Langevin, Ratcliffe Introduce Cybersecurity R&D Legislation

Press Release

Congressmen Jim Langevin (D-RI) and John Ratcliffe (R-TX) introduced legislation today aimed at strengthening collaborative cybersecurity research and development efforts with Israel. The two bills come on the heels of the lawmakers' Congressional delegation trip to Israel in May, which focused on key cybersecurity issues facing both countries.

"The United States and Israel are the two top exporters of cybersecurity technologies," said Langevin, a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee. "Our bills will leverage the reservoirs of expertise in both nations to advance the frontiers of cyber science, and I appreciate Chairman Ratcliffe's leadership on these issues. Cybersecurity is the security challenge of our age, and developing innovative ways of managing the risk we face demands cooperation with our close allies like Israel."

"Israel is our strongest and most trusted ally in the Middle East, and I'm proud to be partnering with Rep. Langevin on efforts that will grow and strengthen this bond through long-term collaboration on cybersecurity efforts between our countries," Ratcliffe said. "Our recent discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed just how important it is that we unite forces to formulate ongoing, effective strategies to best address the rapidly evolving cyber threats faced by both of our nations. After all, cybersecurity is national security, and we must be doing everything we can to fortify ourselves from the very real dangers posed by malicious cyber actors."

The United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2016 will create a cybersecurity grant program for joint R&D ventures between Israeli and American entities. These peer-reviewed proposals will be tailored to research requirements determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in conjunction with an advisory board with members from successful US-Israeli partnerships including the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the United, States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.

The United States-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act of 2016 expands a successful binational R&D program at the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency to include cybersecurity technologies. This collaboration between DHS and the Israeli Ministry of Public Security helps new products through the "valley of death" between basic and early-phase applied research and successful commercialization, and will help both countries develop solutions to the unique security problems found in the cyber domain.

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