II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2491 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the National 

Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund, to improve the ability of the Federal 

Government to assist in enhancing critical infrastructure cyber resilience, 

to improve security in the national cyber ecosystem, to address Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2021 

Mr. KING (for himself, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. SASSE) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund, to improve the ability of the Federal Government to assist 

in enhancing critical infrastructure cyber resilience, to 

improve security in the national cyber ecosystem, to address Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Defense of United States Infrastructure Act of 2021’’. 

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—INVESTING IN CYBER RESILIENCY IN CRITICAL 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 101. Establishment of the National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund. 

TITLE II—IMPROVING THE ABILITY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST IN ENHANCING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

CYBER RESILIENCE 

Sec. 201. Institute a 5-year term for the cybersecurity and infrastructure security director. 

Sec. 202. Create a joint collaborative environment. 

Sec. 203. Designate three critical technology security centers. 

TITLE III—IMPROVING SECURITY IN THE NATIONAL CYBER 

ECOSYSTEM 

Sec. 301. Establish a National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling Authority. 

Sec. 302. Establish the Bureau of Cybersecurity Statistics. 

Sec. 303. Secure foundational internet protocols. 

TITLE IV—SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT CRITICAL 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 401. Definitions. 

Sec. 402. Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure. 

Sec. 403. Plan for enhancement of Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure methodology and capability. 

TITLE V—ENABLING THE NATIONAL CYBER DIRECTOR 

Sec. 501. Establishment of hiring authorities for the Office of the National 

Cyber Director. 


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1 TITLE I—INVESTING IN CYBER 

2 RESILIENCY IN CRITICAL IN3 FRASTRUCTURE 

4 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER RE5 SILIENCE ASSISTANCE FUND. 

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that— 

8 (1) the United States now operates in a cyber 

9 landscape that requires a level of data security, resil10 ience, and trustworthiness that neither the United 

11 States Government nor the private sector alone is 

12 currently equipped to provide; 

13 (2) the United States must deny benefits to ad14 versaries who have long exploited cyberspace to their 

15 advantage, to the disadvantage of the United States, 

16 and at little cost to themselves; 

17 (3) this new approach requires securing critical 

18 networks in collaboration with the private sector to 

19 promote national resilience and increase the security 

20 of the cyber ecosystem; 

21 (4) reducing the vulnerabilities adversaries can 

22 target denies them opportunities to attack the inter23 ests of the United States through cyberspace; 


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1 (5) the public and private sectors struggle to 

2 coordinate cyber defenses, leaving gaps that decrease 

3 national resilience and create systemic risk; 

4 (6) new technology continues to emerge that 

5 further compounds these challenges; 

6 (7) while the Homeland Security Grant Pro7 gram and resourcing for national preparedness 

8 under the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

9 are well-established, the United States Government 

10 has no equivalent for cybersecurity preparation or 

11 prevention; 

12 (8) the lack of a consistent, resourced fund for 

13 investing in resilience in key areas inhibits the 

14 United States Government from conveying its under15 standing of risk into strategy, planning, and action 

16 in furtherance of core objectives for the security and 

17 resilience of critical infrastructure; 

18 (9) Congress has worked diligently to establish 

19 the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agen20 cy, creating a new agency that can leverage broad 

21 authorities to receive and share information, provide 

22 technical assistance to operators, and partner with 

23 stakeholders across the executive branch, State and 

24 local communities, and the private sector; 


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1 (10) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu2 rity Agency requires strengthening in its mission to 

3 ensure the national resilience of critical infrastruc4 ture, promote a more secure cyber ecosystem, and 

5 serve as the central coordinating element to support 

6 and integrate Federal, State, local, and private-sec7 tor cybersecurity efforts; and 

8 (11) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu9 rity Agency requires further resource investment and 

10 clear authorities to realize its full potential. 

11 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in section 2202(c) (6 U.S.C. 652(c))— 

15 (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

16 at the end; 

17 (B) in the first paragraph designated as 

18 paragraph (12), relating to the Cybersecurity 

19 State Coordinator— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘section 2215’’ and in21 serting ‘‘section 2217’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

23 (C) by redesignating the second and third 

24 paragraphs designated as paragraph (12) as 

25 paragraphs (13) and (14), respectively; 


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1 (2) by redesignating section 2217 (6 U.S.C. 

2 665f) as section 2220; 

3 (3) by redesignating section 2216 (6 U.S.C. 

4 665e) as section 2219; 

5 (4) by redesignating the fourth section 2215 

6 (relating to Sector Risk Management Agencies) (6 

7 U.S.C. 665d) as section 2218; 

8 (5) by redesignating the third section 2215 (re9 lating to the Cybersecurity State Coordinator) (6 

10 U.S.C. 665c) as section 2217; 

11 (6) by redesignating the second section 2215 

12 (relating to the Joint Cyber Planning Office) (6 

13 U.S.C. 665b) as section 2216; and 

14 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2220A. NATIONAL CYBER RESILIENCE ASSISTANCE 

16 FUND. 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) CYBERSECURITY RISK.—The term ‘cyber19 security risk’ has the meaning given that term in 

20 section 2209. 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en22 tity’ means an entity that meets the guidelines and 

23 requirements for eligible entities established by the 

24 Secretary under subsection (d)(4). 


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1 ‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Na2 tional Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund established 

3 under subsection (c). 

4 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL CRITICAL FUNCTIONS.—The 

5 term ‘national critical functions’ means the functions 

6 of government and the private sector so vital to the 

7 United States that their disruption, corruption, or 

8 dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on secu9 rity, national economic security, national public 

10 health or safety, or any combination thereof. 

11 ‘‘(b) CREATION OF A CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

12 RESILIENCE STRATEGY AND A NATIONAL RISK MANAGE13 MENT CYCLE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL RISK IDENTIFICATION AND AS15 SESSMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Director, shall establish a process 

18 by which to identify, assess, and prioritize risks 

19 to critical infrastructure, considering both cyber 

20 and physical threats, vulnerabilities, and con21 sequences. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the 

23 process required under subparagraph (A), the 

24 Secretary shall consult with Sector Risk Man25 agement Agencies, critical infrastructure owners 


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1 and operators, and the National Cyber Direc2 tor. 

3 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 

4 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

5 the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg6 ister procedures for the process established 

7 under subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(D) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

10 Secretary shall submit to the President, the 

11 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern12 mental Affairs of the Senate, and the Com13 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of 

14 Representatives a report on the risks identified 

15 by the process established under subparagraph 

16 (A). 

17 ‘‘(2) INITIAL NATIONAL CRITICAL INFRASTRUC18 TURE RESILIENCE STRATEGY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date on which the Secretary delivers 

21 the report required under paragraph (1)(D), 

22 the President shall deliver to majority and mi23 nority leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and 

24 minority leader of the House of Representa25 tives, the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the 

2 Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

3 of Representatives a national critical infrastruc4 ture resilience strategy designed to address the 

5 risks identified by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—In the strategy deliv7 ered under subparagraph (A), the President 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) identify, assess, and prioritize 

10 areas of risk to critical infrastructure that 

11 would compromise, disrupt, or impede the 

12 ability of the critical infrastructure to sup13 port the national critical functions of na14 tional security, economic security, or public 

15 health and safety; 

16 ‘‘(ii) identify and outline current and 

17 proposed national-level actions, programs, 

18 and efforts to be taken to address the risks 

19 identified; 

20 ‘‘(iii) identify the Federal departments 

21 or agencies responsible for leading each na22 tional-level action, program, or effort and 

23 the relevant critical infrastructure sectors 

24 for each; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) outline the budget plan required 

2 to provide sufficient resources to success3 fully execute the full range of activities 

4 proposed or described by the strategy; and 

5 ‘‘(v) request any additional authorities 

6 or resources necessary to successfully exe7 cute the strategy. 

8 ‘‘(C) FORM.—The strategy delivered under 

9 subparagraph (A) shall be unclassified, but may 

10 contain a classified annex. 

11 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Not later 

12 than 1 year after the date on which the President 

13 delivers the strategy under subparagraph (A), and 

14 every year thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination 

15 with Sector Risk Management Agencies, shall brief 

16 the appropriate congressional committees on the na17 tional risk management cycle activities undertaken 

18 pursuant to the strategy. 

19 ‘‘(4) FIVE YEAR RISK MANAGEMENT CYCLE.— 

20 ‘‘(A) RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESS21 MENT.—Under procedures established by the 

22 Secretary, the Secretary shall repeat the con23 ducting and reporting of the risk identification 

24 and assessment required under paragraph (1), 


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1 in accordance with the requirements in para2 graph (1), every 5 years. 

