I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7265 

To improve assistance provided by the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership to small manufacturers in the defense industrial supply 

chain on matters relating to cybersecurity, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2020 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. 

MITCHELL, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Ms. STEVENS, 

Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To improve assistance provided by the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership to small manufacturers in 

the defense industrial supply chain on matters relating 

to 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 ‘‘Small Manufacturer 

5 Cybersecurity Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Office of the Director of National Intel2 ligence stated in its 2019 Worldwide Threat Assess3 ment that United States adversaries and strategic 

4 competitors will increasingly use cyber capabilities— 

5 including cyber espionage, attack, and influence—to 

6 seek political, economic, and military advantage over 

7 the United States and its allies. 

8 (2) The Department of Defense recognizes that 

9 small manufacturers operating in the defense supply 

10 chain are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks be11 cause they frequently lack the necessary human and 

12 financial resources to protect themselves. 

13 (3) The Department of Defense is imple14 menting its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certifi15 cation (CMMC) to protect Controlled Unclassified 

16 Information and critical United States technology 

17 and information from cyber theft and hacking. All 

18 defense contractors will need to comply with CMMC. 

19 (4) The Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisi20 tion and Sustainment has stated that smaller com21 panies in the defense supply chain might not be able 

22 to afford the Department of Defense’s increasingly 

23 demanding cybersecurity requirements, but that the 

24 Department is committed to ensuring that such 

25 companies get the resources they need to comply. 


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1 (5) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis2 tics, there are more than 347,000 manufacturing es3 tablishments in the United States, of which 72 per4 cent have fewer than 20 employees and 99 percent 

5 have fewer than 500 employees. 

6 (6) During the past 7 years the Hollings Manu7 facturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers 

8 have worked closely with the Department of Defense 

9 to bolster the resilience of the defense industrial 

10 base supply chain by providing cybersecurity services 

11 to small manufacturers. The MEP Centers have 

12 worked with more than 26,000 small- and medium13 sized manufacturers nationwide in fiscal year 2019 

14 alone. 

15 (7) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partner16 ship Centers are located in all 50 States and provide 

17 a nationwide network that is— 

18 (A) raising the awareness of small manu19 facturers to cyber threats; 

20 (B) helping small manufacturers comply 

21 with new Department of Defense cybersecurity 

22 requirements; and 

23 (C) helping small manufacturers under24 stand that if they do not comply with new De25 partment of Defense cybersecurity requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7265.IH H7265

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1 ments, then they risk losing their defense con2 tracts. 

3 (8) The Hollings Manufacturing Extension 

4 Partnership Centers are well-positioned to aid small 

5 manufacturing companies in the defense supply 

6 chain in complying with cybersecurity requirements 

7 to protect controlled unclassified information rel8 evant to defense manufacturing supply chains. 

9 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL MANUFACTURERS IN THE 

10 DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CHAIN ON 

11 MATTERS RELATING TO CYBERSECURITY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap13 propriations, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 

14 Office of Economic Adjustment and in consultation with 

15 the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 

16 Technology, may make grants to a Center established 

17 under the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

18 for the purpose of providing cybersecurity services to small 

19 manufacturers. 

20 (b) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish and 

21 publish in the Federal Register criteria for selecting grant 

22 recipients under this section. 

23 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds under this sec24 tion— 


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1 (1) shall be used by a Center to provide small 

2 manufacturers with cybersecurity services related 

3 to— 

4 (A) compliance with the cybersecurity re5 quirements of the Department of Defense Sup6 plement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 

7 including awareness, assessment, evaluation, 

8 preparation, and implementation of cybersecu9 rity services; and 

10 (B) achieving compliance with the Cyberse11 curity Maturity Model Certification framework 

12 of the Department of Defense; and 

13 (2) may be used by a Center to employ trained 

14 personnel to deliver cybersecurity services to small 

15 manufacturers. 

16 (d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

17 congressional defense committees a biennial report on 

18 grants awarded under this section. To the extent prac19 ticable, each such report shall include the following with 

20 respect to the years covered by the report: 

21 (1) The number of small manufacturing compa22 nies assisted. 

23 (2) A description of the cybersecurity services 

24 provided. 


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1 (3) A description of the cybersecurity matters 

2 addressed. 

3 (4) An analysis of the operational effectiveness 

4 and cost-effectiveness of the cybersecurity services 

5 provided. 

6 (e) TERMINATION.—The authority of the Secretary 

7 of Defense to make grants under this section shall termi8 nate on the date that is five years after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ has the 

12 meaning given that term in section 25(a) of the Na13 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)). 

15 (2) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 

16 The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 

17 the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) 

18 of title 10, United States Code. 

19 (3) SMALL MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘small 

20 manufacturer’’ has the meaning given that term in 

21 section 1644(g) of the John S. McCain National De22 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub23 lic Law 115–232; 10 U.S.C. 2224 note). 

Æ 


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