[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 136 (Sunday, August 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5248-S5250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2134. Mr. KING (for himself, Mr. Sasse, and Mr. Rounds) submitted 
an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3684, to 
authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and 
transit programs, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

       At the end of title VI of division G, add the following:

         Subtitle C--National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund

     SEC. 70621. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER RESILIENCE 
                   ASSISTANCE FUND.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States now operates in a cyber landscape 
     that requires a level of data security, resilience, and 
     trustworthiness that neither the United States Government nor 
     the private sector alone is currently equipped to provide;
       (2) the United States must deny benefits to adversaries who 
     have long exploited cyberspace to their advantage, to the 
     disadvantage of the United States, and at little cost to 
     themselves;
       (3) this new approach requires securing critical networks 
     in collaboration with the private sector to promote national 
     resilience and increase the security of the cyber ecosystem;
       (4) reducing the vulnerabilities adversaries can target 
     denies them opportunities to attack the interests of the 
     United States through cyberspace;
       (5) the public and private sectors struggle to coordinate 
     cyber defenses, leaving gaps that decrease national 
     resilience and create systemic risk;
       (6) new technology continues to emerge that further 
     compounds these challenges;
       (7) while the Homeland Security Grant Program and 
     resourcing for national preparedness under the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency are well-established, the United 
     States Government has no equivalent for cybersecurity 
     preparation or prevention;
       (8) the lack of a consistent, resourced fund for investing 
     in resilience in key areas inhibits the United States 
     Government from conveying its understanding of risk into 
     strategy, planning, and action in furtherance of core 
     objectives for the security and resilience of critical 
     infrastructure;
       (9) the Federal Government must fundamentally shift the way 
     it invests in resilience and shift the focus away from 
     reactive disaster spending towards research-supported and 
     risk-driven proactive investment in critical infrastructure 
     cyber resilience;
       (10) Congress has worked diligently to establish the 
     Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, creating a 
     new agency that can leverage broad authorities to receive and 
     share information, provide technical assistance to operators, 
     and partner with stakeholders across the executive branch, 
     State and local communities, and the private sector;
       (11) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 
     requires strengthening in its mission to ensure the national 
     resilience of critical infrastructure, promote a more secure 
     cyber ecosystem, and serve as the central coordinating 
     element to support and integrate Federal, State, local, and 
     private-sector cybersecurity efforts; and
       (12) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 
     requires further resource investment and clear authorities to 
     realize its full potential.
       (b) Amendments.--Subtitle A of title XXII of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended--
       (1) in section 2202(c) (6 U.S.C. 652(c))--
       (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in the first paragraph designated as paragraph (12), 
     relating to the Cybersecurity State Coordinator--
       (i) by striking ``section 2215'' and inserting ``section 
     2217''; and
       (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end; and
       (C) by redesignating the second and third paragraphs 
     designated as paragraph (12) as paragraphs (13) and (14), 
     respectively;
       (2) by redesignating section 2218, as added by section 
     70612 of this Act, as section 2220A;
       (3) by redesignating section 2217 (6 U.S.C. 665f) as 
     section 2220;
       (4) by redesignating section 2216 (6 U.S.C. 665e) as 
     section 2219;
       (5) by redesignating the fourth section 2215 (relating to 
     Sector Risk Management Agencies) (6 U.S.C. 665d) as section 
     2218;
       (6) by redesignating the third section 2215 (relating to 
     the Cybersecurity State Coordinator) (6 U.S.C. 665c) as 
     section 2217;
       (7) by redesignating the second section 2215 (relating to 
     the Joint Cyber Planning Office) (6 U.S.C. 665b) as section 
     2216; and
       (8) by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 2220B. NATIONAL CYBER RESILIENCE ASSISTANCE FUND.