3 ‘‘(B) STRATEGY.—Under procedures estab4 lished by the President, the President shall re5 peat the preparation and delivery of the critical 

6 infrastructure resilience strategy required under 

7 paragraph (2), in accordance with the require8 ments in paragraph (2), every 5 years, which 

9 shall also include assessing the implementation 

10 of the previous national critical infrastructure 

11 resilience strategy. 

12 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER RE13 SILIENCE ASSISTANCE FUND.—There is established in the 

14 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

15 ‘National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund’, which shall 

16 be available for the cost of risk-based grant programs fo17 cused on systematically increasing the resilience of public 

18 and private critical infrastructure against cybersecurity 

19 risk, thereby increasing the overall resilience of the United 

20 States. 

21 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS FROM THE NA22 TIONAL CYBER RESILIENCE ASSISTANCE FUND.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

24 section, the Secretary, acting through the Adminis25 trator of the Federal Emergency Management AgenVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Aug 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2491.IS S2491

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1 cy and the Director, shall develop and administer 

2 processes to— 

3 ‘‘(A) establish focused grant programs to 

4 address identified areas of cybersecurity risk to, 

5 and bolster the resilience of, critical infrastruc6 ture; 

7 ‘‘(B) accept and evaluate applications for 

8 each such grant program; 

9 ‘‘(C) award grants under each such grant 

10 program; and 

11 ‘‘(D) disburse amounts from the Fund. 

12 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF RISK-FOCUSED

13 GRANT PROGRAMS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, 

16 acting through the Director and the Ad17 ministrator of the Federal Emergency 

18 Management Agency, may establish not 

19 less than 1 grant program focused on miti20 gating an identified category of cybersecu21 rity risk identified under the national risk 

22 management cycle and critical infrastruc23 ture resilience strategy under subsection 

24 (b) in order to bolster the resilience of critVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Aug 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2491.IS S2491

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1 ical infrastructure within the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION OF FOCUS AREA.— 

4 Before selecting a focus area for a grant 

5 program pursuant to this subparagraph, 

6 the Director shall ensure— 

7 ‘‘(I) there is a clearly defined cy8 bersecurity risk identified through the 

9 national risk management cycle and 

10 critical infrastructure resilience strat11 egy under subsection (b) to be miti12 gated; 

13 ‘‘(II) market forces do not pro14 vide sufficient private-sector incentives 

15 to mitigate the risk without Govern16 ment investment; and 

17 ‘‘(III) there is clear Federal 

18 need, role, and responsibility to miti19 gate the risk in order to bolster the 

20 resilience of critical infrastructure. 

21 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.— 

22 ‘‘(i) RECOMMENDATION.—Beginning 

23 in the first fiscal year following the estab24 lishment of the Fund and each fiscal year 

25 thereafter, the Director shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) assess the funds available in 

2 the Fund for the fiscal year; and 

3 ‘‘(II) recommend to the Secretary 

4 the total amount to be made available 

5 from the Fund under each grant pro6 gram established under this sub7 section. 

8 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION.—After considering 

9 the recommendations made by the Director 

10 under clause (i) for a fiscal year, the Di11 rector shall allocate amounts from the 

12 Fund to each active grant program estab13 lished under this subsection for the fiscal 

14 year. 

15 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Fund 

16 shall be used to mitigate risks identified through the 

17 national risk management cycle and critical infra18 structure resilience strategy under subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In accordance 

22 with clause (ii), the Secretary shall submit 

23 to the Committee on Homeland Security 

24 and Governmental Affairs and the Com25 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate 


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1 and the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of 

3 the House of Representatives a set of 

4 guidelines and requirements for deter5 mining the entities that are eligible enti6 ties. 

7 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINES.—The Secretary 

8 shall submit the guidelines and require9 ments under clause (i)— 

10 ‘‘(I) not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this 

12 section, and every 2 years thereafter; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) not later than 30 days be15 fore the date on which the Secretary 

16 implements the guidelines and re17 quirements. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing 

19 guidelines and requirements for eligible entities 

20 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

21 consider— 

22 ‘‘(i) number of employees; 

23 ‘‘(ii) annual revenue; 

24 ‘‘(iii) existing entity cybersecurity 

25 spending; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) current cyber risk assessments, 

2 including credible threats, vulnerabilities, 

3 and consequences; and 

4 ‘‘(v) entity capacity to invest in miti5 gating cybersecurity risk absent assistance 

6 from the Federal Government. 

7 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—For any fiscal year, an eli8 gible entity may not receive more than 1 grant from 

9 each grant program established under this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(6) GRANT PROCESSES.—The Secretary, act12 ing through the Administrator of the Federal Emer13 gency Management Agency, shall require the sub14 mission of such information as the Secretary deter15 mines is necessary to— 

16 ‘‘(A) evaluate a grant application against 

17 the criteria established under this section; 

18 ‘‘(B) disburse grant funds; 

19 ‘‘(C) provide oversight of disbursed grant 

20 funds; and 

21 ‘‘(D) evaluate the effectiveness of the fund22 ed project in increasing the overall resilience of 

23 the United States with respect to cybersecurity 

24 risks. 


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1 ‘‘(7) GRANT CRITERIA.—For each grant pro2 gram established under this subsection, the Director, 

3 in coordination with the Administrator of the Fed4 eral Emergency Management Agency, shall develop 

5 and publish criteria for evaluating applications for 

6 funding, which shall include— 

7 ‘‘(A) whether the application identifies a 

8 clearly defined cybersecurity risk; 

9 ‘‘(B) whether the cybersecurity risk identi10 fied in the grant application poses a substantial 

11 threat to critical infrastructure; 

12 ‘‘(C) whether the application identifies a 

13 program or project clearly designed to mitigate 

14 a cybersecurity risk; 

15 ‘‘(D) the potential consequences of leaving 

16 the identified cybersecurity risk unmitigated, in17 cluding the potential impact to the critical func18 tions and overall resilience of the nation; and 

19 ‘‘(E) other appropriate factors identified 

20 by the Director. 

21 ‘‘(8) EVALUATION OF GRANTS APPLICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Utilizing the criteria 

23 established under paragraph (7), the Director, 

24 in coordination with the Administrator of the 

25 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall 


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1 evaluate grant applications made under each 

2 grant program established under this sub3 section. 

4 ‘‘(B) RECOMMENDATION.—Following the 

5 evaluations required under subparagraph (A), 

6 the Director shall recommend to the Secretary 

7 applications for approval, including the amount 

8 of funding recommended for each such ap9 proval. 

10 ‘‘(9) AWARD OF GRANT FUNDING.—The Sec11 retary shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) review the recommendations of the 

13 Director prepared pursuant to paragraph (8); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) provide a final determination of grant 

16 awards to the Administrator of the Federal 

17 Emergency Management Agency to be dis18 bursed and administered under the process es19 tablished under paragraph (6). 

20 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF GRANT PROGRAMS UTILIZING

21 THE NATIONAL CYBER RESILIENCE ASSISTANCE

22 FUND.— 

23 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish a process to evaluate the effectiveness and effi25 ciency of grants distributed under this section and 


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1 develop appropriate updates, as needed, to the grant 

2 programs. 

3 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 

4 days after the conclusion of the first fiscal year in 

5 which grants are awarded under this section, and 

6 every fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall sub7 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

8 Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Appro9 priations of the Senate and the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security and the Committee on Appro11 priations of the House of Representatives a report 

12 detailing the grants awarded from the Fund, the 

13 status of projects undertaken with the grant funds, 

14 any planned changes to the disbursement method15 ology of the Fund, measurements of success, and 

16 total outlays from the Fund. 

17 ‘‘(3) GRANT PROGRAM REVIEW.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL ASSESSMENT.—Before the 

19 start of the second fiscal year in which grants 

20 are awarded under this section, and every fiscal 

21 year thereafter, the Director shall assess the 

22 grant programs established under this section 

23 and determine— 

24 ‘‘(i) for the coming fiscal year— 


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1 ‘‘(I) whether new grant programs 

2 with additional focus areas should be 

3 created; 

4 ‘‘(II) whether any existing grant 

5 program should be discontinued; and 

6 ‘‘(III) whether the scope of any 

7 existing grant program should be 

8 modified; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the success of the grant pro10 grams in the prior fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not 

12 later than 90 days before the start of the sec13 ond fiscal year in which grants are awarded 

14 under this section, and every fiscal year there15 after, the Secretary shall submit to the Com16 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern17 mental Affairs and the Committee on Appro18 priations of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Homeland Security and the Committee on Ap20 propriations of the House of Representatives 

21 the assessment conducted pursuant to subpara22 graph (A) and any planned alterations to the 

23 grant program for the coming fiscal year. 

