House Eyes Telecom Equipment Security, 911 Dispatcher Amendments to FY24 NDAA
The House Rules Committee will decide Tuesday whether to allow floor votes on a slate of tech and telecom amendments to the chamber’s version of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-2670), including several requiring the State Department to do more to address the security of international telecom infrastructure and internet freedom. House Rules’ meeting on HR-2670 amendments will begin at noon in H-313 in the Capitol. The House is expected to vote on the measure later this week.
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Reps. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., and Young Kim, R-Calif., propose attaching language from the Securing Global Telecommunications Act they filed in the last Congress. The proposal would require State to develop a strategy to promote the use of secure telecom infrastructure worldwide. They also want the department to report to Congress on collaboration with U.S. allies to promote secure telecom infrastructure and on Russian and Chinese influence at the ITU.
An amendment from Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., and Del. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-American Somoa, would require State to identify strategic telecom infrastructure projects that have the potential to promote U.S. national security interests. They seek a report on the use of untrusted telecom equipment in U.S. embassies and by embassy staff, along with suspect gear’s prevalence in the networks of U.S. allies and partners. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, wants State to collaborate with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and International Development Finance Corp. on a strategy to bolster U.S. exports of telecom equipment.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., proposes a State report on the prevalence of government-ordered internet and telecommunications shutdowns and their impacts on human rights and national security. Two amendments seek department action on internet freedom in Iran. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., wants State to update its strategy to promote internet freedom and access to information in the country first mandated in the 2012 Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act. Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., and Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., propose a report on Iranian government internet censorship and applicable U.S. licensing requirements.
An amendment from Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., attempts to bar Huawei, ZTE and other suspect telecom equipment vendors from obtaining a U.S. patent. The proposal would bar patent eligibility for entities on the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security’s entity list, the FCC’s covered telecom equipment list, the Treasury Department’s Chinese military-industrial complex companies list and DOD’s Chinese military-affiliated companies list.
Reps. Norma Torres, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., propose attaching the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act. The measure, which Torres successfully added to the House’s versions of several previous NDAA iterations (see 2207140070), would change classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers to protective service.
Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., want to add language proposed in the last Congress in the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act that would eliminate a statutory loophole allowing data brokers to sell Americans’ personal information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without court oversight. The proposal would create warrant requirements for obtaining web browsing history, internet search history and other 4th Amendment-protected information of people in the U.S.
Cybersecurity amendments House members seek include a renewed push from Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., to require the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to investigate the 2020 SolarWinds cyberattack. It also seeks a GAO review of the Cyber Safety Review Board’s authority since it never studied the SolarWinds incident. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., wants to mandate that the national cyber director compile an inventory of federal cyberthreat information sharing programs involving the private sector.