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Cybersecurity risk.--The term `cybersecurity risk' 
     has the meaning given that term in section 2209.
       ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an 
     entity that meets the guidelines and requirements for 
     eligible entities established by the Secretary under 
     subsection (d)(4).
       ``(3) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the National Cyber 
     Resilience Assistance Fund established under subsection (c).
       ``(4) National critical functions.--The term `national 
     critical functions' means the functions of government and the 
     private sector so vital to the United States that their 
     disruption, corruption, or dysfunction would have a 
     debilitating effect on security, national economic security, 
     national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.
       ``(b) Creation of a Critical Infrastructure Resilience 
     Strategy and a National Risk Management Cycle.--
       ``(1) Initial risk identification and assessment.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
     Director, shall establish a process by which to identify, 
     assess, and prioritize risks to critical infrastructure, 
     considering both cyber and physical threats, vulnerabilities, 
     and consequences.
       ``(B) Consultation.--In establishing the process required 
     under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consult with 
     Sector Risk Management Agencies, critical infrastructure 
     owners and operators, and the National Cyber Director.
       ``(C) Publication.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish in 
     the Federal Register procedures for the process established 
     under subparagraph (A).
       ``(D) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 
     President, the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on 
     Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report on 
     the risks identified by the process established under 
     subparagraph (A).
       ``(2) Initial national critical infrastructure resilience 
     strategy.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
     which the Secretary delivers the report required under 
     paragraph (1)(D), the President shall deliver to majority and 
     minority leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and minority 
     leader of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
     Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and 
     the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
     Representatives a national critical infrastructure resilience 
     strategy designed to address the risks identified by the 
     Secretary.
       ``(B) Elements.--In the strategy delivered under 
     subparagraph (A), the President shall--
       ``(i) identify, assess, and prioritize areas of risk to 
     critical infrastructure that would compromise, disrupt, or 
     impede the ability of the critical infrastructure to support 
     the national critical functions of national security, 
     economic security, or public health and safety;
       ``(ii) identify and outline current and proposed national-
     level actions, programs, and efforts to be taken to address 
     the risks identified;
       ``(iii) identify the Federal departments or agencies 
     responsible for leading each national-level action, program, 
     or effort and the relevant critical infrastructure sectors 
     for each;
       ``(iv) outline the budget plan required to provide 
     sufficient resources to successfully execute the full range 
     of activities proposed or described by the strategy; and
       ``(v) request any additional authorities or resources 
     necessary to successfully execute the strategy.
       ``(C) Form.--The strategy delivered under subparagraph (A) 
     shall be unclassified, but may contain a classified annex.
       ``(3) Congressional briefing.--Not later than 1 year after 
     the date on which the President delivers the strategy under 
     subparagraph (A), and every year thereafter, the Secretary, 
     in coordination with Sector Risk Management Agencies, shall 
     brief the appropriate congressional committees on the 
     national risk management cycle activities undertaken pursuant 
     to the strategy.
       ``(4) Five year risk management cycle.--
       ``(A) Risk identification and assessment.--Under procedures 
     established by the Secretary, the Secretary shall repeat the 
     conducting and reporting of the risk identification and 
     assessment required under paragraph (1), in accordance with 
     the requirements in paragraph (1), every 5 years.
       ``(B) Strategy.--Under procedures established by the 
     President, the President shall repeat the preparation and 
     delivery of the critical infrastructure resilience strategy 
     required under paragraph (2), in accordance with the 
     requirements in paragraph (2), every 5 years, which shall 
     also include assessing the implementation of the previous 
     national critical infrastructure resilience strategy.
       ``(c) Establishment of the National Cyber Resilience 
     Assistance Fund.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
     United States a fund, to be known as the `National Cyber 
     Resilience Assistance Fund', which shall be available for the 
     cost of risk-based grant programs focused on systematically 
     increasing the resilience of public and private critical 
     infrastructure against cybersecurity risk, thereby increasing 
     the overall resilience of the United States.

[[Page S5249]]

       ``(d) Administration of Grants From the National Cyber 
     Resilience Assistance Fund.--
       ``(1) In general.--In accordance with this section, the 
     Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency and the Director, shall develop 
     and administer processes to--
       ``(A) establish focused grant programs to address 
     identified areas of cybersecurity risk to, and bolster the 
     resilience of, critical infrastructure;
       ``(B) accept and evaluate applications for each such grant 
     program;
       ``(C) award grants under each such grant program; and
       ``(D) disburse amounts from the Fund.
       ``(2) Establishment of risk-focused grant programs.--
       ``(A) Establishment.--
       ``(i) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
     Director and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency, may establish not less than 1 grant 
     program focused on mitigating an identified category of 
     cybersecurity risk identified under the national risk 
     management cycle and critical infrastructure resilience 
     strategy under subsection (b) in order to bolster the 
     resilience of critical infrastructure within the United 
     States.
       ``(ii) Selection of focus area.--Before selecting a focus 
     area for a grant program pursuant to this subparagraph, the 
     Director shall ensure--

       ``(I) there is a clearly-defined cybersecurity risk 
     identified through the national risk management cycle and 
     critical infrastructure resilience strategy under subsection 
     (b) to be mitigated;
       ``(II) market forces do not provide sufficient private-
     sector incentives to mitigate the risk without Government 
     investment; and
       ``(III) there is clear Federal need, role, and 
     responsibility to mitigate the risk in order to bolster the 
     resilience of critical infrastructure.

