As fears about the spreading coronavirus increase, stakeholders are upping requests (see 2003060036) for additional government actions on telehealth and remote patient monitoring. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Thursday Michigan plans to give Medicaid patients easier access to telehealth services during the pandemic. That will expand "opportunities for safe, quality care through telemedicine," she said.
FCC staffers are being encouraged to work from home starting Friday and have been told to remove perishables from agency refrigerators and take their plants home, Chief of Staff Matthew Berry emailed staff Thursday in a memo obtained by Communications Daily. The agency also released a public notice Thursday banning all visitors from its facilities unless they receive special permission from the Office of Managing Director. It declined to detail what that permission may entail.
The U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission urged the federal government Wednesday to make major changes to its cybersecurity approach, including creating a Senate-confirmed national cyber director and a Bureau of Cyber Statistics. CSC urged the government to establish a special fund for cyberattack response and recovery efforts and said Congress should create stand-alone House and Senate cybersecurity committees, which has been sought for years (see 1403270046). “For over 20 years, nation-states and non-state actors have used cyberspace to subvert American power,” the commission reported. “Despite numerous criminal indictments, economic sanctions, and the development of robust cyber and non-cyber military capabilities, the attacks against the United States have continued.” CSC didn’t seek a unified federal cybersecurity agency, saying the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the State Department, Election Assistance Commission and other federal agencies with cyber responsibilities should partly restructure. “We want working at CISA to become so appealing to young professionals interested in national service that it competes with the NSA, the FBI, Google, and Facebook for top-level talent (and wins)," the CSC said. It recommended the Commerce Department to establish a National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling Authority and State to have an assistant secretary focused on cybersecurity issues. CSC Commissioner and House Armed Services Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said "our strategy of layered cyber deterrence will provide solid guidance for transformational reforms.” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Cybersecurity Subcommittee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., hailed the report. It represents “thoughtful and actionable ideas,” Rogers said. The "serious, forward-leaning recommendations" can help ensure critical infrastructure can "better defend against advanced cyber threats," said BSA|The Software Alliance Senior Director-Policy Tommy Ross. "Not everyone will like every recommendation the Commission produced, but our hope is that the report will create a sense of urgency for Congress to take meaningful, bipartisan action.”
The U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission urged the federal government Wednesday to make major changes to its cybersecurity approach, including creating a Senate-confirmed national cyber director and a Bureau of Cyber Statistics. CSC urged the government to establish a special fund for cyberattack response and recovery efforts and said Congress should create stand-alone House and Senate cybersecurity committees, which has been sought for years (see 1403270046). “For over 20 years, nation-states and non-state actors have used cyberspace to subvert American power,” the commission reported. “Despite numerous criminal indictments, economic sanctions, and the development of robust cyber and non-cyber military capabilities, the attacks against the United States have continued.” CSC didn’t seek a unified federal cybersecurity agency, saying the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the State Department, Election Assistance Commission and other federal agencies with cyber responsibilities should partly restructure. “We want working at CISA to become so appealing to young professionals interested in national service that it competes with the NSA, the FBI, Google, and Facebook for top-level talent (and wins)," the CSC said. It recommended the Commerce Department to establish a National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling Authority and State to have an assistant secretary focused on cybersecurity issues. CSC Commissioner and House Armed Services Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said "our strategy of layered cyber deterrence will provide solid guidance for transformational reforms.” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Cybersecurity Subcommittee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., hailed the report. It represents “thoughtful and actionable ideas,” Rogers said. The "serious, forward-leaning recommendations" can help ensure critical infrastructure can "better defend against advanced cyber threats," said BSA|The Software Alliance Senior Director-Policy Tommy Ross. "Not everyone will like every recommendation the Commission produced, but our hope is that the report will create a sense of urgency for Congress to take meaningful, bipartisan action.”
The U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission urged the federal government Wednesday to make major changes to its cybersecurity approach, including creating a Senate-confirmed national cyber director and a Bureau of Cyber Statistics. CSC urged the government to establish a special fund for cyberattack response and recovery efforts and said Congress should create stand-alone House and Senate cybersecurity committees, which has been sought for years (see 1403270046). “For over 20 years, nation-states and non-state actors have used cyberspace to subvert American power,” the commission reported. “Despite numerous criminal indictments, economic sanctions, and the development of robust cyber and non-cyber military capabilities, the attacks against the United States have continued.” CSC didn’t seek a unified federal cybersecurity agency, saying the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the State Department, Election Assistance Commission and other federal agencies with cyber responsibilities should partly restructure. “We want working at CISA to become so appealing to young professionals interested in national service that it competes with the NSA, the FBI, Google, and Facebook for top-level talent (and wins)," the CSC said. It recommended the Commerce Department to establish a National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling Authority and State to have an assistant secretary focused on cybersecurity issues. CSC Commissioner and House Armed Services Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said "our strategy of layered cyber deterrence will provide solid guidance for transformational reforms.” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Cybersecurity Subcommittee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., hailed the report. It represents “thoughtful and actionable ideas,” Rogers said. The "serious, forward-leaning recommendations" can help ensure critical infrastructure can "better defend against advanced cyber threats," said BSA|The Software Alliance Senior Director-Policy Tommy Ross. "Not everyone will like every recommendation the Commission produced, but our hope is that the report will create a sense of urgency for Congress to take meaningful, bipartisan action.”
The path to closing T-Mobile/Sprint eased Wednesday as a California Public Utilities Commission judge proposed conditional OK. Hours earlier, the state's Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) agreed states wouldn't appeal clearance by U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer’s proposed decision tees up a vote at commissioners' April 16 meeting.
The path to closing T-Mobile/Sprint eased Wednesday as a California Public Utilities Commission judge proposed conditional OK. Hours earlier, the state's Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) agreed states wouldn't appeal clearance by U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer’s proposed decision tees up a vote at commissioners' April 16 meeting.
The House Communications Subcommittee advanced the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and 10 other measures Tuesday on voice votes, as expected (see 2003090070). The timeline for the House Commerce Committee to mark up any of those measures remains uncertain, because of negotiations aimed at reaching a bipartisan deal on HR-4855 and other measures that have gotten GOP pushback and broader questions about Congress’ schedule given the spread of coronavirus.
Negotiations continued Monday between House Communications Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans to see if they can reach a deal to smooth advancement of the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926), communications sector lobbyists told us. The two bills, which got pushback from Republican leaders, are among 11 measures House Communications plans to mark up Tuesday. The session begins at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is removing the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations, OFAC said in a notice. The change was made due to the “termination of the national emergency on which the regulations were based.” The change will not affect any action taken or any action pending and not “finally concluded” as of 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 10, 2019, the notice said. The change is effective March 10.