II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 237

To create the National Network Security Board as an independent government agency, located within the Federal Communications Commission,

to promote telecommunications network security and reliability by conducting independent network outage investigations and by formulating

security improvement recommendations.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 27 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. PRESSLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To create the National Network Security Board as an independent government agency, located within the Federal

Communications Commission, to promote telecommunications network security and reliability by conducting

independent network outage investigations and by formulating security improvement recommendations.

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 ‘‘National Network Se5 curity Board Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) telecommunications networks constitute an

4 essential infrastructure for the Nation’s economy

5 and security;

6 (2) in the past several years there have been a

7 significant number of severe network outages that

8 each temporarily left millions of United States tele9 phone customers without telephone service;

10 (3) there has been no comprehensive study of

11 the security of the network or its vulnerability to

12 disruptions caused by technical failure, accident, or

13 sabotage;

14 (4) self-investigation of network outages is not

15 adequate for ensuring the security of our public

16 switched network;

17 (5) there is no official mechanism for inves18 tigating network crashes and making recommenda19 tions for actions to prevent future outages;

20 (6) telecommunications network outages present

21 a serious public safety danger;

22 (7) there is a need for an independent govern23 ment agency, located within the Federal Commu24 nications Commission, to promote telecommuni25 cations security and reliability by conducting inde-
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1 pendent network outage investigations and by for2 mulating security improvement recommendations;

3 (8) the creation of the National Network Secu4 rity Board will provide vigorous investigation of net5 work outages involving telecommunication networks

6 regulated by other agencies of the Federal govern7 ment;

8 (9) the National Network Security Board shall

9 demand continual review, appraisal, and assessment

10 of the operating practices and regulations of all Fed11 eral agencies regulating telecommunications net12 works; and

13 (10) the National Network Security Board is

14 likely to make conclusions and recommendations

15 that may be critical of or adverse to Federal agen16 cies regulating telecommunications networks; for this

17 reason it is necessary that the Board be separate

18 and independent from any other department, bu19 reau, commission, or agency of the United States.

20 SEC. 3. CREATION OF THE NATIONAL NETWORK SECURITY

21 BOARD.

22 (a) ORGANIZATION.—(1) The National Network Se23 curity Board (hereafter referred to in this Act as the

24 ‘‘Board’’) shall consist of 5 members, including a Chair25 man. Members of the Board shall be appointed by the
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1 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen2 ate. No more than 3 members of the Board shall be of

3 the same political party. At any given time, no less than

4 3 members of the Board shall be individuals who have

5 been appointed on the basis of technical qualification, pro6 fessional standing, and who have demonstrated knowledge

7 in the fields of telecommunications network management,

8 telecommunications network engineering, or communica9 tion common carrier regulation.

10 (2) The terms of office of members of the Board shall

11 be 5 years, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph.

12 Any individual appointed to fill a vacancy occurring on

13 the Board prior to the expiration of the term of office for

14 which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed

15 for the remainder of that term. Upon the expiration of

16 his term of office, a member shall continue to serve until

17 his successor is appointed and shall have qualified. Any

18 member of the Board may be removed by the President

19 for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

20 (3) On or before January 1, 1994 (and thereafter as

21 required), the President shall—

22 (A) designate, by and with the advice and con23 sent of the Senate, an individual to serve as the

24 Chairman of the Board; and

25 (B) an individual to serve as Vice Chairman.
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1 (4) The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board

2 each shall serve for a term of 2 years. The Chairman shall

3 be the chief executive and shall be responsible for the ad4 ministrative functions of the Board with respect to the ap5 pointment and supervision of personnel of the Board; the

6 distribution of business among such personnel and among

7 any administrative units of the Board; and the use and

8 expenditure of funds. The Vice Chairman shall act as

9 Chairman in the event of the absence or incapacity of the

10 Chairman or in case of a vacancy in the office of Chair11 man. The Chairman or acting chairman shall be governed

12 by the general policies established by the Board, including

13 any decisions, findings, determinations, rules, regulations,

14 and formal resolutions.

15 (5) Three members of the Board shall constitute a

16 quorum for the transaction of any function of the Board.