       ``(B) Funding.--
       ``(i) Recommendation.--Beginning in the first fiscal year 
     following the establishment of the Fund and each fiscal year 
     thereafter, the Director shall--

       ``(I) assess the funds available in the Fund for the fiscal 
     year; and
       ``(II) recommend to the Secretary the total amount to be 
     made available from the Fund under each grant program 
     established under this subsection.

       ``(ii) Allocation.--After considering the recommendations 
     made by the Director under clause (i) for a fiscal year, the 
     Director shall allocate amounts from the Fund to each active 
     grant program established under this subsection for the 
     fiscal year.
       ``(3) Use of funds.--
       ``(A) In general.--Amounts in the Fund shall be used to 
     proactively mitigate risks identified through the national 
     risk management cycle and critical infrastructure resilience 
     strategy under subsection (b) before cyber incidents occur, 
     through activities such as--
       ``(i) proactive vulnerability assessments and mitigation;
       ``(ii) defrayal of costs to invest in backup systems 
     critical to mitigating national or economic security risks, 
     as determined by the Federal Government, with cost-sharing 
     from the recipient entity in accordance with subparagraph 
     (B);
       ``(iii) defrayal of costs to invest in replacing vulnerable 
     systems and assets critical to mitigating national or 
     economic security risks, as determined by the Federal 
     Government, with more secure alternatives with cost-sharing 
     from the recipient entity in accordance with subparagraph 
     (B);
       ``(iv) grants to nonprofit entities to develop publicly 
     available low-cost or no-cost cybersecurity tools for small-
     sized and medium-sized entities;
       ``(v) proactive threat detection and hunting; and
       ``(vi) network protections.
       ``(B) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of an 
     activity described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph 
     (A) carried out using funds made available under this section 
     may not exceed--
       ``(i) for fiscal year 2022, 90 percent;
       ``(ii) for fiscal year 2023, 80 percent;
       ``(iii) for fiscal year 2024, 70 percent;
       ``(iv) for fiscal year 2025, 60 percent; and
       ``(v) for fiscal year 2026, and each fiscal year 
     thereafter, 50 percent.
       ``(4) Eligible entities.--
       ``(A) Guidelines and requirements.--
       ``(i) In general.--In accordance with clause (ii), the 
     Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security 
     and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations 
     of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security and the 
     Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a 
     set of guidelines and requirements for determining the 
     entities that are eligible entities.
       ``(ii) Deadlines.--The Secretary shall submit the 
     guidelines and requirements under clause (i)--

       ``(I) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this section, and every 2 years thereafter; and
       ``(II) not later than 90 days before the date on which the 
     Secretary implements the guidelines and requirements.

       ``(B) Considerations.--In developing guidelines and 
     requirements for eligible entities under subparagraph (A), 
     the Secretary shall consider--
       ``(i) number of employees;
       ``(ii) annual revenue;
       ``(iii) existing entity cybersecurity spending;
       ``(iv) current cyber risk assessments, including credible 
     threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences; and
       ``(v) entity capacity to invest in mitigating cybersecurity 
     risk absent assistance from the Federal Government.
       ``(5) Limitation.--For any fiscal year, an eligible entity 
     may not receive more than 1 grant from each grant program 
     established under this subsection.
       ``(6) Grant processes.--The Secretary, acting through the 
     Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
     shall require the submission of such information as the 
     Secretary determines is necessary to--
       ``(A) evaluate a grant application against the criteria 
     established under this section;
       ``(B) disburse grant funds;
       ``(C) provide oversight of disbursed grant funds; and
       ``(D) evaluate the effectiveness of the funded project in 
     increasing the overall resilience of the United States with 
     respect to cybersecurity risks.
       ``(7) Grant criteria.--For each grant program established 
     under this subsection, the Director, in coordination with the 
     Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
     shall develop and publish criteria for evaluating 
     applications for funding, which shall include--
       ``(A) whether the application identifies a clearly-defined 
     cybersecurity risk;
       ``(B) whether the cybersecurity risk identified in the 
     grant application poses a substantial threat to critical 
     infrastructure;
       ``(C) whether the application identifies a program or 
     project clearly designed to mitigate a cybersecurity risk;
       ``(D) the potential consequences of leaving the identified 
     cybersecurity risk unmitigated, including the potential 
     impact to the critical functions and overall resilience of 
     the nation; and
       ``(E) other appropriate factors identified by the Director.
       ``(8) Evaluation of grants applications.--
       ``(A) In general.--Utilizing the criteria established under 
     paragraph (7), the Director, in coordination with the 
     Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
     shall evaluate grant applications made under each grant 
     program established under this subsection.
       ``(B) Recommendation.--Following the evaluations required 
     under subparagraph (A), the Director shall recommend to the 
     Secretary applications for approval, including the amount of 
     funding recommended for each such approval.
       ``(9) Award of grant funding.--The Secretary shall--
       ``(A) review the recommendations of the Director prepared 
     pursuant to paragraph (8); and
       ``(B) provide a final determination of grant awards to the 
     Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 
     be disbursed and administered under the process established 
     under paragraph (6).
       ``(e) Evaluation of Grant Programs Utilizing the National 
     Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund.--
       ``(1) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall establish a process 
     to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of grants 
     distributed under this section and develop appropriate 
     updates, as needed, to the grant programs.
       ``(2) Annual report.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     conclusion of the first fiscal year in which grants are 
     awarded under this section, and every fiscal year thereafter, 
     the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives a report detailing the grants awarded from 
     the Fund, the status of projects undertaken with the grant 
     funds, any planned changes to the disbursement methodology of 
     the Fund, measurements of success, and total outlays from the 
     Fund.
       ``(3) Grant program review.--
       ``(A) Annual assessment.--Before the start of the second 
     fiscal year in which grants are awarded under this section, 
     and every fiscal year thereafter, the Director shall assess 
     the grant programs established under this section and 
     determine--
       ``(i) for the coming fiscal year--

