I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 285

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance cybersecurity, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2005

Mr. THORNBERRY (for himself and Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on 

Homeland Security 

A BILL

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance 

cybersecurity, and for other purposes.

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CYBERSECURITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the Home8 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 203. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CYBERSECURITY. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Directorate 

3 for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection a 

4 National Cybersecurity Office headed by an Assistant Sec5 retary for Cybersecurity (in this section referred to as the 

6 ‘Assistant Secretary’), who shall assist the Secretary in 

7 promoting cybersecurity for the Nation. 

8 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Assistant Sec9 retary, subject to the direction and control of the Sec10 retary, shall have primary authority within the Depart11 ment for all cybersecurity-related critical infrastructure 

12 protection programs of the Department, including with re13 spect to policy formulation and program management. 

14 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 

15 Assistant Secretary shall include the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) To establish and manage—

17 ‘‘(A) a national cybersecurity response sys18 tem that includes the ability to—

19 ‘‘(i) analyze the effect of cybersecurity 

20 threat information on national critical in21 frastructure; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) aid in the detection and warning 

23 of attacks on, and in the restoration of, 

24 cybersecurity infrastructure in the after25 math of such attacks; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a national cybersecurity threat and 

2 vulnerability reduction program that identifies 

3 cybersecurity vulnerabilities that would have a 

4 national effect on critical infrastructure, per5 forms vulnerability assessments on information 

6 technologies, and coordinates the mitigation of 

7 such vulnerabilities; 

8 ‘‘(C) a national cybersecurity awareness 

9 and training program that promotes 

10 cybersecurity awareness among the public and 

11 the private sectors and promotes cybersecurity 

12 training and education programs; 

13 ‘‘(D) a government cybersecurity program 

14 to coordinate and consult with Federal, State, 

15 and local governments to enhance their 

16 cybersecurity programs; and 

17 ‘‘(E) a national security and international 

18 cybersecurity cooperation program to help fos19 ter Federal efforts to enhance international 

20 cybersecurity awareness and cooperation. 

21 ‘‘(2) To coordinate with the private sector on 

22 the program under paragraph (1) as appropriate, 

23 and to promote cybersecurity information sharing, 

24 vulnerability assessment, and threat warning regard25 ing critical infrastructure. 
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1 ‘‘(3) To coordinate with other directorates and 

2 offices within the Department on the cybersecurity 

3 aspects of their missions. 

4 ‘‘(4) To coordinate with the Under Secretary 

5 for Emergency Preparedness and Response to en6 sure that the National Response Plan developed pur7 suant to section 502(6) of the Homeland Security 

8 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 312(6)) includes appropriate 

9 measures for the recovery of the cybersecurity ele10 ments of critical infrastructure. 

11 ‘‘(5) To develop processes for information shar12 ing with the private sector, consistent with section 

13 214, that—

14 ‘‘(A) promote voluntary cybersecurity best 

15 practices, standards, and benchmarks that are 

16 responsive to rapid technology changes and to 

17 the security needs of critical infrastructure; and 

18 ‘‘(B) consider roles of Federal, State, local, 

19 and foreign governments and the private sector, 

20 including the insurance industry and auditors. 

21 ‘‘(6) To coordinate with the Chief Information 

22 Officer of the Department in establishing a secure 

23 information sharing architecture and information 

24 sharing processes, including with respect to the De25 partment’s operation centers. 
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1 ‘‘(7) To consult with the Electronic Crimes 

2 Task Force of the United States Secret Service on 

3 private sector outreach and information activities. 

4 ‘‘(8) To consult with the Office for Domestic 

5 Preparedness to ensure that realistic cybersecurity 

6 scenarios are incorporated into tabletop and recovery 

7 exercises. 

8 ‘‘(9) To consult and coordinate, as appropriate, 

9 with other Federal agencies on cybersecurity-related 

10 programs, policies, and operations. 

11 ‘‘(10) To consult and coordinate within the De12 partment and, where appropriate, with other rel13 evant Federal agencies, on security of digital control 

14 systems, such as Supervisory Control and Data Ac15 quisition (SCADA) systems. 

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONAL COMMUNICA17 TIONS SYSTEM.—The Assistant Secretary shall have pri18 mary authority within the Department over the National 

19 Communications System.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

21 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 

22 end of the items relating to subtitle A of title II the fol23 lowing:

‘‘203. Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. CYBERSECURITY DEFINED. 

2 Section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

3 U.S.C. 101) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘cybersecurity’ means the 

6 prevention of damage to, the protection of, and the 

7 restoration of computers, electronic communications 

8 systems, electronic communication services, wire 

9 communication, and electronic communication, in10 cluding information contained therein, to ensure its 

11 availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, 

12 and nonrepudiation 

13 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph—

14 ‘‘(i) each of the terms ‘damage’ and ‘com15 puter’ has the meaning that term has in section 

16 1030 of title 18, United States Code; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) each of the terms ‘electronic commu18 nications system’, ‘electronic communication 

19 service’, ‘wire communication’, and ‘electronic 

20 communication’ has the meaning that term has 

21 in section 2510 of title 18, United States 

22 Code.’’.

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