I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4651 

To establish in the legislative branch the National Commission on Security 

and Technology Challenges. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. HURD of Texas, 

Miss RICE of New York, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mrs. MIMI

WALTERS of California, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, and Mr. 

REICHERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 

the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish in the legislative branch the National 

Commission on Security and Technology Challenges. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Digital Security Commission Act of 2016’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Establishment of the National Commission on Security and Technology 

Challenges. 

Sec. 4. Composition of Commission. 

Sec. 5. Reports to Congress. 

Sec. 6. Powers of Commission. 

Sec. 7. Nonapplicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

Sec. 8. Staff. 

Sec. 9. Meeting and hearings. 

Sec. 10. Termination. 

Sec. 11. Funding. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Today, more than ever before, digital secu6 rity and communications technology, national secu7 rity, public safety, and counterterrorism are inex8 tricably linked; indeed, digital security and commu9 nications technology plays a critically important role 

10 in efforts to keep the United States and its citizens 

11 safe. 

12 (2) Technological innovation and development is 

13 critical to the United States economy and the com14 petitiveness of United States businesses in the global 

15 marketplace. 

16 (3) Technology companies represent some of 

17 the largest employers in the United States and con18 tribute significantly to the gross domestic product of 

19 the United States. 


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1 (4) The digital security and communications 

2 technology that the people of the United States use 

3 every day to protect communications and data, in4 cluding encryption, is essential to the present and 

5 future of the United States. 

6 (5) Digital security and communications tech7 nology helps to protect critical infrastructure, finan8 cial and banking systems, health records, online se9 curity, commercial transactions, proprietary enter10 prise and governmental information, and privacy and 

11 civil liberties. 

12 (6) The same technology that benefits the peo13 ple of the United States in so many ways also pre14 sents new challenges; in the wrong hands, digital se15 curity and communications technology can be used 

16 to facilitate crime and terrorism and is used by mali17 cious actors, including drug traffickers, child preda18 tors, and cybercriminals, to carry out criminal activi19 ties. 

20 (7) Terrorist and criminal organizations use 

21 digital security and communications technology to 

22 evade law enforcement and national security entities 

23 when plotting attacks and recruiting supporters in 

24 the United States and abroad, and law enforcement 

25 and national security authorities have indicated that 


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1 the use of this technology presents unique challenges 

2 to their ability to protect the public. 

3 (8) Rapidly evolving technological advancements 

4 drive the modern economy in many ways, but can 

5 also create challenges for the law enforcement and 

6 national security communities. 

7 (9) Ensuring that analysts, law enforcement of8 ficers, and policymakers fully understand the dy9 namic digital landscape will become increasingly im10 portant in the coming decades. 

11 (10) The United States currently faces the dif12 ficult question of how best to take advantage of the 

13 security and privacy benefits digital security and 

14 communications technology provides, while at the 

15 same time ensuring that the dangers posed by the 

16 use of digital security and communications tech17 nology by terrorists and criminals is mitigated; in18 deed, the challenge is to reconcile equally important 

19 security interests. 

20 (11) Despite years of dialogue between the 

21 technology sector, law enforcement, national security 

22 professionals, and others, no clear path forward has 

23 been developed that would benefit each of the critical 

24 security interests simultaneously; rather, there seems 

25 to be a consensus among stakeholders, lawmakers, 


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1 and experts that the question of reconciling com2 peting security interests is one without an easy or 

3 obvious answer. 

4 (12) Leading experts and practitioners from the 

5 technology sector, cryptography, law enforcement, 

6 intelligence, the privacy and civil liberties commu7 nity, global commerce and economics, and the na8 tional security community must be brought together 

9 to examine these issues in a systematic, holistic way 

10 and determine the implications for national security, 

11 public safety, data security, privacy, innovation, and 

12 American competitiveness in the global marketplace. 

13 (13) It is important to approach these issues 

14 with recognition that the communications market15 place is increasingly global and marked by competi16 tion from foreign firms and the growing prominence 

17 of international technical standards. 

18 (14) With respect to competing security inter19 ests, it is incumbent upon the United States to be 

20 forward-thinking and to assess how it can and 

21 should adapt to the emerging challenges of the dig22 ital world. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION 

2 ON SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY CHAL3 LENGES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the legisla5 tive branch a commission to be known as the ‘‘National 

6 Commission on Security and Technology Challenges’’ (in 

7 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Commission are 

9 the following: 

10 (1) To bring together leading experts and prac11 titioners from the technology sector, cryptography, 

12 law enforcement, intelligence, the privacy and civil 

13 liberties community, global commerce and econom14 ics, and the national security community to examine 

15 the intersection of security and digital security and 

16 communications technology in a systematic, holistic 

17 way, and determine the implications for national se18 curity, public safety, data security, privacy, innova19 tion, and American competitiveness in the global 

20 marketplace. 