24 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Funds 

25 awarded pursuant to this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall supplement and not supplant State 

2 or local funds or, as applicable, funds supplied by 

3 the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

4 ‘‘(2) may not be used— 

5 ‘‘(A) to provide any Federal cost-sharing 

6 contribution on behalf of a State or local gov7 ernment; 

8 ‘‘(B) to pay a ransom; 

9 ‘‘(C) by or for a non-United States entity; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(D) for any recreational or social purpose. 

12 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

15 ‘‘(h) TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED.—During a fiscal 

16 year, the Secretary or the head of any component of the 

17 Department that administers the State and Local Cyber18 security Grant Program may transfer not more than 5 

19 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to sub20 section (g) or other amounts appropriated to carry out the 

21 National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund for that fiscal 

22 year to an account of the Department for salaries, ex23 penses, and other administrative costs incurred for the 

24 management, administration, or evaluation of this sec25 tion.’’. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con3 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

4 of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is 

5 amended by striking the item relating to section 

6 2214 and all that follows through the item relating 

7 to section 2217 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2214. National Asset Database. 

‘‘Sec. 2215. Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain. 

‘‘Sec. 2216. Joint Cyber Planning Office. 

‘‘Sec. 2217. Cybersecurity State Coordinator. 

‘‘Sec. 2218. Sector Risk Management Agencies. 

‘‘Sec. 2219. Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. 

‘‘Sec. 2220. Cybersecurity education and training programs. 

‘‘Sec. 2220A. National Cyber Resilience Assistance Fund.’’. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.— 

9 (A) AMENDMENT.—Section 904(b)(1) of 

10 the DOTGOV Act of 2020 (title IX of division 

11 U of Public Law 116–260) is amended, in the 

12 matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

13 ‘‘Homeland Security Act’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘Homeland Security Act of 2002’’. 

15 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

16 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect as 

17 if enacted as part of the DOTGOV Act of 2020 

18 (title IX of division U of Public Law 116–260). 


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1 TITLE II—IMPROVING THE ABIL2 ITY OF THE FEDERAL GOV3 ERNMENT TO ASSIST IN EN4 HANCING CRITICAL INFRA5 STRUCTURE CYBER RESIL6 IENCE 

7 SEC. 201. INSTITUTE A 5-YEAR TERM FOR THE CYBERSECU8 RITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY DI9 RECTOR. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b)(1) of section 2202 

11 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 652), 

12 is amended by inserting ‘‘The Director shall be appointed 

13 for a term of 5 years.’’ after ‘‘who shall report to the Sec14 retary.’’. 

15 (b) TRANSITION RULES.—The amendment made by 

16 subsection (a) shall take effect on the earlier of— 

17 (1) the first appointment of an individual to the 

18 position of Director of the Cybersecurity and Infra19 structure Protection Agency of the Department of 

20 Homeland Security, by and with the advice and con21 sent of the Senate, that is made on or after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act; or 

23 (2) January 1, 2022. 


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1 SEC. 202. CREATE A JOINT COLLABORATIVE ENVIRON2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Cybersecurity 

4 and Infrastructure Security Agency shall establish a joint, 

5 cloud-based, information sharing environment to— 

6 (1) integrate the Federal Government’s unclas7 sified and classified cyber threat information, 

8 malware forensics, and data related to cybersecurity 

9 risks (as defined in section 2209 of the Homeland 

10 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 659)) that is derived 

11 from network sensor programs; 

12 (2) enable cross-correlation of threat data at 

13 the speed and scale necessary for rapid detection 

14 and identification; 

15 (3) enable query and analysis by appropriate 

16 operators across the Federal Government; 

17 (4) facilitate a whole-of-Government, com18 prehensive understanding of the cyber threats to the 

19 resilience of the Federal Government and national 

20 critical infrastructure networks; 

21 (5) enable and support the private-public cyber22 security collaboration efforts of the Federal Govern23 ment, whose successes will be directly dependent on 

24 the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and timeliness of 

25 threat information collected and held by the Federal 

26 Government; and 


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1 (6) enable data curation for artificial intel2 ligence models and provide an environment to enable 

3 the Federal Government to curate data and build 

4 applications. 

5 (b) DEVELOPMENT.— 

6 (1) INITIAL EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di8 rector of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu9 rity Agency, in coordination with the Director 

10 shall— 

11 (A) identify all Federal sources of classi12 fied and unclassified cyber threat information; 

13 (B) evaluate all programs, applications, or 

14 platforms of the Federal Government that are 

15 intended to detect, identify, analyze, or monitor 

16 cyber threats against the resiliency of the Fed17 eral Government or critical infrastructure; and 

18 (C) submit a recommendation to the Presi19 dent identifying Federal programs to be des20 ignated and required to participate in the Infor21 mation Sharing Environment, including— 

22 (i) Government network-monitoring 

23 and intrusion detection programs; 

24 (ii) cyber threat indicator-sharing pro25 grams and Government-sponsored network 


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1 sensors or network-monitoring programs 

2 for the private sector or for State, local, 

3 tribal, and territorial governments; 

4 (iii) incident response and cybersecu5 rity technical assistance programs; and 

6 (iv) malware forensics and reverse-en7 gineering programs. 

8 (2) DESIGNATION OF PARTICIPATING PRO9 GRAMS.—Not later than 60 days after completion of 

10 the evaluation required under paragraph (1), the 

11 President shall issue a determination designating the 

12 departments, agencies, Federal programs, and cor13 responding systems and assets that are required to 

14 be a part of the Information Sharing Environment. 

15 (3) DESIGN.—Not later than 1 year after com16 pletion of the evaluation required under paragraph 

17 (1), the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infra18 structure Security Agency, in consultation with the 

19 Director, shall design the structure of a common 

20 platform for sharing and fusing existing Government 

21 information, insights, and data related to cyber 

22 threats and threat actors, which, at a minimum, 

23 shall— 

24 (A) account for appropriate data standards 

25 and interoperability requirements; 


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1 (B) enable integration of existing applica2 tions, platforms, data, and information, to in3 clude classified information; 

4 (C) ensure access by such Federal depart5 ments and agencies as the Director of the Cy6 bersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 

7 determines necessary; 

8 (D) account for potential private sector 

9 participation and partnerships; 

10 (E) enable unclassified data to be inte11 grated with classified data; 

12 (F) anticipate the deployment of analytic 

13 tools across classification levels to leverage all 

14 relevant data sets, as appropriate; 

15 (G) identify tools and analytical software 

16 that can be applied and shared to manipulate, 

17 transform, and display data and other identified 

18 needs; 

19 (H) anticipate the integration of new tech20 nologies and data streams, including data re21 lated to cybersecurity risks derived from Gov22 ernment-sponsored voluntary network sensors 

23 or network-monitoring programs for the private 

24 sector or for State, local, Tribal, and territorial 

25 governments; and 


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1 (I) appropriately account for departments, 

2 agencies, programs, and systems and assets de3 termined to be required to participate by the 

4 President under paragraph (2) in the Informa5 tion Sharing Environment. 

6 (c) OPERATION.—The Information Sharing Environ7 ment shall be managed by the Director of the Cybersecu8 rity and Infrastructure Security Agency. 

9 (d) POST-DEPLOYMENT ASSESSMENT.—Not later 

10 than 1 year after the date on which the Information Shar11 ing Environment is established, the Director of the Cyber12 security and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Di13 rector shall assess the means by which the Information 

14 Sharing Environment may be expanded to include the pri15 vate sector and critical infrastructure information sharing 

16 organizations and, to the maximum extent practicable, 

17 begin the process of such expansion. 

18 (e) PRIVATE SECTOR SHARING INFORMATION SHAR19 ING PROTECTIONS.—To the extent any private entity 

20 shares cyber threat indicators and defensive measures 

21 through or with the Information Sharing Environment 

22 and in a manner that is consistent with all requirements 

23 under section 1752 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 

24 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

25 (6 U.S.C. 1500), the Cybersecurity Information Sharing 


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1 Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), and any applicable 

2 guidelines promulgated under subsection (f), such activi3 ties shall be considered to be authorized by and in accord4 ance with section 1752 of the William M. (Mac) Thorn5 berry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

6 2021 and the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 

7 2015. 

