STEP BY STEP — Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is among the lawmakers working to keep the idea of creating a Cyber Force, or some other form of cyber reorganization at the Pentagon, front of mind on Capitol Hill this year. Houlahan told your MC host last week that she is closely watching for the results of a pending independent study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on “alternative organizational models” for the nation’s cyber forces, a study required by the most recent National Defense Authorization Act. This could result in potential recommendations around the idea of establishing a Cyber Force as the Pentagon as a new branch of the military, something Houlahan is not opposed to. The lawmaker was one of the key supporters of the language mandating the study — and she said that she’s planning to push for another item around creating a Cyber Force in the next NDAA. “I think we’re going to take another crack at it this round of the NDAA to try to get more answers and to try to process what it is that we get back on the recommendations on the report,” Houlahan said. “That was part of my sense of frustration in last year's NDAA. We can't just keep kicking this down the road and dumping it out at the conference level, which is also what happens.” “I don't totally understand why this is such a hard conversation to have amongst people who presumably really value our security, but we need to continue to have the conversation, and we need to resolve it in some way,” Houlahan said of the debate around creating a Cyber Force. — Pump the brakes: It’s a controversial idea that has faced pushback from the Pentagon, which reportedly was behind the watered down language in the recent NDAA that did not specify the creation of a Cyber Force. This potential new branch would mean a massive overhaul of the Pentagon’s current approach to cyber issues, overtaking U.S. Cyber Command. But Houlahan argued that looking at a new way to approach cyber defense and offense was necessary. “We need people to be thinking about this and moving relatively with speed on this, to be able to make sure that we're not exposed, that we're not vulnerable, and that we have a pipeline of people who could do these jobs already being developed,” the lawmaker said. “That's why I'm involved in this.” — Republican support: Houlahan said she is working on the effort in the House alongside lawmakers including Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) and Pat Fallon (R-Texas). According to The Record, Luttrell, Fallon and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent a letter last month to the leaders of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlining expectations for the independent study around a potential Cyber Force required by the NDAA. Houlahan said she had only recently heard about the letter, but that Luttrell had approached her about restarting the effort to examine a potential Cyber Force, noting she had “enthusiastically said yes.” Luttrell told your MC host last month that he is planning to keep the fight for a Cyber Force going in the 119th Congress and that he had discussed the issue with the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chair of the panel, is withholding judgment on the need for a Cyber Force for the time being. “The NDAA signed into law last month included a provision requiring a study on standing up a Cyber Force,” Rogers said in a statement provided to your MC host. “I look forward to reviewing the results of that study once it’s finished.” Houlahan pointed to the Republican interest in the idea in noting that “they're all coming together in terms of congressional level of interest that would maybe drive being able to figure out what the next steps are a little bit more quickly.” FIRST IN MC: A(ROUND) THE SENATE — Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s cyber subcommittee, and Gillibrand will today introduce legislation that would make it a crime to conspire to commit computer fraud, regardless of carrying out the action. The Cyber Conspiracy Modernization Act would make a small change to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to include attempts and conspiracies to commit computer fraud. This would allow the Justice Department to charge conspiracy to commit cybercrimes under the CFAA instead of under general statute and would increase potential jail time from a maximum of five years to a minimum of 10 years for conspiracy to commit cybercrimes. — Workforce: In addition, Rounds and Senate Homeland Security ranking member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) are today introducing the Senate version of the Cyber PIVOTT Act. The bill aims to boost the nation’s cyber workforce by establishing a scholarship program that would pay for two-year degrees in cybersecurity in exchange for the individual working in government for two years after completion of the degree. The bill was introduced in the House by Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) last week. “As cyber technologies continue to rapidly evolve, we need more people working to secure cyberspace as well as harsher penalties for those perpetrating these crimes,” Rounds said in a statement shared with MC. “I am committed to working on policies that strengthen the United States’ ability to respond quickly and decisively to cyberattacks which have been on the rise.”
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