21 (2) To submit to Congress a report, which shall 

22 include, at a minimum, each of the following: 

23 (A) An assessment of the issue of multiple 

24 security interests in the digital world, including 

25 public safety, privacy, national security, and 


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1 communications and data protection, both now 

2 and throughout the next 10 years. 

3 (B) A qualitative and quantitative assess4 ment of— 

5 (i) the economic and commercial value 

6 of cryptography and digital security and 

7 communications technology to the economy 

8 of the United States; 

9 (ii) the benefits of cryptography and 

10 digital security and communications tech11 nology to national security and crime pre12 vention; 

13 (iii) the role of cryptography and dig14 ital security and communications tech15 nology in protecting the privacy and civil 

16 liberties of the people of the United States; 

17 (iv) the effects of the use of cryptog18 raphy and other digital security and com19 munications technology on Federal, State, 

20 and local criminal investigations and 

21 counterterrorism enterprises; 

22 (v) the costs of weakening cryptog23 raphy and digital security and communica24 tions technology standards; and 


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1 (vi) international laws, standards, and 

2 practices regarding legal access to commu3 nications and data protected by cryptog4 raphy and digital security and communica5 tions technology, and the potential effect 

6 the development of disparate, and poten7 tially conflicting, laws, standards, and 

8 practices might have. 

9 (C) Recommendations for policy and prac10 tice, including, if the Commission determines 

11 appropriate, recommendations for legislative 

12 changes, regarding— 

13 (i) methods to be used to allow the 

14 United States Government and civil society 

15 to take advantage of the benefits of digital 

16 security and communications technology 

17 while at the same time ensuring that the 

18 danger posed by the abuse of digital secu19 rity and communications technology by ter20 rorists and criminals is sufficiently miti21 gated; 

22 (ii) the tools, training, and resources 

23 that could be used by law enforcement and 

24 national security agencies to adapt to the 

25 new realities of the digital landscape; 


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1 (iii) approaches to cooperation be2 tween the Government and the private sec3 tor to make it difficult for terrorists to use 

4 digital security and communications tech5 nology to mobilize, facilitate, and 

6 operationalize attacks; 

7 (iv) any revisions to the law applicable 

8 to wiretaps and warrants for digital data 

9 content necessary to better correspond 

10 with present and future innovations in 

11 communications and data security, while 

12 preserving privacy and market competitive13 ness; 

14 (v) proposed changes to the proce15 dures for obtaining and executing warrants 

16 to make such procedures more efficient 

17 and cost-effective for the Government, 

18 technology companies, and telecommuni19 cations and broadband service providers; 

20 and 

21 (vi) any steps the United States could 

22 take to lead the development of inter23 national standards for requesting and ob24 taining digital evidence for criminal inves25 tigations and prosecutions from a foreign, 


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1 sovereign State, including reforming the 

2 mutual legal assistance treaty process, 

3 while protecting civil liberties and due 

4 process. 

5 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 

6 (a) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be composed 

7 of 16 members, as follows: 

8 (1) Eight members who shall be appointed by 

9 the Speaker of the House and the Senate majority 

10 leader, one from each of the fields specified in sub11 section (b). One such member shall serve as the 

12 chairman of the Commission. 

13 (2) Eight members who shall be appointed by 

14 the minority leader in the House and the minority 

15 leader in the Senate, one from each of the fields 

16 specified in subsection (b). One such member shall 

17 serve as the vice chairman of the Commission. 

18 (3) One additional individual who shall be ap19 pointed by the President and who shall serve in an 

20 ex officio capacity as a nonvoting member. 

21 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—In accordance with subsection 

22 (a), individuals appointed to the Commission shall be 

23 United States citizens with significant knowledge and pri24 mary experience relevant to the mission of the Commission 

25 in one of the following fields: 


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1 (1) Cryptography. 

2 (2) Global commerce and economics. 

3 (3) Federal law enforcement. 

4 (4) State and local law enforcement. 

5 (5) Consumer-facing technology sector. 

6 (6) Enterprise technology sector. 

7 (7) The intelligence community (as such term is 

8 defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act 

9 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4))). 

10 (8) The privacy and civil liberties community. 

