It’s “profoundly disappointing” cybersecurity incident response language didn’t make it into the FY 2022 conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y. (see 2111120040). Cybersecurity incident response language was included in September’s House-passed NDAA. Thompson and Clarke on Tuesday blamed “dysfunction and disagreement stemming from Senate Republican leadership that was not resolved until mid-morning today -- well past the NDAA deadline.” They said they will continue working with Republicans and the Senate to find another path forward, thanking House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y.; Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday, ahead of an expected vote that night to invoke cloture on her reconfirmation. The chamber was expected to easily advance Rosenworcel past the cloture threshold, which will clear the way for final approval as soon as Tuesday (see 2112030058). Rosenworcel "has been a fierce advocate for closing the digital divide, for protecting net neutrality," Schumer said in a floor speech.
President Joe Biden signed Friday a continuing resolution (HR-6119) that extends federal funding through Feb. 18, averting a government shutdown that would otherwise have happened at the end of the day. The Senate voted 69-28 Thursday to pass HR-6119 after voting down an amendment from Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, to defund the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. The House earlier passed the resolution 221-212. An appropriations lapse probably wouldn't have immediately affected the FCC since the agency said in September it could remain fully open for more than a week via other available funding (see 2109300080). The FCC didn’t comment on whether it updated its shutdown contingency plans before the newest CR’s passage.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans hearings next week on social media platforms’ impact on children and legislation aimed at addressing those companies’ use of algorithms to manipulate user experiences. Instagram head Adam Mosseri will testify at a Dec. 8 Consumer Protection Subcommittee panel on social media impacts on kids. The hearing will “address what Instagram knows about its impacts on young users, its commitments to reform, and potential legislative solutions,” Commerce said Wednesday. It will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez is among those set to testify at a Dec. 9 Communications Subcommittee hearing on “legislative solutions that address the dangers of online platforms’ use of technology to manipulate user experiences,” the committee said Thursday. Massachusetts Institute of Technology associate professor of marketing Dean Eckles, Atlantic Council Democracy & Tech Initiative Director Rose Jackson and Claremont Institute American Mind Executive Editor James Poulos will also testify at the hearing beginning at 10 a.m., also in 253 Russell. American Enterprise Institute Non-Resident Senior Fellow Daniel Lyons and University of California-Los Angeles law professor Eugene Volokh echoed other witnesses during a Wednesday night continuation of a House Communications Subcommittee hearing, raising misgivings about legislation to revamp Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2112010058). The hearing examined four Section 230-focused bills: the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act (HR-2154), Civil Rights Modernization Act (HR-3184), Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer Harms Act (HR-3421) and Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (HR-5596). “We tinker with this regime at our peril,” Lyons said. “Section 230 is woven into the fabric of online society, making it difficult to predict how a change to the statute would ripple throughout the internet ecosystem.” Volokh criticized HR-5596, which would remove Section 230 immunity when a platform “knowingly or recklessly uses an algorithm or other technology to recommend content that materially contributes to physical or severe emotional injury.” The measure “strikes me as a bad idea” because it would benefit professionally produced content that already has external marketing at the expense of user-generated submissions, he said.
It remained unclear Thursday afternoon whether both houses of Congress would sign on to a continuing resolution (HR-6119) backed by Hill leaders that would extend federal funding through Feb. 18. House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., announced the CR deal Thursday morning. It would avert a government shutdown that could potentially shutter federal agencies at the end of the day Friday, when an existing extension is to expire. The FCC likely would not have to shut down immediately (see 2109300080). Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, told reporters they were eyeing objecting to a bid to pass HR-6119 via unanimous consent over concerns about the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. President Joe Biden told reporters he doesn’t believe a shutdown “will happen. We have everything in place to be able to make sure there is not a shutdown … unless somebody decides to be totally erratic." “If there is a shutdown, it will be a Republican, anti-vaccine shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a floor speech. The House was, meanwhile, debating the measure before a final vote as soon as Thursday night.
House Commerce Committee members hailed passage Wednesday of three 6G and cybersecurity measures by lopsided margins. The House passed the Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act (HR-2685) 404-19, the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (HR-4045) 394-27 and the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (HR-4055) 408-17. “Together, these bills will promote the secure, thoughtful deployment of our next generation 6G networks, arm Americans with the information and tools they need to protect themselves from cyberattacks, and improve wireless network security in the face of growing cybersecurity attacks on our critical infrastructure,” said House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “To ensure America wins the future, it is imperative that we are leading the development of next generation technologies and that our networks are secure,” said committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., touted her sponsorship of HR-2685 and HR-4055. “These bills take important steps to ensure our wireless networks are safe and protect the privacy and security of the American people,” she said. HR-2685 would require NTIA to report on cybersecurity of wireless networks and vulnerabilities to cyberattacks and surveillance by adversaries. HR-4045 directs the FCC to establish a 6G task force to provide recommendations on how to ensure U.S. leadership in developing that technology’s standards. HR-4055 would require that NTIA establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase public knowledge and awareness of cybersecurity risks, including best practices for preventing cyberattacks.
Congress should take “prompt action” to fund the Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors Act and enact a stronger version of the Facilitating American Built Semiconductors Act to include an investment tax credit for semiconductor design and manufacturing, nearly five dozen tech companies and automakers wrote the House and Senate leadership Wednesday. “Demand for critical components has outstripped supply, creating a global chip shortage and resulting in lost growth and jobs in the economy,” said the companies. “The shortage has exposed vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain and highlighted the need for increased domestic manufacturing capacity.” The Senate already approved Chips Act funding on a bipartisan basis, and the House “must now move forward to approve the funding,” they said. “The chip shortage poses risks to our entire economy and time is of the essence.”
Senate Democrats' bid to advance a substitute version of the House-passed FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-4350) hit a further snag Monday after the chamber failed to invoke cloture on the revisions. The Senate voted 45-51 on cloture, well below the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward, amid wrangling over additional amendments. Lawmakers have floated a range of tech and telecom proposals (see 2111150074). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately filed a motion to reconsider cloture, but no vote had been set by Tuesday afternoon. Armed Services Committee ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., claimed in a floor speech Schumer was attempting to "jam [the substitute] through the Senate without adequate consideration" and failed to allow an "open and robust" amendments debate. Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I. countered that the vote against cloture was "an unusual departure from what is typically the custom of this body, particularly when we’re beginning with a bill that has so much bipartisan support."
It’s “imperative” that the U.S. reinvests in the “critical” semiconductor industry to “ensure that more chips are made here at home,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a business roundtable group Monday in Taylor, Michigan. She urged the House and Senate to “reach agreement quickly” on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), which includes $52 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor production and R&D. The U.S. “was once a leader in the production of semiconductor chips, which power our smartphones, medical equipment, and automobiles,” said Raimondo. The U.S. today generates only 12% of global production and produces “zero percent of the most advanced chips,” she said. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., told the group that Michigan is "ground zero for where the chip shortage is devastating autoworkers and auto companies."
The House Science Committee plans a Dec. 2 hearing at 10 a.m. on maintaining U.S. leadership in semiconductors and other microelectronics. Intel General Manager-Technology Development Ann Kelleher and Purdue University Engineering College Dean Mung Chiang are to testify, the committee said Tuesday. Micron Executive Vice President Manish Bhatia and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Michael Witherell will also appear.