even a weekly basis.
{time} 1630
As such, advances in the discipline require a near constant
reexamining of assumptions, and having people from different
backgrounds and security cultures working together engenders an
environment where such reexamination is encouraged.
While both the U.S. and Israel have robust cybersecurity communities,
further collaboration is needed to spur more advances to combat the
threats that we face. Although some of these advances are technological
in nature, basic cybersecurity research, such as investigations into
the psychology of secure interface design and social engineering, is
also supported by the bill.
All told, the programs authorized in H.R. 5843 and H.R. 5877 will
both address urgent homeland security needs and build capacity for
further transnational collaboration on cybersecurity, all while
matching Federal investment with private dollars and funds from the
Israeli Government.
As with any bill to make it to the floor, both H.R. 5843 and H.R.
5877 owe much to the dedicated staff who spent hours behind the scenes
reviewing the legislation. In particular, I would like to thank Brett
DeWitt, Christopher Schepis, and Erik Peterson from the Committee on
Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure
Protection, and Security Technologies, who joined Representative
Ratcliffe and me on the congressional delegation trip that we took to
Israel, as well as Emily Leviner on Mr. Ratcliffe's personal staff and
Nick Leiserson on my own staff.
I am also very grateful, of course, to Chairman McCaul, Ranking
Member Thompson, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Richmond for their
continued leadership on the issue of cybersecurity and for their
assistance in quickly actualizing the lessons we learned on our trip to
Israel.
Finally, once again, I owe a debt of gratitude to the gentleman
across the aisle, Mr. Ratcliffe, who, in just in his first term, has
immediately had a substantial impact on our Nation's cybersecurity, as
I said previously, and with whom it has been a great pleasure to work.
Mr. Speaker, taken together, H.R. 5843 and H.R. 5877 do three things:
they encourage innovative approaches to address top priorities in
homeland security R&D; they strengthen ties with Israel, one of our
closest allies; and they do so in a public-private partnership that
matches Federal investment.
I urge Members to support H.R. 5843.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Langevin for his kind
words. I would also like to congratulate him on his hard work and his
leadership in bringing this bill to the floor today.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This bill is about innovation. It is a bill about bringing together
the best minds in the U.S. and in Israel to help manage what has become
an intractable problem. It is a bill that is sorely needed.
In the past year, just by way of example, we have seen the first
cyber attack on a power grid in Ukraine. Many devices that are part of
the Internet of Things have been compromised and used to attack Web
sites and services.
Most disturbingly, the very foundation of our democracy, our voting
system, has been targeted in a Russian information warfare campaign
that leverages hacked documents. These are the national and Homeland
Security threats that keep me up at night, and they are also the same
types of threats that motivate the Israel National Cyber Bureau.
Working together, I believe that we can make meaningful progress to
reduce the nation-state specific risk both countries face and better
secure the entire Internet ecosystem.
I hope my colleagues in the Senate will move quickly to take up this
issue. I would like to particularly thank my dear friend and home State
colleague, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, for his efforts in this regard.
He has been the leader in so many ways on the Senate side on
cybersecurity, among other things, and has been an invaluable partner
to me in this effort.
Again, let me thank Representative Ratcliffe for his work on this
bill and his leadership on the committee.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Langevin, and I urge
my colleagues to support his bill, H.R. 5843.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ratcliffe) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 5843, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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