I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1370 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a council 

to make recommendations on ways to increase the security, reliability, 

and interoperability of communications networks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2023 

Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself and Mr. WALBERG) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a council to make recommendations on ways to increase the security, reliability, and interoperability of 

communications networks, 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 ‘‘Communications Secu5 rity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RELI2 ABILITY, AND INTEROPERABILITY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

5 shall— 

6 (1) establish a council to advise the Commission 

7 on issues including the security, reliability, and 

8 interoperability of communications networks; or 

9 (2) designate for purposes of this section an ad10 visory committee of the Commission that is oper11 ating on the date of the enactment of this Act under 

12 a charter for the purpose of addressing the issues 

13 described in paragraph (1) and, if the membership 

14 of such committee does not comply with subsection 

15 (b), modify such membership to comply with such 

16 subsection. 

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

18 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The members of the coun19 cil shall be appointed by the Chair. 

20 (2) COMPOSITION.—To the extent practicable, 

21 the membership of the council shall be composed of 

22 the following: 

23 (A) Representatives of companies in the 

24 communications industry, except companies 

25 that are determined by the Chair to be not 

26 trusted. 


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1 (B) Representatives of public interest orga2 nizations or academic institutions, except public 

3 interest organizations or academic institutions 

4 that are determined by the Chair to be not 

5 trusted. 

6 (C) Representatives of the Federal Govern7 ment, State governments, local governments, or 

8 Tribal Governments, with at least one member 

9 representing each such type of government. 

10 (3) KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE.—Each 

11 member of the council shall have knowledge and ex12 perience relevant to the purpose and goals of the 

13 council. 

14 (4) TERMS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

16 council shall be appointed for a term of 2 years, 

17 except as provided in subparagraph (B). 

18 (B) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed 

19 to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration 

20 of the term for which the member’s predecessor 

21 was appointed shall be appointed only for the 

22 remainder of that term. A member may serve 

23 after the expiration of that member’s term until 

24 a successor has taken office. 

25 (c) REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date on which the council is established or des3 ignated (as the case may be) under subsection (a), 

4 and every 2 years thereafter, the council shall sub5 mit to the Chair each report adopted by the council 

6 during the preceding 2-year period, and any report 

7 adopted by any working group of the council during 

8 such period, including any such report of the council 

9 or a working group containing recommendations on 

10 ways to increase the security, reliability, and inter11 operability of communications networks, and on 

12 other relevant issues as appropriate. 

13 (2) AVAILABILITY ON COMMISSION WEBSITE.— 

14 The Commission shall make each report submitted 

15 under paragraph (1) publicly available on the 

16 website of the Commission. 

17 (d) DURATION.—Section 1013(a)(2) of title 5, 

18 United States Code (relating to the termination of advi19 sory committees) shall not apply to the council. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) CHAIR.—The term ‘‘Chair’’ means the 

22 Chair of the Commission. 

23 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

24 means the Federal Communications Commission. 


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1 (3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘council’’ means the 

2 council established under subsection (a)(1) or the 

3 advisory committee designated under subsection 

4 (a)(2), as the case may be. 

5 (4) NOT TRUSTED.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘not trusted’’ 

7 means, with respect to an entity, that— 

8 (i) the Chair has made a public deter9 mination that such entity is owned by, con10 trolled by, or subject to the influence of a 

11 foreign adversary; or 

12 (ii) the Chair otherwise determines 

13 that such entity poses a threat to the na14 tional security of the United States. 

15 (B) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION.—In 

16 making a determination under subparagraph 

17 (A)(ii), the Chair shall use the criteria de18 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 

19 2(c) of the Secure and Trusted Communica20 tions Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 

21 1601(c)), as appropriate. 

22 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean23 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica24 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

Æ 


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