[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 183 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5657-H5659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RELIABILITY, AND INTEROPERABILITY COUNCIL ACT
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4067) to direct the Federal Communications Commission to
establish a council to make recommendations on ways to increase the
security, reliability, and interoperability of communications networks,
and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4067
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 ``Communications Security,
Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act''.
SEC. 2. COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RELIABILITY, AND
INTEROPERABILITY.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the
[[Page H5658]]
Commission shall establish a council, to advise the
Commission on issues including the security, reliability, and
interoperability of communications networks.
(b) Membership.--
(1) Appointment.--The members of the council shall be
appointed by the Chair.
(2) Composition.--To the extent practicable, the membership
of the council shall be composed of the following:
(A) Representatives of companies in the communications
industry, except companies that are determined by the Chair
to be not trusted.
(B) Representatives of public interest organizations or
academic institutions, except public interest organizations
or academic institutions that are determined by the Chair to
be not trusted.
(C) Representatives of the Federal Government, State
governments, local governments, or Tribal Governments, with
at least one member representing each such type of
government.
(3) Knowledge and experience.--Each member of the council
shall have knowledge and experience relevant to the purpose
and goals of the council.
(4) Terms.--
(A) In general.--Each member of the council shall be
appointed for a term of 2 years, except as provided in
subparagraph (B).
(B) Vacancies.--Any member appointed to fill a vacancy
occurring before the expiration of the term for which the
member's predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only
for the remainder of that term. A member may serve after the
expiration of that member's term until a successor has taken
office.
(c) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date on
which the council is established under subsection (a), and
every 2 years thereafter, the council shall submit to the
Chair each report adopted by the council during the preceding
2-year period, and any report adopted by any working group of
the council during such period, including any such report of
the council or a working group containing recommendations on
ways to increase the security, reliability, and
interoperability of communications networks, and on other
relevant issues as appropriate.
(2) Availability on commission website.--The Commission
shall make each report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly
available on the website of the Commission.
(d) Duration.--Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.; relating to the termination of
advisory committees) shall not apply to the council.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Chair.--The term ``Chair'' means the Chair of the
Commission.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(3) Council.--The term ``council'' means the council
established under subsection (a).
(4) Not trusted.--
(A) In general.--The term ``not trusted'' means, with
respect to an entity, that--
(i) the Chair has made a public determination that such
entity is owned by, controlled by, or subject to the
influence of a foreign adversary; or
(ii) the Chair otherwise determines that such entity poses
a threat to the national security of the United States.
(B) Criteria for determination.--In making a determination
under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Chair shall use the criteria
described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 2(c) of
the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019
(47 U.S.C. 1601(c)), as appropriate.
(5) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given such
term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 153).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 4067.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4067, the
Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act.
As we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our Nation's
communications networks play an important role in our daily lives.
Indeed, these networks have helped us remain connected when we were not
able to see family and friends in person. It is vital that we continue
to do all we can to protect this critical infrastructure and ensure it
is reliable and available to all Americans.
The Federal Communications Commission's Communications Security,
Reliability, and Interoperability Council, or CSRIC, is meant to do
just that. It is made up of government leaders at the Federal, State,
and local levels, and includes thought leaders from industry and public
interest organizations. The council provides the FCC with
recommendations on the best practices and actions the agency could take
so that our communications networks are secure, reliable, and
compatible with each other.
CSRIC has been in existence since 2009 and was recently rechartered
by acting FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel for another 5 years.
CSRIC has served the FCC well by operating in a collaborative manner
with representatives from private industry, government, and other key
stakeholders. This year the council will be cochaired by the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and will include even
greater participation from the public interest community.
But given the important objectives of CSRIC, we should not leave it
to the FCC's discretion on whether to recharter this council or not
every 2 years. Instead, CSRIC must become a permanent fixture at the
FCC.
H.R. 4067 requires the Federal Communications Commission to do just
that. Under this bill, the FCC would be required to establish a
permanent council to advise the agency on the security, reliability,
and interoperability of communications networks within 90 days. This
council would include representatives from trusted communications
companies, public interest organizations, academic institutions, as
well as Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments for a term of 2
years.
This bill also requires the council and its working groups to submit
reports offering their recommendations to the chair of the FCC every 2
years. In turn, the FCC must make these reports publicly available on
its website.
I want to thank Representatives Schrader and Slotkin for their
leadership on this bill, as well as Representative Walberg for working
with us to move this bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee.
This bill is an important step in protecting our communications
networks from bad actors and foreign adversaries.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, I look
forward to its consideration by the Senate, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4067, the
Communications Security Advisory Act of 2021, which was introduced by
Representatives Walberg, Slotkin, and Schrader.
This bill takes an important step in preserving and strengthening the
FCC's existing Communications Security, Reliability, and
Interoperability Council, or CSRIC, which plays an important role
facilitating collaboration between the private sector and the FCC.
CSRIC maintains an important role that ensures our emergency alerting
system and 911 systems remain reliable in times of emergency. CSRIC has
also adopted voluntary recommendations to improve wireless security.
These efforts have focused on how best to plan for and address
vulnerabilities in 5G networks.
Together, technical experts from across different parts of the
communications industry leverage their decades of experience to help
advance continued U.S. technological leadership and sound policymaking.
CSRIC's support of these important FCC missions will only become more
important as we continue to deploy 5G, next-generation television, and
other wireless technologies.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Walberg).
Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4067, the
Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act.
I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Slotkin and
Schrader, for joining me in leading on this important legislation.
Though we don't agree on every issue, I am proud of our bipartisan
record when it comes to securing our Nation's communications networks
[[Page H5659]]
and maintaining our leadership in next-generation wireless technology.
H.R. 4067 codifies an existing FCC council advisory council, the
Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council,
better known as CSRIC.
First established in 1992 under its previous name as the Network
Reliability Council, CSRIC makes key recommendations to the FCC on a
range of public safety and national security issues--everything from
deploying next-generation 911 systems to emergency alerting during
storms and disasters, to addressing threats from foreign adversaries.
At a legislative hearing earlier this year, we heard from
cybersecurity experts who said that CSRIC is one of the ``crown
jewels'' of our Government and that there would be tremendous, long-
term value in backing it up statutorily while retaining its flexibility
to tackle the new challenges of the day.
Another former CSRIC panel member spoke to how other countries around
the world look to this body to implement best communications and
security practices. He said--and I agree with him--that CSRIC is one of
the unique platforms which enables the U.S. to lead the rest of the
world in 5G, 6G, and beyond.
As the world becomes increasingly digital and our communications
systems advance toward open-source software platforms, cyberattacks and
threats are only going to increase. We have to be prepared as a nation
to meet this moment, and CSRIC helps us do that.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4067.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I ask the
gentleman from Ohio if he has any additional speakers.
Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, that was my last speaker.
Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Madam Speaker, I think what we are seeing today, we have a theme,
especially coming from the Energy and Commerce Committee's
Communications and Technology Subcommittee that we are talking about
security, reliability, and interoperability of our systems out there
and the importance of it.
As we look back over the last year and a half, where would we have
been if we didn't have the systems that we had to make sure as we went
through COVID for everything from telehealth to education to
manufacturing to business and people just communicating back and forth
with one another, but we have to make sure these systems are secure.
Madam Speaker, this legislation will help that. I urge support of the
House on the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, again, I ask Members to support this bill
as another step in helping us with our communications security as well
as reliability.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4067, 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. BISHOP of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the
yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion
are postponed.
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