[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H798-H800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CYBERSECURITY COOPERATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2017
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 612) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 612
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 2017''.
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
[[Page H799]]
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) No Additional Funds Authorized.--No additional funds
are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act.
Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts
otherwise authorized.
(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 within which to revise and extend their remarks
and 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.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 612, the United States-
Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017.
I was grateful for the opportunity to work closely with my colleague,
Mr. Langevin from Rhode Island, on this vitally important legislation
that will build upon the existing collaboration between the United
States and the State of Israel on critical cybersecurity issues.
Following our successful congressional delegation to Israel in May of
last year to discuss homeland security and cybersecurity issues, Mr.
Langevin and I worked closely to champion two important pieces of
legislation.
Last year, I introduced H.R. 5877, the United States-Israeli Advanced
Partnership Act of 2016, which was signed into law on December 16 with
Mr. Langevin's help and support. That legislation expanded a current
cooperative research program between the two countries by adding
cybersecurity to a program that had previously focused only on border
security, explosives detection, and emergency services.
Today, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have H.R. 612, the United States-
Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017 come before
the House. This bill would expand the memorandum of agreement already
in place between our Department of Homeland Security and the State of
Israel by authorizing the Secretary to carry out a grant program at DHS
to support cybersecurity research and development as well as the
demonstration and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies.
During our congressional delegation, Mr. Langevin and I were able to
meet with top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, to discuss how the United States and Israel can better
cooperate in these vital areas. We also had the opportunity to meet
with many of Israel's cybersecurity companies and technology startups.
Over the past several years, Israel has become a leader in
cybersecurity and has developed a deep and talented cyber workforce,
something we need greater focus on here in the United States. To that
end, much of our discussion with Israeli officials and private
companies revolved around how the United States and Israel can work
more closely together and learn from each other as we combat growing
cybersecurity threats. This legislation is a product of those
successful discussions.
Mr. Speaker, the United States and Israel are both under constant
threat from nation-state and other actors that wish to do our countries
harm, so it is vitally important that the United States and Israel work
hand-in-hand to build our cyber defenses to combat these cyber threats
together.
Mr. Speaker, it is also vital that in the House both parties work
hand-in-hand on America's national security vulnerabilities. Given the
current political environment, I would like to commend and thank my
colleague, Mr. Langevin, for his willingness to do just that, as
demonstrated by his partnership on this issue. I very much look forward
to continuing to work with him on more cybersecurity issues during the
115th Congress.
I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, 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. 612, the United States-Israel
Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017.
Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking Chairman Ratcliffe for his
leadership on the subcommittee and, in particular, on the issue of
cybersecurity. I have greatly enjoyed our partnership on this and many
issues. I appreciate his due diligence and his hard work on many
national security issues.
Let me also start by expressing my deep gratitude to Chairman McCaul
and Ranking Member Thompson in acting so quickly to bring this bill to
the floor. Both the chairman and ranking member led a very productive
committee last Congress, and I am very pleased that their commitment to
protect our national security has extended to swift action this year as
well. That urgency is particularly relevant to this bill, the United
States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act.
As Chairman Ratcliffe mentioned, last May, he and I traveled to
Israel to meet with public and private cybersecurity officials. I think
I can speak for my friend when I say that we were very impressed by the
Israeli's efforts in this space. Israel was one of the first countries
to recognize the potential threat posed by interconnected computer
systems, and they have been leaders in cybersecurity now for decades.
For instance, the first stateful firewall technology was first
developed by an Israeli firm. Today, these firewalls are ubiquitous
across the information security landscape. In fact, despite its size,
Israel is the second largest exporter of cybersecurity goods and
services, behind only the United States. U.S. companies have certainly
taken notice. Mr. Ratcliffe and I, as he mentioned, met with some of
their representatives during our trip.
Just last week, Reuters reported that one of the components of
Microsoft's $1 billion per year cybersecurity strategy is acquisition
of three Israeli corporations.
Collaboration with our closest Middle East ally only makes sense from
a national security perspective. Preserving Israeli security is
essential to stability in the region.
We clearly have a lot to learn from each other as well, which is why
I have championed government-to-government interaction on
cybersecurity, such as the recent letter of intent for more
information-sharing between DHS and Israel that was championed by
former Deputy Secretary Mayorkas.
Beyond our governments working together, Chairman Ratcliffe and I
also believe the government can do more to encourage collaboration
between our private sector and nonprofit entities on issues directly
relevant to homeland security. That is why, upon our return, we worked
in close collaboration to develop two bills to enhance these
cooperative relationships.