11 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 

12 the Commission, with the exception of those serving in an 

13 ex officio capacity, shall be appointed by not later than 

14 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission 

16 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same 

17 manner in which the original appointment was made. 

18 (e) COMPENSATION.—While away from their homes 

19 or regular places of business in the performance of services 

20 for the Commission, members of the Commission shall be 

21 allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of sub22 sistence, in the same manner as persons employed inter23 mittently in the Government service are allowed expenses 

24 under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code. 

25 (f) MEETINGS; RULES OF PROCEDURE; QUORUM.— 


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1 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall hold its 

2 initial meeting and begin the operations of the Com3 mission by not later than 60 days after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. After such initial meeting, 

5 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the 

6 chairman or a majority of its members. 

7 (2) QUORUM.—A simple majority of members 

8 of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. 

9 (3) VOTING.—No proxy voting shall be allowed 

10 on behalf of a member of the Commission. 

11 (4) RULES OF PROCEDURE.—The Commission 

12 may establish rules for the conduct of the Commis13 sion’s business, if such rules are not inconsistent 

14 with this Act or other applicable laws. 

15 (5) NOTICE.—The chairman of the Commission 

16 shall provide 5 business days advance notice for any 

17 meeting or hearing of the Commission. 

18 (g) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The appropriate Fed19 eral agencies or departments shall cooperate with the 

20 Commission in expeditiously providing appropriate secu21 rity clearances to Commission members, as may be re22 quested, to the extent possible pursuant to existing proce23 dures and requirements, except that no person shall be 

24 provided with access to classified information without the 

25 appropriate security clearances. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

2 (a) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not later than six months 

3 after its initial meeting, the Commission shall submit to 

4 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate 

5 majority leader, the House of Representatives minority 

6 leader, the Senate minority leader, the Committee on 

7 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, the 

8 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af9 fairs of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

10 House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary 

11 of the Senate, the Permanent Select Committee on Intel12 ligence of the House of Representatives, the Select Com13 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee on 

14 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, 

15 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor16 tation of the Senate a report outlining the activities of the 

17 Commission to date, a plan of action moving forward, and 

18 any initial findings, that have been agreed to by at least 

19 12 of the 16 voting members. Thereafter, the Commission 

20 may submit to the congressional entities named above any 

21 additional interim reports that have been agreed to by at 

22 least 12 of the 16 members of the Commission. 

23 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 

24 the date of the initial meeting of the Commission, the 

25 Commission shall submit to the congressional entities list26 ed in subsection (a) a final report containing such findVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 01, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4651.IH H4651

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1 ings, conclusions, and recommendations as have been 

2 agreed to by at least 12 of the 16 voting members of the 

3 Commission. 

4 (c) DISSENTING VIEWS.—The Rules of Procedure es5 tablished in section 4(f)(4) of this Act shall include proce6 dures by which any minority of commissioners may issue 

7 dissenting views, including dissenting findings and rec8 ommendations. 

9 (d) FORM.—Reports required under this paragraph 

10 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 

11 a classified annex. 

12 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

13 (a) HEARINGS AND INFORMATION.—The Commission 

14 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act— 

15 (1) hold such hearings and sit and act at such 

16 times and places, take such testimony, receive such 

17 information, and administer such oaths as the Com18 mission or such designated subcommittee or des19 ignated member may determine advisable; and 

20 (2) subject to paragraph (1), require, by sub21 poena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of 

22 such witnesses and the production of such books, 

23 records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and 

24 documents, as the Commission or such designated 


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1 subcommittee or designated member may determine 

2 advisable. 

3 (b) SUBPOENAS.— 

4 (1) ISSUANCE.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena for infor6 mation that is materially relevant to the duties 

7 of the Commission may be issued under this 

8 subsection only by the affirmative vote of at 

9 least 12 of the 16 voting members of the Com10 mission. 

11 (B) SIGNATURE.—Subject to subparagraph 

12 (A), subpoenas issued under this subsection 

13 may be issued under the signature of the chair14 man, and may be served by any person des15 ignated by the chairman or by a member des16 ignated by a majority of the Commission. 

17 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case of contumacy 

18 or failure to obey a subpoena issued under para19 graph (1), the United States district court for the 

20 judicial district in which the subpoenaed person re21 sides, is served, or may be found, or where the sub22 poena is returnable, may issue an order requiring 

23 such person to appear at any designated place to 

24 testify or to produce documentary or other evidence. 


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1 Any failure to obey the order of the court may be 

2 punished by the court as contempt of that court. 