8 (f) PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES.— 

9 (1) GUIDELINES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not 

10 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

11 this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security (acting 

12 through the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infra13 structure Security Agency) and the Attorney Gen14 eral, shall jointly, and in coordination with heads of 

15 the appropriate Federal entities and in consultation 

16 with officers designated under section 1062 of the 

17 National Security Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 

18 (42 U.S.C. 2000ee–1), develop, submit to Congress, 

19 and make available to the public interim guidelines 

20 relating to privacy and civil liberties which shall gov21 ern the receipt, retention, use, and dissemination of 

22 cyber threat indicators by a Federal entity obtained 

23 in connection with activities authorized in this sec24 tion. 

25 (2) FINAL GUIDELINES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary of Homeland Security (acting 

4 through the Director of the Cybersecurity and 

5 Infrastructure Security Agency) and the Attor6 ney General, shall jointly, in coordination with 

7 heads of the appropriate Federal entities and in 

8 consultation with officers designated under sec9 tion 1062 of the National Security Intelligence 

10 Reform Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 2000ee–1) and 

11 such private entities with industry expertise as 

12 the Secretary and the Attorney General con13 sider relevant, promulgate final guidelines relat14 ing to privacy and civil liberties which shall gov15 ern the receipt, retention, use, and dissemina16 tion of cyber threat indicators by a Federal en17 tity obtained in connection with activities au18 thorized in this section. 

19 (B) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security (acting through the Direc21 tor of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Se22 curity Agency) and the Attorney General, shall 

23 jointly, in coordination with heads of the appro24 priate Federal entities and in consultation with 

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1 paragraph (A), periodically, but not less fre2 quently than once every 2 years, review the 

3 guidelines promulgated under subparagraph 

4 (A). 

5 (3) CONTENT.—The guidelines required by 

6 paragraphs (1) and (2) shall, consistent with the 

7 need to bolster the resilience of information systems 

8 and mitigate cybersecurity threats— 

9 (A) limit the effect on privacy and civil lib10 erties of activities by the Federal Government 

11 under this section; 

12 (B) limit the receipt, retention, use, and 

13 dissemination of cyber threat indicators con14 taining personal information or information 

15 that identifies specific persons, including by es16 tablishing— 

17 (i) a process for the timely destruction 

18 of such information that is known not to 

19 be directly related to uses authorized under 

20 this section; and 

21 (ii) specific limitations on the length 

22 of any period in which a cyber threat indi23 cator may be retained; 

24 (C) include requirements to safeguard 

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1 formation or information that identifies specific 

2 persons from unauthorized access or acquisi3 tion, including appropriate sanctions for activi4 ties by officers, employees, or agents of the 

5 Federal Government in contravention of such 

6 guidelines; 

7 (D) include procedures for notifying enti8 ties and Federal entities if information received 

9 pursuant to this subsection is known or deter10 mined by a Federal entity receiving such infor11 mation not to constitute a cyber threat indi12 cator; 

13 (E) protect the confidentiality of cyber 

14 threat indicators containing personal informa15 tion or information that identifies specific per16 sons to the greatest extent practicable and re17 quire recipients to be informed that such indica18 tors may only be used for purposes authorized 

19 under this section; and 

20 (F) include steps that may be needed so 

21 that dissemination of cyber threat indicators is 

22 consistent with the protection of classified and 

23 other sensitive national security information. 

24 (g) OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 (1) BIENNIAL REPORT ON PRIVACY AND CIVIL

2 LIBERTIES.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently 

4 than once every year thereafter, the Privacy and 

5 Civil Liberties Oversight Board shall submit to Con6 gress and the President a report providing— 

7 (A) an assessment of the effect on privacy 

8 and civil liberties by the type of activities car9 ried out under this section; and 

10 (B) an assessment of the sufficiency of the 

11 guidelines established pursuant to subsection (f) 

12 in addressing concerns relating to privacy and 

13 civil liberties. 

14 (2) BIENNIAL REPORT BY INSPECTORS GEN15 ERAL.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not 

18 less frequently than once every 2 years there19 after, the Inspector General of the Department 

20 of Homeland Security, the Inspector General of 

21 the Intelligence Community, the Inspector Gen22 eral of the Department of Justice, the Inspector 

23 General of the Department of Defense, and the 

24 Inspector General of the Department of Energy 

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1 spectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, 

2 jointly submit to Congress a report on the re3 ceipt, use, and dissemination of cyber threat in4 dicators and defensive measures that have been 

5 shared with Federal entities under this section. 

6 (B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 

7 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol8 lowing: 

9 (i) A review of the types of cyber 

10 threat indicators shared with Federal enti11 ties. 

12 (ii) A review of the actions taken by 

13 Federal entities as a result of the receipt 

14 of such cyber threat indicators. 

15 (iii) A list of Federal entities receiving 

16 such cyber threat indicators. 

17 (iv) A review of the sharing of such 

18 cyber threat indicators among Federal en19 tities to identify inappropriate barriers to 

20 sharing information. 

21 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Each report sub22 mitted under this subsection may include such rec23 ommendations as the Privacy and Civil Liberties 

24 Oversight Board, with respect to a report submitted 

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1 ferred to in paragraph (2)(A), with respect to a re2 port submitted under paragraph (2), may have for 

3 improvements or modifications to the authorities 

4 under this section. 

5 (4) FORM.—Each report required under this 

6 subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

7 but may include a classified annex. 

8 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

11 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

13 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given that 

14 term in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infrastruc15 ture Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

16 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

17 the National Cyber Director. 

18 (3) INFORMATION SHARING ENVIRONMENT.— 

19 The term ‘‘Information Sharing Environment’’ 

20 means the information sharing environment estab21 lished under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 203. DESIGNATE THREE CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY SE2 CURITY CENTERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 307(b)(3) of the Home4 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 187(b)(3)), is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

7 by inserting ‘‘national laboratories,’’ before ‘‘and 

8 universities’’; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

12 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(E) establish not less than 1, and not 

15 more than 3, cybersecurity-focused critical tech16 nology security centers, in order to bolster the 

17 overall resilience of the networks and critical in18 frastructure of the United States, to perform— 

19 ‘‘(i) network technology security test20 ing, to test the security of cyber-related 

21 hardware and software; 

22 ‘‘(ii) connected industrial control sys23 tem security testing, to test the security of 

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1 quisition servers, and other cyber con2 nected industrial equipment; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) open source software security 

4 testing, to test and coordinate efforts to fix 

5 vulnerabilities in open-source software.’’. 

6 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the amend8 ments made by this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 

9 years 2022 through 2026. 

10 TITLE III—IMPROVING SECU11 RITY IN THE NATIONAL 

12 CYBER ECOSYSTEM 

13 SEC. 301. ESTABLISH A NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY CER14 TIFICATION AND LABELING AUTHORITY. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ACCREDITED CERTIFYING AGENT.—The 

17 term ‘‘accredited certifying agent’’ means any person 

18 who is accredited by the Authority as a certifying 

19 agent for the purposes of certifying a specific class 

20 of critical information and communications tech21 nology. 

22 (2) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 

23 the National Cybersecurity Certification and Label24 ing Authority established under subsection (b)(1). 


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1 (3) CERTIFICATION.—The term ‘‘certification’’ 

2 means a seal or symbol provided by the Authority or 

3 an accredited certifying agent, that results from pas4 sage of a comprehensive evaluation of an informa5 tion and communications technology that establishes 

6 the extent to which a particular design and imple7 mentation meets a set of specified security stand8 ards. 

9 (4) CRITICAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICA10 TIONS TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘critical informa11 tion and communications technology’’ means infor12 mation and communications technology that is in 

13 use in critical infrastructure sectors and that under14 pins the resilience of national critical functions, as 

15 determined by the Secretary. 

16 (5) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

17 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given that 

18 term in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infrastruc19 ture Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

20 (6) LABEL.—The term ‘‘label’’ means a clear, 

21 visual, and easy to understand symbol or list that 

22 conveys specific information about a product’s secu23 rity attributes, characteristics, functionality, compo24 nents, or other features. 


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1 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

2 the program administered under subsection (b)(1). 

3 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

5 (b) NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY CERTIFICATION AND

6 LABELING AUTHORITY.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

8 National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling 

9 Authority for the purpose of establishing and admin10 istering a voluntary national cybersecurity certifi11 cation and labeling program for critical information 

12 and communications technology in order to bolster 

13 the resilience of the networks and critical infrastruc14 ture of the United States. 