I could not have asked for a better partnership in this effort. I was
thrilled that our first bill, the United States-Israel Advanced
Research Partnership Act, was signed into law last month. It is our
second bill, which passed the House in November, but failed to make
[[Page H800]]
it through the Senate before Congress adjourned last year, that we are
discussing today.
Specifically, this 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 process and
would have to address requirements in cybersecurity 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. 612 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 ventures.
{time} 1645
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.
Now, using the existing infrastructure, as was done in 2007 when
Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act that led to
the creation of BIRD Energy, also allows us to capitalize on both
foundations' robust networks of United States and Israeli entities to
help seed these joint ventures. 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 even weekly
basis.
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
will 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. 612 will both
address urgent homeland security needs and build capacity for further
transnational collaboration on cybersecurity, all while matching
Federal investment with private sector dollars and funds from the
Israeli Government.
Mr. Speaker, I normally preface my remarks on cybersecurity with an
explanation of the threat our country faces. I would hope that, given
recent events, I don't have to remind my colleagues of the dangers that
we face in this sphere which, as I see it, is one of the key national
security challenges of the 21st century.
I would hope that incidents like the recent attack on the Ukrainian
power grid demonstrate the power of a computer keyboard to affect our
critical infrastructure. I would hope that the breach of hundreds of
millions of accounts at Yahoo, which affected around 10 percent of the
world's population, demonstrates how pervasive data collection is and
its vulnerabilities. I would certainly hope that the Russian
information warfare operations targeting the very foundations of our
democracy, our elections, demonstrate the stakes that we face.
In the face of these threats, we must join together with our allies
to protect a free and open internet and ensure that the amazing
benefits of technology are not overshadowed by the new vulnerabilities
that they open up. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 612 is an important step to
driving the innovation we need in the security space to meet these two
goals.
As with any bills that make it to the floor, this bill owes much to
the dedicated staff on both sides of the aisle who spent countless
hours behind the scenes reviewing this legislation. I thank them for
their extraordinary and exceptional work.
I am also very grateful, again, to Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member
Thompson, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Richmond for their continued
leadership on cybersecurity and, in particular, Chairman Ratcliffe for
his work and for their assistance in quickly actualizing the lessons
that we have learned on our trip to Israel.
Finally, in closing, I owe, once again, a debt of gratitude to my
friend across the aisle, Chairman Ratcliffe, who, in his first term,
immediately had a substantial impact on our Nation's cybersecurity and
with whom it has been a great pleasure to work. I look forward to our
continued work in this Congress and beyond.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 612 does three things: it encourages innovative
approaches to address top priorities in homeland security R&D; it
strengthens ties with Israel, one of our closest allies; and it does so
in a public-private partnership that matches Federal investment.
Mr. Speaker, if you indulge me for a moment, I would like to read
something the Saudi Arabian Computer Emergency Response Team put out
last week: ``Following a recent cyberattack which targeted several
national organizations, this is an urgent call for your cybersecurity
team to be on the alert for Shamoon 2 and ransomware attacks that could
possibly cripple your organization's systems.''
For those of my colleagues who are not aware, the Shamoon attacks of
2012 took down tens of thousands of computers at the Saudi state oil
company, Saudi Aramco. The Shamoon 2 variant has been targeting Saudi
Government agencies and private industry since November.
I bring this up, Mr. Speaker, because open source intelligence
reports point to Iran as being responsible for the original Shamoon
attack. I believe there is a good chance that Iranian-aligned actors
are behind the recent incidents as well. Our Israeli partners live
under this threat every day, and, to be frank, so do we.
Last year, the Justice Department indicted seven Iranian hackers for
attacks on the U.S. financial sector and for probing the networks of a
New York dam. The same threats that leave me unable to sleep keep my
friend Dr. Matania, head of the Israel National Cyber Bureau, up at
night as well.
Closing our aperture of vulnerability will be difficult, Mr. Speaker,
but it is possible if we work together to bring our countries' unique
perspectives to bear on the problem. I know my colleagues in the Senate
share these sentiments, and I hope they will move quickly to take this
bill up and start fostering further collaboration as soon as possible.
Let me again thank Chairman Ratcliffe for his leadership and his
outstanding work on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support H.R.
612.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island
for his kind words. I also thank him and commend him for his leadership
on cybersecurity issues for many years in this House. I look forward to
working with him for many years, hopefully, to come. I thank him for
his friendship and collaboration in helping to make America safer.
Mr. Speaker, I again urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 612.
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. 612.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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