3 (c) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such 

4 extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria5 tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission 

6 to discharge its duties under this Act. 

7 (d) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

8 Commission is authorized to secure directly from any exec9 utive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, of10 fice, independent establishment, or instrumentality of the 

11 Government, information, suggestions, estimates, and sta12 tistics for the purposes of this Act. The head of each such 

13 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 

14 independent establishment, or instrumentality shall, to the 

15 extent authorized by law, furnish such information, sug16 gestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commis17 sion, upon request made by the chairman and vice chair18 man, the chairman of any subcommittee created by a ma19 jority of the Commission, or any member designated by 

20 a majority of the Commission. 

21 (e) RECEIPT, HANDLING, AND STORAGE OF INFOR22 MATION.—Sensitive or proprietary information shall only 

23 be received, handled, and stored by members of the Com24 mission and its staff consistent with all applicable stat25 utes, regulations, and Executive orders. 


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1 (f) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

2 obtained by members and staff of the Commission may 

3 not be revealed or disseminated outside of the Commission 

4 absent approval from a majority of the members of the 

5 Commission. In addition, any dissemination of information 

6 must be consistent with all applicable statutes, regula7 tions, and Executive orders. 

8 (g) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

9 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

10 Upon request by the executive director of the Com11 mission, the Administrator of General Services shall 

12 provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis 

13 administrative support and other services for the 

14 performance of the Commission’s functions under 

15 this Act. 

16 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

17 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

18 (1), the heads of Federal departments and agencies 

19 may provide to the Commission such services, funds, 

20 facilities, staff, and other support services as such 

21 heads may determine advisable and as may be au22 thorized by law. 

23 (h) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

24 the United States mail in the same manner and under the 


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1 same conditions as departments and agencies of the 

2 United States. 

3 SEC. 7. NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE ACT. 

5 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

6 shall not apply to the Commission. 

7 SEC. 8. STAFF. 

8 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The chairman and vice chair9 man shall jointly appoint and fix the compensation of an 

10 executive director and of and such other personnel as may 

11 be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 

12 functions under this Act. 

13 (b) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The appropriate Fed14 eral agencies or departments shall cooperate with the 

15 Commission in expeditiously providing appropriate secu16 rity clearances to Commission staff, as may be requested, 

17 to the extent possible pursuant to existing procedures and 

18 requirements, except that no person shall be provided with 

19 access to classified information without the appropriate se20 curity clearances. 

21 (c) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee 

22 may be detailed to the Commission on a reimbursable 

23 basis, and such detailee shall retain without interruption 

24 the rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular em25 ployment. 


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1 (d) EXPERT AND CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The 

2 Commission is authorized to procure the services of ex3 perts and consultants in accordance with section 3109 of 

4 title 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed the 

5 daily rate paid a person occupying a position level IV of 

6 the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (e) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding sec9 tion 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the Commission 

10 may accept and use voluntary and uncompensated services 

11 as the Commission determines necessary. 

12 SEC. 9. MEETING AND HEARINGS. 

13 (a) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUBLIC

14 VERSIONS OF REPORTS.—The Commission shall— 

15 (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the ex16 tent appropriate; and 

17 (2) release public versions of the reports re18 quired under section 5. 

19 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—Any public hearings of the 

20 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

21 with the protection of information provided to, or devel22 oped for or by the Commission, as required by any applica23 ble statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

24 (c) PRIVATE HEARINGS.—Any private hearings of 

25 the Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 


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1 with the protection of information provided to, or devel2 oped for or by the Commission, as required by any applica3 ble statute, regulation, or Executive order. To the extent 

4 practicable, the Commission shall release summaries of 

5 any official private hearings. 

6 SEC. 10. TERMINATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the au8 thorities of this Act, shall terminate on the date that is 

9 60 days after the date on which the final report is sub10 mitted under section 5(b). 

11 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TERMI12 NATION.—The Commission may use the 60-day period re13 ferred to in subsection (a) for the purpose of concluding 

14 its activities, including providing testimony to committees 

15 of Congress concerning its reports and disseminating the 

16 final report under section 5(b). 

17 SEC. 11. FUNDING. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—No addi19 tional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry 

20 out this Act. 

21 (b) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made 

22 available to the Commission under subsection (a) are au23 thorized to remain available until the termination of the 

24 Commission in accordance with section 10. 


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1 (c) REMAINING FUNDS.—Any funds remaining upon 

2 termination of the Commission under section 10 shall be 

3 returned to the general fund of the Treasury for the pur4 pose of deficit reduction. 

Æ 


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