15 (2) PROGRAMS.— 

16 (A) ACCREDITATION OF CERTIFYING

17 AGENTS.—As part of the Program, the Author18 ity shall define and publish a process whereby 

19 governmental and nongovernmental entities 

20 may apply to become accredited certifying 

21 agents for the certification of specific critical in22 formation and communications technology, in23 cluding— 

24 (i) smartphones; 

25 (ii) tablets; 


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1 (iii) laptop computers; 

2 (iv) operating systems; 

3 (v) routers; 

4 (vi) software-as-a-service; 

5 (vii) infrastructure-as-a-service; 

6 (viii) platform-as-a-service; 

7 (ix) programmable logic controllers; 

8 (x) intelligent electronic devices; and 

9 (xi) programmable automation con10 trollers. 

11 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF STANDARDS, 

12 FRAMEWORKS, AND BENCHMARKS.—As part of 

13 the Program, the Authority shall work in co14 ordination with accredited certifying agents, the 

15 Secretary, and subject matter experts from the 

16 Federal Government, academia, nongovern17 mental organizations, and the private sector to 

18 identify and harmonize common security stand19 ards, frameworks, and benchmarks against 

20 which the security of critical information and 

21 communications technologies may be measured. 

22 (C) PRODUCT CERTIFICATION.—As part of 

23 the Program, the Authority, in consultation 

24 with the Secretary and other experts from the 

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1 mental organizations, and the private sector, 

2 shall— 

3 (i) develop, and disseminate to accred4 ited certifying agents, guidelines to stand5 ardize the presentation of certifications to 

6 communicate the level of security for crit7 ical information and communications tech8 nologies; 

9 (ii) develop, or permit accredited certi10 fying agents to develop, certification cri11 teria for critical information and commu12 nications technologies based on identified 

13 security standards, frameworks, and 

14 benchmarks, through the work conducted 

15 under subparagraph (B); 

16 (iii) issue, or permit accredited certi17 fying agents to issue, certifications for crit18 ical information and communications tech19 nology that meet and comply with security 

20 standards, frameworks, and benchmarks 

21 identified through the work conducted 

22 under subparagraph (B); 

23 (iv) permit a manufacturer or dis24 tributor of critical information and commu25 nications technology to display a certificate 


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1 reflecting the extent to which the critical 

2 information and communications tech3 nology meets security standards, frame4 works, and benchmarks identified through 

5 the work conducted under subparagraph 

6 (B); 

7 (v) remove the certification of a crit8 ical information and communications tech9 nology as a critical information and com10 munications technology certified under the 

11 Program if the manufacturer of the cer12 tified critical information and communica13 tions technology falls out of conformity 

14 with the benchmarks security standards, 

15 frameworks, or benchmarks identified 

16 through the work conducted under sub17 paragraph (B) for the critical information 

18 and communications technology; 

19 (vi) work to enhance public awareness 

20 of the certification and labeling efforts of 

21 the Authority and accredited certifying 

22 agents, including through public outreach, 

23 education, research and development, and 

24 other means; and 


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1 (vii) publicly display a list of labels 

2 and certified critical information and com3 munications technology, along with their 

4 respective certification information. 

5 (D) CERTIFICATIONS.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—A certification shall 

7 remain valid for 1 year from the date of 

8 issuance. 

9 (ii) CLASSES OF CERTIFICATION.—In 

10 developing the guidelines and criteria re11 quired under subparagraph (C)(i), the Au12 thority shall designate at least 3 classes of 

13 certifications, including the following: 

14 (I) For critical information and 

15 communications technology which the 

16 product manufacturer or service pro17 vider attests meets the criteria for a 

18 certification, attestation-based certifi19 cation. 

20 (II) For critical information and 

21 communications technology products 

22 and services that have undergone 

23 third-party accreditation of criteria 

24 for certification, accreditation-based 

25 certification. 


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1 (III) For critical information and 

2 communications technology that has 

3 undergone a security evaluation and 

4 testing process by a qualifying third 

5 party, as determined by the Authority, 

6 test-based certification. 

7 (E) PRODUCT LABELING.—The Authority, 

8 in consultation with the Secretary and other ex9 perts from the Federal Government, academia, 

10 nongovernmental organizations, and the private 

11 sector, shall— 

12 (i) collaborate with the private sector 

13 to standardize language and define a label14 ing schema to provide transparent infor15 mation on the security characteristics and 

16 constituent components of a software or 

17 hardware product; and 

18 (ii) establish a mechanism by which 

19 product developers can provide this infor20 mation for both product labeling and pub21 lic posting. 

22 (3) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for 

24 a product manufacturer, distributor, or seller 

25 to— 


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1 (i) falsely attest to, or falsify an audit 

2 or test for, a security standard, framework, 

3 or benchmark for certification; 

4 (ii) intentionally mislabel a product; 

5 or 

6 (iii) fail to maintain the security 

7 standard, framework, or benchmark to 

8 which the manufacturer, distributor, or 

9 seller attested. 

10 (B) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE

11 COMMISSION.— 

12 (i) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR

13 PRACTICES.—A violation of subparagraph 

14 (A) shall be treated as an unfair and de15 ceptive act or practice in violation of a reg16 ulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 

17 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or decep19 tive acts or practices. 

20 (ii) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

21 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Federal 

22 Trade Commission shall enforce this 

23 paragraph in the same manner, by the 

24 same means, and with the same juris25 diction, powers, and duties as though 


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1 all applicable terms and provisions of 

2 the Federal Trade Commission Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor4 porated into and made a part of this 

5 paragraph. 

6 (II) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNI7 TIES.—Any person who violates this 

8 paragraph shall be subject to the pen9 alties and entitled to the privileges 

10 and immunities provided in the Fed11 eral Trade Commission Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

13 (c) SELECTION OF THE AUTHORITY.— 

14 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall issue a 

15 notice of funding opportunity and select, on a com16 petitive basis, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organi17 zation to serve as the Authority for a period of 5 

18 years. 

19 (2) ELIGIBILITY FOR SELECTION.—The Sec20 retary may only select an organization to serve as 

21 the Authority if such organization— 

22 (A) is a nongovernmental, nonprofit orga23 nization that is— 


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1 (i) exempt from taxation under sec2 tion 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986; and 

4 (ii) described in sections 501(c)(3) 

5 and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that Code; 

6 (B) has a demonstrable track record of 

7 work on cybersecurity and information security 

8 standards, frameworks, and benchmarks; and 

9 (C) possesses requisite staffing and exper10 tise, with demonstrable prior experience in tech11 nology security or safety standards, frame12 works, and benchmarks, as well as certification. 

13 (3) APPLICATION.—The Secretary shall estab14 lish a process by which a nonprofit, nongovern15 mental organization that seeks to be selected as the 

16 Authority may apply for consideration. 

17 (4) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not later than 

18 the date that is 4 years after the initial selection 

19 pursuant paragraph (1), and every 4 years there20 after, the Secretary shall— 

21 (A) assess the effectiveness of the labels 

22 and certificates produced by the Authority, in23 cluding— 

24 (i) assessing the costs to businesses 

25 that manufacture critical information and 


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1 communications technology participating in 

2 the Program; 

3 (ii) evaluating the level of participa4 tion in the Program by businesses that 

5 manufacture critical information and com6 munications technology; and 

7 (iii) assessing the level of public 

8 awareness and consumer awareness of the 

9 label; 

10 (B) audit the impartiality and fairness of 

11 the Authority’s activities conducted under this 

12 section; 

13 (C) issue a public report on the assessment 

14 most recently carried out under subparagraph 

15 (A) and the audit most recently carried out 

16 under subparagraph (B); and 

17 (D) brief Congress on the findings of the 

18 Secretary with respect to the most recent as19 sessment under subparagraph (A) and the most 

20 recent audit under subparagraph (B). 

21 (5) RENEWAL.—After the initial selection pur22 suant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, every 5 

23 years— 


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1 (A) accept applications from nonprofit, 

2 nongovernmental organizations seeking selection 

3 as the Authority; and 

4 (B) following competitive consideration of 

5 all applications— 

6 (i) renew the selection of the organiza7 tion serving as the Authority; or 

8 (ii) select another applicant organiza9 tion to serve as the Authority. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

13 SEC. 302. ESTABLISH THE BUREAU OF CYBERSECURITY 

14 STATISTICS. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 

17 Bureau of Cybersecurity Statistics established under 

18 subsection (b). 

19 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en20 tity’’ means any nongovernmental organization, cor21 poration, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, un22 incorporated association, or venture (without regard 

23 to whether it is established for profit) that is en24 gaged in or affecting interstate commerce and that 


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1 provides cybersecurity incident response services or 

2 cybersecurity insurance products. 

3 (3) CYBER INCIDENT.—The term cyber incident 

4 includes each of the following: 

5 (A) Unauthorized access to an information 

6 system or network that leads to loss of con7 fidentiality, integrity, or availability of that in8 formation system or network. 