17 (6) The Board shall establish and maintain distinct

18 and appropriately staffed bureaus, divisions, or offices to

19 investigate and report on network outages involving each

20 of the following networks: (A) long distance, and (B) local

21 exchange.

22 (b) GENERAL.—(1) The General Services Adminis23 tration shall furnish the Board with such offices, equip24 ment, supplies, and services as it is authorized to furnish
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1 to any other agency or instrumentality of the United

2 States.

3 (2) The Board shall have a seal which shall be judi4 cially recognized.

5 (3) Subject to the civil service and classification laws,

6 the Board is authorized to select, appoint, employ, and

7 fix the compensation of such officers and employees, in8 cluding investigators, attorneys, and administrative law

9 judges, as shall be necessary to carry out its powers and

10 duties under this Act.

11 SEC. 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

12 (a) DUTIES OF BOARD.—The Board shall—

13 (1) investigate or cause to be investigated (in

14 such detail as the Board shall prescribe), and deter15 mine the facts, conditions, and circumstances and

16 the cause or probable cause or causes of any long

17 distance network outage or local exchange network

18 outage. Any investigation of network outage con19 ducted by the Board shall have priority over all

20 other investigations of such network outage con21 ducted by other Federal agencies. The Board shall

22 provide for the appropriate participation by other

23 Federal agencies in any such investigation, except

24 that such agencies may not participate in the

25 Board’s determination of the probable cause of the
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1 network outage. Nothing in this section shall be con2 strued as impairing the authority of other Federal

3 agencies to conduct investigation of a network out4 age under applicable provisions of law or to obtain

5 information directly from parties involved in, and

6 witnesses to, the network outage. The Board and

7 other Federal agencies shall assure that appropriate

8 information obtained or developed in the course of

9 their investigations is exchanged in a timely manner.

10 The Board may request the Chairman of the Fed11 eral Communications Commission to make investiga12 tions with regard to such network outage and to re13 port to the Board the facts, conditions, and cir14 cumstances thereof (except in accidents where mis15 feasance or nonfeasance by the Federal Government

16 is alleged), and the Chairman of the Commission or

17 his delegates are authorized to make such investiga18 tions. Thereafter, the Board, utilizing such reports,

19 shall make its determination of cause or probable

20 cause under this paragraph;

21 (2) report in writing on the facts, conditions,

22 and circumstances of each network outage inves23 tigated pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection

24 and cause such reports to be made available, upon

25 request, to the public at reasonable cost;
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1 (3) issue periodic reports to the Congress, Fed2 eral, State, and local agencies concerned with tele3 communications network security, and other inter4 ested persons recommending and advocating mean5 ingful responses to reduce the likelihood of recur6 rence of network outages similar to those inves7 tigated by the Board and proposing corrective steps;

8 (4) initiate and conduct special studies and spe9 cial investigations on matters pertaining to tele10 communications network security and reliability; and

11 (5) assess and reassess techniques and methods

12 of network outage investigation and prepare and

13 publish from time to time recommended procedures

14 for network outage investigations.

15 (b) POWERS OF BOARD.—(1) The Board, or upon the

16 authority of the Board, any member thereof, any adminis17 trative law judge employed by or assigned to the Board,

18 or any officer or employee duly designated by the Chair19 man of the Board, may, for the purpose of carrying out

20 this Act, hold such hearings, sit and act at such times

21 and places, administer such oaths, and require by sub22 poena or otherwise the attendance and testimony of such

23 witnesses and the production of such evidence as the

24 Board or such officer or employee deems advisable. Sub25 poenas shall be issued under the signature of the Chair-
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1 man, or his delegate, and may be served by any person

2 designated by the Chairman. Witnesses summoned to ap3 pear before the Board shall be paid the same fees and

4 mileage that are paid witnesses in the United States

5 courts. Such attendance of witnesses and production of

6 evidence may be required from any place in the United

7 States to any designated place of such hearing in the Unit8 ed States.

9 (2) Any employee of the Board, upon presenting ap10 propriate credentials and a written notice of inspection au11 thority, is authorized to enter any property wherein a net12 work outage has occurred and do all things therein nec13 essary for a proper investigation, including examination

14 or testing of any communications equipment or any part

15 of any such item when such examination or testing is de16 termined to be required for purposes of such investigation.

