Kilroy Amendment For Jobs And Education In Bipartisan Cybersecurity Bill Seeks To Win Global Race For Best It, Make U.S. More Secure

Press Release

U.S. Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15) passed an amendment to the bipartisan HR 4061, The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act,which passed the House today with a wide margin of 422-5. The bill would improve cybersecurity in both the private and public sectors by helping to ensure a strategic plan for federal cybersecurity research and development activities, strengthening public-private partnerships in cybersecurity, training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, and improving cybersecurity technical standards to protect Ohio and the United States against new and emerging threats.
"As China and other nations try to outpace the United States in cybersecurity this bill and my amendment work with institutions in central Ohio and throughout the nation to ensure that students, teachers and professionals are best prepared to lead the world in cybersecurity and protect us against new threats to our national security," said Kilroy, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and House Competitiveness Caucus.

Kilroy's amendment to the bill would expand the "Scholarship for Service" program in the bill by making merit-based grants available for outreach to high schools and community colleges. Reaching out to high schools will help raise awareness of this program by steering students toward academic and professional careers in information technology and cybersecurity.

Information technology has evolved rapidly over the last decade, leading to increased connectivity and productivity. The benefits provided by these advancements have led to the widespread use of information technologies across major sectors of our economy. But the growing dependence of our critical infrastructures on IT has also increased the vulnerability of these systems with increased reports of cyber criminals and terrorists accessing sensitive information and disrupting services in the last decade, heightening concerns over the adequacy of our cybersecurity measures which this bill seeks to address.

"I strongly support the efforts of the bipartisan Cybersecurity Enhancement Act to build central Ohio's and our nation's cybersecurity workforce, develop a strategic research plan for cybersecurity, and secure our communications and information technology infrastructure," continued Kilroy.

Some of the way in which the bill specifically addresses cybersecurity areas of concern are highlighted below:

Coordinating and Prioritizing Federal Cybersecurity R&D Activities

* Requires the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and other key federal agencies to develop, update and implement a strategic plan for federal cybersecurity research and development (R&D) activities.
* Requires that the strategic plan be based on an assessment of cybersecurity risk, that it specify and prioritize near-term, mid-term and long-term research objectives, and that it describe how the near-term objectives complement R&D occurring in the private sector.
* Requires the agencies to describe how they will promote innovation, foster technology transfer, and maintain a national infrastructure for the development of secure, reliable, and resilient networking and information technology systems.

Developing a Skilled Cybersecurity Workforce

* Formally authorizes the NSF Scholarship for Service program, which is designed to ensure a highly-qualified cybersecurity workforce in the federal government. The program provides grants to institutions of higher education for the award of scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in cybersecurity fields and requires subsequent service as a cybersecurity professional in the federal government as a condition of the scholarship.
* Requires the President to issue a report assessing the current and future cybersecurity workforce needs of the federal government.

* Reauthorizes key NSF workforce programs, including NSF graduate student fellowships and NSF graduate student traineeships in cybersecurity.
* Requires NSF to establish a postdoctoral fellowship program in cybersecurity.

Promoting Public-Private Partnerships in Cybersecurity

* Establishes a university-industry task force to explore mechanisms and models for carrying out public-private research partnerships in the area of cybersecurity.

Promoting a Cybersecurity Awareness and Education Program

* Requires NIST to develop and implement a cybersecurity awareness and education program for the dissemination of user-friendly cybersecurity best practices for the general public.

International Cybersecurity Technical Standards

* Requires NIST to develop and implement a plan to coordinate U.S. representation in the development of international cybersecurity technical standards.

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