9 (B) Disruption of business operations due 

10 to a distributed denial of service attack against 

11 an information system or network. 

12 (C) Unauthorized access or disruption of 

13 business operations due to loss of service facili14 tated through, or caused by a cloud service pro15 vider, managed service provider, or other data 

16 hosting provider. 

17 (D) Fraudulent or malicious use of a cloud 

18 service account, data hosting account, internet 

19 service account, or any other digital service. 

20 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

21 the Director of the Bureau. 

22 (5) STATISTICAL PURPOSE.—The term ‘‘statis23 tical purpose’’— 

24 (A) means the description, estimation, or 

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1 out identifying the individuals or organizations 

2 that comprise such groups; and 

3 (B) includes the development, implementa4 tion, or maintenance of methods, technical or 

5 administrative procedures, or information re6 sources that support the purposes described in 

7 subsection (e). 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

9 the Department of Homeland Security a Bureau of Cyber10 security Statistics. 

11 (c) DIRECTOR.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall be headed 

13 by a Director, who shall— 

14 (A) report to the Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security; and 

16 (B) be appointed by the President. 

17 (2) AUTHORITY.—The Director shall— 

18 (A) have final authority for all cooperative 

19 agreements and contracts awarded by the Bu20 reau; 

21 (B) be responsible for the integrity of data 

22 and statistics collected or issued by the Bureau; 

23 and 

24 (C) protect against improper or illegal use 

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1 sively statistical purposes under this section, 

2 consistent with the requirements of subsection 

3 (f). 

4 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director— 

5 (A) shall have experience in statistical pro6 grams; and 

7 (B) shall not— 

8 (i) engage in any other employment; 

9 or 

10 (ii) hold any office in, or act in any 

11 capacity for, any organization, agency, or 

12 institution with which the Bureau makes 

13 any contract or other arrangement under 

14 this section. 

15 (4) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.—The Director 

16 shall— 

17 (A) collect and analyze information con18 cerning cybersecurity, including data related to 

19 cyber incidents, cyber crime, and any other area 

20 the Director determines appropriate; 

21 (B) collect and analyze data that will serve 

22 as a continuous and comparable national indi23 cation of the prevalence, incidents, rates, ex24 tent, distribution, and attributes of all relevant 

25 cyber incidents, as determined by the Director, 


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1 in support of national policy and decision mak2 ing; 

3 (C) compile, collate, analyze, publish, and 

4 disseminate uniform national cyber statistics 

5 concerning any area that the Director deter6 mines appropriate; 

7 (D) in coordination with the National In8 stitute of Standards and Technology, rec9 ommend national standards, metrics, and meas10 urement criteria for cyber statistics and for en11 suring the reliability and validity of statistics 

12 collected pursuant to this subsection; 

13 (E) conduct or support research relating to 

14 methods of gathering or analyzing cyber statis15 tics; 

16 (F) enter into cooperative agreements or 

17 contracts with public agencies, institutions of 

18 higher education, or private organizations for 

19 purposes related to this subsection; 

20 (G) provide appropriate information to the 

21 President, the Congress, Federal agencies, the 

22 private sector, and the general public on cyber 

23 statistics; 

24 (H) maintain liaison with State and local 

25 governments concerning cyber statistics; 


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1 (I) confer and cooperate with Federal sta2 tistical agencies as needed to carry out the pur3 poses of this section, including by entering into 

4 cooperative data sharing agreements in con5 formity with all laws and regulations applicable 

6 to the disclosure and use of data; and 

7 (J) request from any person or entity in8 formation, data, and reports as may be required 

9 to carry out the purposes of this subsection. 

10 (d) FURNISHMENT OF INFORMATION, DATA, OR RE11 PORTS BY FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.— 

12 Federal departments and agencies requested by the Direc13 tor to furnish information, data, or reports pursuant to 

14 subsection (c)(4)(J) shall provide to the Bureau such in15 formation as the Director determines necessary to carry 

16 out the purposes of this section. 

17 (e) FURNISHMENT OF CYBER INCIDENT INFORMA18 TION, DATA, OR REPORTS TO THE BUREAU BY THE PRI19 VATE SECTOR.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

22 180 days thereafter, each covered entity shall submit 

23 to the Bureau a report containing such data and in24 formation as the Director determines necessary to 

25 carry out the purposes of this section. 


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1 (2) DETERMINATION OF DATA AND INFORMA2 TION NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT THE PURPOSES OF

3 THIS SECTION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, and annually there5 after, the Director shall publish a list of data and 

6 information determined necessary to carry out the 

7 purposes of this section, including individual descrip8 tions of cyber incidents, which shall include— 

9 (A) identification of the affected databases, 

10 information systems, or devices that were, or 

11 are reasonably believed to have been accessed 

12 by an unauthorized person; 

13 (B) where applicable, a description of the 

14 vulnerabilities, tactics, techniques, and proce15 dures used; 

16 (C) where applicable, any identifying infor17 mation related to the malicious actors who per18 petrated the incident; 

19 (D) where applicable any cybersecurity 

20 controls implemented by the victim organiza21 tion; and 

22 (E) the industrial sectors, regions, and size 

23 of affected entities (as determined by number of 

24 employees) without providing any information 


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1 that can reasonably be expected to identify such 

2 entities. 

3 (3) STANDARDS FOR SUBMISSION OF INFORMA4 TION AND DATA.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall, in 

6 consultation with covered entities, develop standard7 ized procedures for the submission of data and infor8 mation the Director determines necessary to carry 

9 out the purposes of this section. 

10 (4) PRIVATE SECTOR REPORTING.—Not later 

11 than 90 days after the date on which the Director 

12 develops the standards required under paragraph 

13 (3), the Director shall— 

14 (A) publish the processes for submission of 

15 information, data, and reports by covered enti16 ties; and 

17 (B) begin accepting reporting required 

18 under paragraph (1). 

19 (5) REGULATORY USE.—Information disclosed 

20 to the Bureau under this section that is not other21 wise available, shall not be used by the Federal Gov22 ernment or any State, local, tribal, or territorial gov23 ernment to sanction or otherwise punish the entity 

24 disclosing the information, or the entity in which the 

25 cyber incident initially occurred. 


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1 (6) PRESERVATION OF PRIVILEGE.—Disclosure 

2 of information pursuant to this section or by a cov3 ered entity to the Bureau shall not waive any other4 wise applicable privilege, immunity, or protection 

5 provided by law. 

6 (7) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING OBLIGA7 TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall modify, pre8 vent, or abrogate any notice or notification obliga9 tions under Federal contracts, enforceable agree10 ments with the government, or other Federal law. 

11 (8) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 (A) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC13 TICES.—Compliance with the requirements im14 posed under this subsection by covered entities 

15 shall be enforced by the Federal Trade Com16 mission under the Federal Trade Commission 

17 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). For the purpose of 

18 the exercise by the Federal Trade Commission 

19 of its functions and powers under the Federal 

20 Trade Commission Act, a violation of any re21 quirement or prohibition imposed under this 

22 subsection shall be treated as an unfair and de23 ceptive act or practice in violation of a regula24 tion under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

25 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive 

2 acts or practices. 

3 (B) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—Subject to 

4 subparagraph (C), the Federal Trade Commis5 sion shall enforce this subsection in the same 

6 manner, by the same means, and with the same 

7 jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 

8 applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 

9 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 

10 were incorporated into and made a part of this 

11 subsection. 

12 (C) ADDITIONAL ENTITIES.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

14 sections 4, 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal 

15 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 

16 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdictional limita17 tion of the Federal Trade Commission, the 

18 Federal Trade Commission shall also en19 force this subsection, in the same manner 

20 provided in subparagraph (A) of this para21 graph, with respect to— 

22 (I) organizations not organized to 

23 carry on business for their own profit 

24 or that of their members; and 


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1 (II) common carriers subject to 

2 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

4 (ii) COORDINATION AND NOTICE.— 

5 The Federal Trade Commission shall— 

6 (I) coordinate with the Federal 

7 Communications Commission regard8 ing enforcement of this subsection 

9 with respect to common carriers sub10 ject to the Communications Act of 

11 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); 

12 (II) notify the Bureau of Con13 sumer Financial Protection regarding 

14 enforcement of this subsection with 

15 respect to information associated with 

16 the provision of financial products or 

17 services by an entity that provides a 

18 consumer financial product or service 

19 (as defined in section 1002 of the 

20 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

21 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481)); and 

22 (III) for enforcement of this sub23 section with respect to matters impli24 cating the jurisdiction or authorities 


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1 of another Federal agency, notify that 

2 agency as appropriate. 