17 Any examination or testing shall be conducted in such

18 manner so as not to interfere with or obstruct unneces19 sarily the communication services provided by the owner

20 or operator of such equipment, and shall be conducted in

21 such a manner so as to preserve, to the maximum extent

22 feasible, any evidence relating to the network outage, con23 sistent with the needs of the investigation and with the

24 cooperation of such owner or operator. The employee may

25 inspect, at reasonable times, records, files, papers, proc-
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1 esses, controls, and facilities relevant to the investigation

2 of such network outage. Each inspection, examination, or

3 test shall be commenced and completed with reasonable

4 promptness and the results of such inspection, examina5 tion, or test made available as provided by the Board. The

6 Board shall have sole authority to determine the manner

7 in which testing will be carried out under this paragraph,

8 including determining the persons who will conduct the

9 test, the type of test which will be conducted, and the per10 sons who will witness the test. Such determinations are

11 committed to the discretion of the Board and shall be

12 made on the basis of the needs of the investigation being

13 conducted by the Board and, where applicable, the provi14 sions of this paragraph.

15 (3) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a sub16 poena, an order, or an inspection notice of the Board, or

17 of any duly designated employee thereof, by any person

18 who resides, is found or transacts business within the ju19 risdiction of any United States district court, such district

20 court shall, upon the request of the Board, have jurisdic21 tion to issue to such person an order requiring such person

22 to comply forthwith. Failure to obey such an order is pun23 ishable by such court as a contempt of court.

24 (4) The Board is authorized to enter into, without

25 regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the Unit-
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1 ed States (41 U.S.C. 5), such contracts, leases, coopera2 tive agreements, or other transactions as may be necessary

3 in the conduct of the functions and the duties of the Board

4 under this Act, with any government entity or any person.

5 (5) The Board is authorized, with the approval of the

6 appropriate Federal agency, to—

7 (A) use, on a reimbursable basis or otherwise,

8 when appropriate, available services, equipment, per9 sonnel, and facilities of the Federal Communications

10 Commission and of any other Federal agencies;

11 (B) with the approval of the appropriate gov12 ernmental agency of a State, or political subdivision

13 thereof, confer with employees and use available

14 services, records, and facilities of such governmental

15 agency;

16 (C) employ experts and consultants in accord17 ance with section 3109 of title 5 of the United

18 States Code;

19 (D) appoint 1 or more advisory committees

20 composed of qualified private citizens or officials of

21 Federal, State, or local governments as it deems

22 necessary or appropriate, in accordance with the

23 Federal Advisory Committee Act;

24 (E) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv25 ices notwithstanding any other provision of law;
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1 (F) accept gifts or donations of money or prop2 erty (real, personal, mixed, tangible, or intangible);

3 (G) enter into contracts with public or private

4 nonprofit entities for the conduct of studies related

5 to any of its functions; and

6 (H) require payment or other appropriate con7 sideration from Federal agencies, State, local, and

8 foreign governments for the reasonable cost of goods

9 and services supplied by the Board and to retain and

10 use such funds received in carrying out the functions

11 of the Board.

12 (6) Whenever the Board submits or transmits any

13 budget estimate, budget request, supplemental budget es14 timate, or other budget information, legislative rec15 ommendation, prepared testimony for congressional hear16 ings, or comment on legislation to the President or to the

17 Office of Management and Budget, it shall concurrently

18 transmit a copy thereof to the Congress. No officer or

19 agency of the United States shall have any authority to

20 require the Board to submit its budget requests or esti21 mates, legislative recommendations, prepared testimony

22 for congressional hearings, or comments on legislation to

23 any officer or agency of the United States for approval,

24 comments, or review, prior to the submission of such rec25 ommendations, testimony, or comments to the Congress.
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1 (7) The Board is authorized to designate representa2 tives to serve or assist on such committees as the Chair3 man of the Board determines to be necessary or appro4 priate to maintain effective liaison with other Federal

5 agencies, and, with their approval, with State and local

6 government agencies, and with independent standard-set7 ting bodies carrying out programs and activities related

8 to telecommunications network security.