       ``(I) whether new grant programs with additional focus 
     areas should be created;
       ``(II) whether any existing grant program should be 
     discontinued; and
       ``(III) whether the scope of any existing grant program 
     should be modified; and

       ``(ii) the success of the grant programs in the prior 
     fiscal year.
       ``(B) Submission to congress.--Not later than 90 days 
     before the start of the second fiscal year in which grants 
     are awarded under this section, and every fiscal year 
     thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
     Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 
     on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives the assessment conducted pursuant to 
     subparagraph (A) and any planned alterations to the grant 
     program for the coming fiscal year.
       ``(f) Limitation on Use of Grant Funds.--Funds awarded 
     pursuant to this section--

[[Page S5250]]

       ``(1) shall supplement and not supplant State or local 
     funds or, as applicable, funds supplied by the Bureau of 
     Indian Affairs; and
       ``(2) may not be used--
       ``(A) to provide any Federal cost-sharing contribution on 
     behalf of a State or local government;
       ``(B) to pay a ransom;
       ``(C) by or for a non-United States entity; or
       ``(D) for any recreational or social purpose.
       ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
     $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
       ``(h) Transfers Authorized.--During a fiscal year, the 
     Secretary or the head of any component of the Department that 
     administers the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program 
     may transfer not more than 5 percent of the amounts 
     appropriated pursuant to subsection (g) or other amounts 
     appropriated to carry out the National Cyber Resilience 
     Assistance Fund for that fiscal year to an account of the 
     Department for salaries, expenses, and other administrative 
     costs incurred for the management, administration, or 
     evaluation of this section.
       ``(i) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later 
     than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, 
     the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
     the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
     in the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security in the 
     House of Representatives a report containing the results of a 
     study regarding the effectiveness of the programs described 
     in this section.''.
       (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Table of contents.--The table of contents in section 
     1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-
     296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended by striking the item relating 
     to section 2214 and all that follows through the item 
     relating to section 2218, as added by section 70612 of this 
     Act, and inserting the following:
``Sec. 2214. National Asset Database.
``Sec. 2215. Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain.
``Sec. 2216. Joint Cyber Planning Office.
``Sec. 2217. Cybersecurity State Coordinator.
``Sec. 2218. Sector Risk Management Agencies.
``Sec. 2219. Cybersecurity Advisory Committee.
``Sec. 2220. Cybersecurity education and training programs.
``Sec. 2220A. State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.
``Sec. 2220B. National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund.''.
       (2) Additional technical amendment.--
       (A) Amendment.--Section 904(b)(1) of the DOTGOV Act of 2020 
     (title IX of division U of Public Law 116-260) is amended, in 
     the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``Homeland 
     Security Act'' and inserting ``Homeland Security Act of 
     2002''.
       (B) Effective date.--The amendment made by subparagraph (A) 
     shall take effect as if enacted as part of the DOTGOV Act of 
     2020 (title IX of division U of Public Law 116-260).
                                 ______