3 (D) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

4 covered entity that violates the requirements 

5 imposed under this subsection shall be subject 

6 to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 

7 and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 

8 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

9 (E) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

10 paragraph shall be construed to limit the au11 thority of the Federal Trade Commission under 

12 any other provision of law. 

13 (f) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—No officer or employee of 

15 the Federal Government or agent of the Federal 

16 Government may, without the consent of the indi17 vidual, entity, agency, or other person who is the 

18 subject of the submission or provides the submis19 sion— 

20 (A) use any submission that is furnished 

21 for exclusively statistical purposes under this 

22 section for any purpose other than the statis23 tical purposes for which the submission is fur24 nished; 


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1 (B) make any publication or media trans2 mittal of the data contained in a submission de3 scribed in subparagraph (A) that permits infor4 mation concerning individual entities or indi5 vidual incidents to be reasonably inferred by ei6 ther direct or indirect means; or 

7 (C) permit anyone other than a sworn offi8 cer, employee, agent, or contractor of the Bu9 reau to examine an individual submission de10 scribed in subsection (e). 

11 (2) IMMUNITY FROM LEGAL PROCESS.—Any 

12 submission (including any data derived from the 

13 submission) that is collected and retained by the Bu14 reau, or an officer, employee, agent, or contractor of 

15 the Bureau, for exclusively statistical purposes under 

16 this section shall be immune from the legal process 

17 and shall not, without the consent of the individual, 

18 entity, agency, or other person who is the subject of 

19 the submission or provides the submission, be admit20 ted as evidence or used for any purpose in any ac21 tion, suit, or other judicial or administrative pro22 ceeding. 

23 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

24 subsection shall be construed to provide immunity 

25 from the legal process for a submission (including 


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1 any data derived from the submission) if the submis2 sion is in the possession of any person, agency, or 

3 entity other than the Bureau or an officers, em4 ployee, agent, or contractor of the Bureau, or if the 

5 submission is independently collected, retained, or 

6 produced for purposes other than the purposes of 

7 this section. 

8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There are 

9 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec10 essary to carry out this section. Such funds shall remain 

11 available until expended. 

12 SEC. 303. SECURE FOUNDATIONAL INTERNET PROTOCOLS. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) BORDER GATEWAY PROTOCOL.—The term 

15 ‘‘border gateway protocol’’ means a protocol de16 signed to optimize routing of information exchanged 

17 through the internet. 

18 (2) DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘do19 main name system’’ means a system that stores in20 formation associated with domain names in a dis21 tributed database on networks. 

22 (3) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

23 TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDERS.—The 

24 term ‘‘information and communications technology 

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1 able connectivity and operability of internet service, 

2 backbone, cloud, web hosting, content delivery, do3 main name system, and software-defined networks 

4 and other systems and services. 

5 (b) CREATION OF A STRATEGY TO SECURE

6 FOUNDATIONAL INTERNET PROTOCOLS.— 

7 (1) PROTOCOL SECURITY STRATEGY.—In order 

8 to secure foundational internet protocols, not later 

9 than December 31, 2021, the National Tele10 communications and Information Administration 

11 and the Department of Homeland Security shall 

12 submit to Congress a strategy to secure the border 

13 gateway protocol and the domain name system. 

14 (2) STRATEGY REQUIREMENTS.—The strategy 

15 required under paragraph (1) shall— 

16 (A) articulate the security and privacy ben17 efits of implementing security for the border 

18 gateway protocol and the domain name system 

19 and the burdens of implementation and the en20 tities on whom those burdens will most likely 

21 fall; 

22 (B) identify key United States and inter23 national stakeholders; 

24 (C) outline identified security measures 

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1 tication for the border gateway protocol and the 

2 domain name system; 

3 (D) identify any barriers to implementing 

4 security for the border gateway protocol and the 

5 domain name system at scale; 

6 (E) propose a strategy to implement iden7 tified security measures at scale, accounting for 

8 barriers to implementation and balancing bene9 fits and burdens, where feasible; and 

10 (F) provide an initial estimate of the total 

11 cost to the Government and implementing enti12 ties in the private sector of implementing secu13 rity for the border gateway protocol and the do14 main name system and propose recommenda15 tions for defraying these costs, if applicable. 

16 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strat17 egy required under paragraph (1) the National Tele18 communications and Information Administration 

19 and the Department of Homeland Security shall 

20 consult with information and communications tech21 nology infrastructure providers, civil society organi22 zations, relevant nonprofit organizations, and aca23 demic experts. 


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1 TITLE IV—SYSTEMICALLY IM2 PORTANT CRITICAL INFRA3 STRUCTURE 

4 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Secu9 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

11 Representatives. 

12 (2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

13 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given that 

14 term in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infrastruc15 ture Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

16 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

17 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

18 (4) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means a non19 Federal entity and a private entity, as such terms 

20 are defined under section 102 of the Cybersecurity 

21 Information Sharing Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501). 

22 (5) NATIONAL CRITICAL FUNCTIONS.—The 

23 term ‘‘national critical functions’’ means functions of 

24 government and the private sector so vital to the 

25 United States that their disruption, corruption, or 


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1 dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on secu2 rity, national economic security, national public 

3 health or safety, or any combination thereof. 

4 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

6 (7) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

7 means persons or groups whose consultation may aid 

8 the Secretary in exercising the authority of the Sec9 retary under this title, including— 

10 (A) Sector Coordinating Councils within 

11 the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory 

12 Council, established under section 871 of the 

13 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451); 

14 (B) the State, Local, Tribal and Territorial 

15 Government Coordinating Council, within the 

16 Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory 

17 Council, established under section 871 of the 

18 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6.U.S.C. 451); 

19 (C) the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee 

20 established under section 2219 of the Homeland 

21 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 665e), as so re22 designated by section 101 of this Act; 

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1 ant to Executive Order 12382 (47 Fed. Reg. 

2 40531); and 

3 (E) the National Infrastructure Advisory 

4 Council, established pursuant to Executive 

5 Order 13231 (66 Fed. Reg. 53063). 

6 (8) SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT CRITICAL IN7 FRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘Systemically Impor8 tant Critical Infrastructure’’ means an entity that 

9 has been designated as such by the Secretary 

10 through the process and procedures established 

11 under section 402. 

12 SEC. 402. SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT CRITICAL INFRA13 STRUCTURE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may designate en15 tities as Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure. 

16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF METHODOLOGY AND CRI17 TERIA.—Prior to designating any entities as Systemically 

18 Important Critical Infrastructure, the Secretary, in con19 sultation with the National Cyber Director, Sector Risk 

20 Management Agencies, and appropriate stakeholders shall 

21 develop— 

22 (1) a methodology for identifying Systemically 

23 Important Critical Infrastructure; and 


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1 (2) criteria for determining whether an entity 

2 qualifies as Systemically Important Critical Infra3 structure. 

4 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing criteria for 

5 determining whether an entity qualifies as Systemically 

6 Important Critical Infrastructure, the Secretary shall con7 sider— 

8 (1) the likelihood that disruption to or com9 promise of such an entity could cause a debilitating 

10 effect on national security, economic security, public 

11 health or safety, or any combination thereof; 

12 (2) the extent to which damage, disruption, or 

13 unauthorized access to such an entity either sepa14 rately or collectively, will disrupt the reliable oper15 ation of other critical infrastructure assets, or im16 pede provisioning of one or more national critical 

17 functions; 

18 (3) the extent to which national cybersecurity 

19 resilience would be enhanced by deeper risk manage20 ment integration between Systemically Important 

21 Critical Infrastructure entities and the Federal Gov22 ernment; and 

23 (4) the extent to which compromise or unau24 thorized access of such an entity could separately or 

25 collectively create widespread compromise of the 


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1 cyber ecosystem, significant portions of critical infra2 structure, or multiple critical infrastructure sectors. 

3 (d) LIST.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall complete an initial list of entities designated as 

7 Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure. 

8 (2) MAINTENANCE OF LIST.—The Secretary 

9 shall maintain a comprehensive list of entities des10 ignated as Systemically Important Critical Infra11 structure, which shall be updated within 7 days of 

12 a change in whether an entity qualifies as System13 ically Important Critical Infrastructure. 

14 (e) ENTITY NOTIFICATIONS.—Not later than 90 days 

15 after designating an entity as Systemically Important 

16 Critical Infrastructure or removing the designation of an 

17 entity as Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure, 

18 the Secretary shall notify the entity. 