9 (8) The Board, or an employee of the Board duly des10 ignated by the Chairman, may conduct an inquiry to se11 cure data with respect to any matter pertinent to tele12 communications network security upon publication of no13 tice of such inquiry in the Federal Register; and may re14 quire, by special or general orders, Federal agencies and

15 persons engaged in activities related to telecommuni16 cations network security, and in the case of an agency of

17 a State or political subdivision thereof, to request such

18 agency, to submit written reports and answers to such re19 quests and questions as are propounded with respect to

20 any matter pertinent to any function of the Board. Such

21 reports and answers shall be submitted to the Board or

22 to such employee within such reasonable period of time

23 and in such form as the Board may determine. Copies

24 thereof shall be made available for inspection by the pub25 lic.
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1 (9) The Board may at any time utilize on a reimburs2 able basis the services of the Field Operations Bureau of

3 the Federal Communications Commission or any successor

4 organization. The Chairman of the Federal Communica5 tions Commission shall make available the services of such

6 Bureau or successor organization—

7 (A) to the Board for training of employees of

8 the Board in the performance of all of their author9 ized functions, and

10 (B) to such other personnel of Federal, State,

11 local, and foreign governments and nongovernmental

12 organizations as the Board may from time to time

13 designate, in consultation with the Chairman of the

14 Federal Communications Commission. Utilization of

15 such training at the Bureau or successor organiza16 tion by designated non-Federal telecommunications

17 network security personnel shall be at a reasonable

18 fee to be established periodically by the Board in

19 consultation with the Chairman of the Board. Such

20 fee shall be paid directly to the Chairman for the

21 credit of the proper appropriation, subject to the re22 quirements of any annual appropriation, and shall

23 be an offset against any annual reimbursable agree24 ment entered into between the Board and the Chair25 man of the Federal Communications Commission to
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1 cover all reasonable direct and indirect costs in2 curred for all such training by the Chairman in the

3 administration and operation of the Bureau or suc4 cessor organization. The Board shall maintain an

5 annual record of all such offsets. In providing such

6 training to Federal employees, the Board shall be

7 subject to chapter 41 of title 5 of the United States

8 Code (relating to training of employees).

9 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.

10 Copies of any communication, document, investiga11 tion, other report, or information received or sent by the

12 Board, or any member or employee of the Board, shall

13 be made available to the public upon request, and at rea14 sonable cost. Nothing contained in this section shall be

15 deemed to require the release of any information described

16 by subsection (b) of section 552 of title 5, United States

17 Code, or which is otherwise protected by law from disclo18 sure to the public.

19 SEC. 6. RESPONSE TO BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS.

20 (a) CHAIRMAN’S DUTY TO RESPOND; CONTENTS OF

21 RESPONSE; PUBLICATION; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF

22 COPIES.—

23 (1) Whenever the Board submits a rec24 ommendation regarding network outages to the

25 Chairman of the Federal Communications Commis-
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1 sion, he shall respond to each such recommendation

2 formally and in writing not later than 90 days after

3 receipt thereof. The response to the Board by the

4 Chairman shall indicate his intention to—

5 (A) initiate and conduct procedures for

6 adopting such recommendation in full, pursuant

7 to a proposed timetable, a copy of which shall

8 be included;

9 (B) initiate and conduct procedures for

10 adopting such recommendation in part, pursu11 ant to a proposed timetable, a copy of which

12 shall be included. Such response shall set forth

13 in detail the reasons for the refusal to proceed

14 as to the remainder of such recommendation; or

15 (C) refuse to initiate or conduct procedures

16 for adopting such recommendation. Such re17 sponse shall set forth in detail the reasons for

18 such refusal.

19 (2) The Board shall make copies of each such

20 recommendation and response thereto available,

21 upon request, to the public at reasonable cost.

22 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Chairman

23 shall submit a report to the Congress on January 1 of

24 each year setting forth all the Board’s recommendations

25 to the Chairman during the preceding year regarding tele-
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1 communications network security and a copy of the Chair2 man’s response to each such recommendation.

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 For fiscal year 1994, and each of the next following

5 3 fiscal years, there are authorized to be appropriated

6 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions

7 of this Act, but in no event to exceed $10,000,000 in any

8 1 fiscal year.

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