[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 127 (Thursday, July 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4526-S4527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 525. Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Peters, and Mr.
Gardner) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the
bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 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; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. 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'', done at Jerusalem 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
[[Page S4527]]
(iii) one shall be selected from a list of nominees
provided by the Israel-United States 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 shall terminate on the date
that is 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) No Additional Funds Authorized.--No additional funds
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the
requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried
out using amounts otherwise appropriated.
(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 (6 U.S.C. 1501);
(4) the term ``Department'' means the Department of
Homeland Security; and
(5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
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