19 (f) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—The Sec20 retary shall— 

21 (1) not later than 30 days after the date of any 

22 addition, modification, or removal of an entity from 

23 the list of Significantly Important Critical Infra24 structure maintained under subsection (d), notify 

25 the appropriate Congressional committees; and 


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1 (2) at least every 2 years, submit to the appro2 priate Congressional committees an updated com3 prehensive list of entities designated as Systemically 

4 Important Critical Infrastructure, in conjunction 

5 with each plan required pursuant to section 403. 

6 SEC. 403. PLAN FOR ENHANCEMENT OF SYSTEMICALLY IM7 PORTANT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

8 METHODOLOGY AND CAPABILITY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter 

11 for 10 years, the Secretary, in consultation with Sector 

12 Risk Management Agencies and appropriate stakeholders, 

13 shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees a plan for enhancing the methodology of the 

15 Department for identifying Systemically Important Crit16 ical Infrastructure, including a discussion of the progress 

17 of the Department as of the date of submission of the plan 

18 in implementing the plan. 

19 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The plan required under 

21 subsection (a) shall include— 

22 (A) the methodology and criteria used for 

23 identifying and determining entities that qualify 

24 as Systemically Important Critical Infrastruc25 ture as described in section 402(b) and the 


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1 analysis used to establish such methodology and 

2 criteria; 

3 (B) a proposed timeline for enhancing the 

4 capabilities of the Department to expand the 

5 list beyond the designated entities to also in6 clude facilities, systems, assets, or other rel7 evant units of critical infrastructure that may 

8 further enhance the ability to manage risk of 

9 Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure; 

10 (C) information regarding the outreach by 

11 the Department to stakeholders and other Sec12 tor Risk Management Agencies on such efforts, 

13 including mechanisms for incorporation of in14 dustry feedback; 

15 (D) information regarding the efforts of 

16 the Department, and the associated challenges 

17 with such efforts, to access information from 

18 stakeholders and other Sector Risk Manage19 ment Agencies to identify Systemically Impor20 tant Critical Infrastructure; 

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1 ture, which shall include the efforts of the De2 partment under section 9 of Executive Order 

3 13636 (78 Fed. Reg. 11739), the National In4 frastructure Prioritization Program, and section 

5 4 of Executive Order 14028 (86 Fed. Reg. 

6 26633); 

7 (F) any identified gaps in authorities or 

8 resources required to successfully carry out the 

9 process of identifying Systemically Important 

10 Critical Infrastructure, including facilities, sys11 tems, assets, or other relevant units of critical 

12 infrastructure, as well as legislative proposals to 

13 address such gaps; 

14 (G) an assessment of potential benefits for 

15 entities designated as Systemically Important 

16 Critical Infrastructure, which shall include an 

17 assessment of— 

18 (i) enhanced intelligence support and 

19 information sharing; 

20 (ii) prioritized Federal technical as21 sistance; 

22 (iii) liability protection for entities 

23 designated as Systemically Important Crit24 ical Infrastructure that conform to identi25 fied security standards for damages or 


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1 harm directly or indirectly caused by a 

2 cyber incident; 

3 (iv) prioritized emergency planning; 

4 (v) benefits described in the final re5 port of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium 

6 Commission, dated March 2020; and 

7 (vi) additional authorizations or re8 sources necessary to implement the bene9 fits assessed under this subparagraph; and 

10 (H) an assessment of potential mecha11 nisms to improve the security of entities des12 ignated as Systemically Important Critical In13 frastructure, which shall include an assessment 

14 of— 

15 (i) risk-based cybersecurity perform16 ance standards for all Systemically Impor17 tant Critical Infrastructure entities, incor18 porating, to the greatest extent possible, 

19 existing industry best practices, standards, 

20 and guidelines; 

21 (ii) sector-specific performance stand22 ards; 

23 (iii) additional regulations to enhance 

24 the security of Systemically Important 

25 Critical Infrastructure against cyber risks, 


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1 including how to prevent duplicative re2 quirements for already regulated sectors; 

3 (iv) cyber incident reporting require4 ments for entities designated as System5 ically Important Critical Infrastructure; 

6 and 

7 (v) additional authorizations or re8 sources necessary to implement the mecha9 nisms to improve the security of System10 ically Important Critical Infrastructure as11 sessed under this subparagraph. 

12 (2) INITIAL PLAN.—The initial plan submitted 

13 under this section shall include a detailed description 

14 of the capabilities of the Department with respect to 

15 identifying Systemically Important Critical Infra16 structure as they were on the date of enactment of 

17 this Act. 

18 (c) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The plan shall be in un19 classified form, but may include a classified annex, as the 

20 Secretary determines necessary. 

21 (d) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

22 date on which the Secretary submits a plan to Congress, 

23 the Secretary shall make the plan available to relevant 

24 stakeholders. 


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1 (e) RESTRICTION.—Subchapter I of chapter 35 of 

2 title 44, United States Code, shall not apply to any action 

3 to implement this section or to any exercise of the author4 ity of the Secretary pursuant to this section. 

5 TITLE V—ENABLING THE 

6 NATIONAL CYBER DIRECTOR 

7 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF HIRING AUTHORITIES FOR 

8 THE OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL CYBER DI9 RECTOR. 

10 Section 1752 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 

11 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

12 (Public Law 116–283) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (e)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and in 

15 accordance with paragraphs (3) through (7) of 

16 this subsection,’’ after ‘‘and classification 

17 laws,’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not19 withstanding paragraphs (3) through (7) of this 

20 subsection,’’ before ‘‘employ experts’’; 

21 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

22 through (8) as paragraphs (8) through (13), re23 spectively; and 

24 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) establish, as positions in the excepted serv2 ice, such qualified positions in the Office as the Di3 rector determines necessary to carry out the respon4 sibilities of the Office, appoint an individual to a 

5 qualified position (after taking into consideration the 

6 availability of preference eligibles for appointment to 

7 the position), and, subject to the requirements of 

8 paragraphs (4) and (5), fix the compensation of an 

9 individual for service in a qualified position; 

10 ‘‘(4) fix the rates of basic pay for any qualified 

11 position established under paragraph (3) in relation 

12 to the rates of pay provided for employees in com13 parable positions in the Office, in which the em14 ployee occupying the comparable position performs, 

15 manages, or supervises functions that execute the 

16 mission of the Office, and, subject to the same limi17 tations on maximum rates of pay and consistent 

18 with section 5341 of title 5, United States Code, 

19 adopt such provisions of that title to provide for pre20 vailing rate systems of basic pay and apply those 

21 provisions to qualified positions for employees in or 

22 under which the Office may employ individuals de23 scribed by section 5342(a)(2)(A) of such title; 

24 ‘‘(5) employ an officer or employee of the 

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1 tailed to the staff of the Office on a non-reimburs2 able basis— 

3 ‘‘(A) as jointly agreed to by the heads of 

4 the receiving and detailing elements, for a pe5 riod not to exceed 3 years; 

6 ‘‘(B) which shall not be construed to limit 

7 any other source of authority for reimbursable 

8 or non-reimbursable details; and 

9 ‘‘(C) which shall not be considered an aug10 mentation of the appropriations of the receiving 

11 element of the Office; 

12 ‘‘(6) provide— 

13 ‘‘(A) employees in qualified positions com14 pensation (in addition to basic pay), including 

15 benefits, incentives, and allowances, consistent 

16 with, and not in excess of the level authorized 

17 for, comparable positions authorized by title 5, 

18 United States Code; and 

19 ‘‘(B) employees in a qualified position 

20 whose rate of basic pay is fixed under para21 graph (4) an allowance under section 5941 of 

22 title 5, United States Code, on the same basis 

23 and to the same extent as if the employee was 

24 an employee covered by such section, including 


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1 eligibility conditions, allowance rates, and all 

2 other terms and conditions in law or regulation; 

3 ‘‘(7) establish a fellowship program to facilitate 

4 a talent exchange program between the private sec5 tor and the Office to arrange, with the agreement of 

6 a private sector organization and the consent of the 

7 employee, for the temporary assignment of an em8 ployee to the private sector organization, or from the 

9 private sector organization to the Office;’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (g)— 

11 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

12 through (6) as paragraphs (4) through (7), re13 spectively; 

14 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘excepted service’ has the mean17 ing given that term in section 2103 of title 5, United 

18 States Code.’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(8) The term ‘preference eligible’ has the 

21 meaning given that term in section 2108(3) of title 

22 5, United States Code. 

23 ‘‘(9) The term ‘qualified position’ means a posi24 tion, designated by the Director for the purpose of 

25 this section, in which the individual occupying such 


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1 position performs, manages, or supervises functions 

2 that execute the responsibilities of the Office.’’. 

Æ 


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