[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 41 (Thursday, March 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Rounds, and Mr. Perdue):
  S. 592. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to support 
meeting the increasing needs of the United States for a cybersecurity 
and information assurance workforce by reinvigorating and modifying the 
Information Assurance Scholarship Program of the Department of Defense, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. Presidents, a skilled workforce is essential to 
addressing the growing cyber security challenges in the United States. 
The Department of Defense, DOD, Cyber Strategy, issued in April 2015, 
cites building the cyber workforce among its objective's for achieving 
the essential strategic goal of maintaining ready forces and 
capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations. In Virginia, it is 
estimated that 36,000 cybersecurity jobs remain unfilled.
  Beginning in 2001, DOD funded the Information Assurance Scholarship 
Program, IASP, vhich boosts the Nation's cyber workforce through 
scholarship and capacity-building grants to colleges and universities 
designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of 
Homeland Security as Centers of Academic Excellence, CAE. Scholarship 
recipients are required to fulfill a service obligation by working in a 
cyber security position at DOD upon graduation.
  According to a DOD report from February 2015, the IASP Program had 
employed 593 students and awarded 180 capacity-building grants to CAEs. 
However, due to budget constraints, DOD reduced funding for the IASP 
beginning in 2013 and stopped recruiting new students. The IASP 
received its peak funding level of $7.5 million in 2005--for fiscal 
year 2017, it received $500,000.
  Today, I am pleased to introduce with my colleague Senator Rounds, 
the DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017. The DOD Cyber 
Scholarship Program Act of 2017 would reinvigorate the IASP to boost 
our Nation's cyber workforce. The bill would rename the IASP as the DOD 
Cyber Scholarship Program and express the Sense of Congress that the 
program is an important tool for boosting our cyber defense workforce.
  The DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act would also modify the program 
by expanding scholarships to students pursuing Associate's Degrees. 
There are currently 46 two-year institutions designated as CAEs, which 
would be eligible to apply for grants. Associate's degree programs 
could provide a valuable source of technical personnel, at a lower 
cost, to DOD. The bill would require that at least 5 percent of 
scholarship funds go to 2-year program students.
  The DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act would authorize the DOD Cyber 
Scholarship Program to receive $10 million in fiscal year 2018. At its 
peak in 2005, the IASP received $7.5 million. Since then, the cost of 
tuition has increased considerably and the need for skilled cyber 
professionals has never been greater. Ten million dollars is an 
appropriate funding level to reinvigorate the program, expand it to 
associate's degree recipients, and allow for manageable program 
execution from DOD and the National Security Agency.
  The DOD Cyber Scholarship Program is a commonsense, bipartisan bill 
that would help students succeed in today's economy and strengthen our 
national security. There are good-paying jobs in Virginia and across 
the country in the cyber field that are going unfilled, and it is clear 
we must make it easier for students to access the programs that prepare 
them for these roles. Expanding scholarship funds so they're available 
to community college students will help put more of our nation's 
students on a path to success and support our national security needs.
                                 ______