House committee advances cybersecurity measures

House Committee on Homeland Security members said the body has advanced seven bills designed to bolster cybersecurity.

“As many Americans witnessed just last week, cyber-attacks have the potential to disrupt our daily lives and impact our economic and national security,” Rep. John Katko (R-NY), the Committee’s ranking member, said. “The Committee’s passage of several cyber-focused bills represents critical progress toward improving our cyber resilience and making sure our country is better prepared to mitigate attacks like this in the future.”

The legislative action is in response to recent cyber incidents impacting federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector. Katko’s Domains Critical to Homeland Security Act (H.R. 3264) seeks to address supply chain risks while improving the nation’s long-term economic security.

“I appreciate the Committee’s support of my bill,” Katko said. “The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us that the United States is overly dependent on adversarial nations like China for critical goods, technologies, and supplies. Economic security is homeland security and shoring up our supply chains is an important mission.”

Other advanced measures targeting cybersecurity include the DHS Blue Campaign Enhancement Act (H.R. 2795) introduced by Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI); the DHS Medical Countermeasures Act (H.R. 3263) introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA); the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation Act (H.R. 2980) introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act (H.R. 3138) introduced by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY); the CISA Cyber Exercise Act (H.R. 3223) introduced by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI); and the Pipeline Security Act (H.R. 3243) introduced by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).