II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1457 

To provide for interagency coordination on risk mitigation in the communications equipment and services marketplace and the supply chain thereof, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2019 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide for interagency coordination on risk mitigation 

in the communications equipment and services marketplace and the supply chain thereof, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sharing Urgent, Po5 tentially Problematic Locations that Yield Communica6 tions Hazards in American Internet Networks Act of 

7 2019’’ or the ‘‘SUPPLY CHAIN Act of 2019’’. 


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•S 1457 IS

1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON RISK MITIGA2 TION IN THE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT 

3 AND SERVICES MARKETPLACE AND THE SUP4 PLY CHAIN THEREOF. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con8 gress’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation, the Committee on Foreign 

11 Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, 

12 the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 

13 on Homeland Security and Governmental Af14 fairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence 

15 of the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com17 merce, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

18 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 

19 on the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland 

20 Security, and the Permanent Select Committee 

21 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

22 (2) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL ENTITY.—The 

23 term ‘‘appropriate Federal entity’’ means— 

24 (A) the Department of Defense; 

25 (B) the Department of Energy; 

26 (C) the Department of Homeland Security; 


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1 (D) the Department of Justice; 

2 (E) the Department of Transportation; 

3 (F) the Department of the Treasury; and 

4 (G) the Office of the Director of National 

5 Intelligence. 

6 (3) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The term 

7 ‘‘classified information’’ means any information or 

8 material that has been determined by the Federal 

9 Government pursuant to an Executive order, statute, 

10 or regulation, to require protection against unau11 thorized disclosure for reasons of national security. 

12 (4) COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND SERV13 ICES.—The term ‘‘communications equipment and 

14 services’’ includes any hardware, software, or other 

15 product or service primarily intended to fulfill or en16 able the function of information processing and com17 munications by electronic means, including trans18 mission and display, including over the internet. 

19 (5) RISK.—The term ‘‘risk’’ means any aspect 

20 or property of the components of communications 

21 equipment and services or the associated supply 

22 chain that may be used to gain unauthorized access 

23 to a communications network, disrupt a communica24 tions network, disrupt the manufacture of commu25 nications equipment, disrupt consensus-driven indusVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1457.IS S1457

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1 try standards for communications equipment and 

2 services, or otherwise harm a communications net3 work or the users of the network, including gaining 

4 unauthorized access to data or redirecting data. 

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

6 the Secretary of Commerce. 

7 (7) SUPPLY CHAIN.—The term ‘‘supply chain’’, 

8 with respect to communications equipment and serv9 ices— 

10 (A) means the network of persons and ac11 tivities from source to delivery of the equipment 

12 and services; and 

13 (B) includes— 

14 (i) vendors, suppliers, and providers of 

15 the equipment and services; and 

16 (ii) persons who manufacture, assem17 ble, develop, or test the equipment and 

18 services. 

19 (b) ONGOING REVIEW.—Consistent with the protec20 tion of classified information, the Secretary shall, in co21 ordination with the head of each appropriate Federal enti22 ty, conduct an ongoing review of risks to the communica23 tions equipment and services marketplace and the supply 

24 chain thereof. 


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1 (c) LONG-TERM SCENARIO AND STRATEGIC PLAN2 NING.— 

3 (1) DEVELOPMENT, ISSUANCE, AND IMPLEMEN4 TATION OF PROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this section, con6 sistent with the protection of classified information, 

7 the Secretary, in coordination with the head of each 

8 appropriate Federal entity, shall— 

9 (A) develop and issue procedures to regu10 larly facilitate— 

11 (i) long-term scenario and strategic 

12 planning with private entities that have ap13 propriate security clearances to review 

14 classified information about risks, includ15 ing by— 

16 (I) assessing the severity of risks 

17 posed to the marketplace of individual 

18 components of communications equip19 ment and services and the supply 

20 chain thereof; 

21 (II) identifying counterfeit com22 munications equipment and services in 

23 the marketplace; 

24 (III) assessing the ability of for25 eign governments or third parties to 


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1 exploit the marketplace in a manner 

2 that raises risks; 

3 (IV) identifying— 

4 (aa) emerging risks and 

5 long-term trends in the market6 place of individual components or 

7 standards of communications 

8 equipment and services and the 

9 supply chain thereof; and 

10 (bb) strategies to mitigate 

11 risks described in item (aa); and 

12 (V) analyzing opportunities for 

13 asymmetric advantage; 

14 (ii) the— 

15 (I) preparation of unclassified in16 formation that raises awareness of 

17 risks, including, as appropriate, un18 classified versions of any information 

19 shared under clause (i); and 

20 (II) dissemination by the Sec21 retary of the unclassified information 

22 described in subclause (I) to private 

23 entities that do not have appropriate 

24 security clearances; and 


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1 (iii) the voluntary sharing from pri2 vate entities to the Secretary of informa3 tion about risks to the marketplace; and 

4 (B) carry out the procedures developed and 

5 issued under subparagraph (A). 

6 (2) MANNER OF PRESENTATION.—The informa7 tion shared with private entities under paragraph 

8 (1)(A)(i) shall be presented in a manner that identi9 fies, assesses, and prioritizes risks, the mitigation of 

10 risks, and opportunities for asymmetric advantage. 

11 (3) INFORMATION SHARED WITH OR PROVIDED

12 TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.— 

13 (A) NO WAIVER OF PRIVILEGE OR PROTEC14 TION.—The provision of information to the 

15 Federal Government by a private entity under 

16 clause (i) or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall not 

17 constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege 

18 or protection provided by law, including trade 

19 secret protection. 

20 (B) PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.—Infor21 mation provided to the Federal Government by 

22 a private entity under clause (i) or (iii) of para23 graph (1)(A) shall be considered the commer24 cial, financial, and proprietary information of 

25 the private entity. 


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1 (C) EXEMPTION FROM DISCLOSURE

2 UNDER FOIA.—Information provided to the 

3 Federal Government by a private entity under 

4 clause (i) or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall be 

5 exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) 

6 of title 5, United States Code. 

7 (D) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL REGU8 LATORY AUTHORITY.—Information provided to 

9 the Federal Government by a private entity 

10 under clause (i) or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) 

11 shall not be used by any Federal entity to regu12 late, including through an enforcement action, 

13 the lawful activities of the private entity. 

14 (E) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY.—No 

15 cause of action shall lie or be maintained in any 

16 court against a private entity, and such action 

17 shall be promptly dismissed, if the action is re18 lated to or arises out of the provision of infor19 mation to the Federal Government by the pri20 vate entity under clause (i) or (iii) of paragraph 

21 (1)(A). 

22 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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

24 the date of enactment of this section, and biennially 

25 thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the 


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1 head of each appropriate Federal entity, shall sub2 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a re3 port on the implementation of this section. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

5 paragraph (1) shall— 

6 (A) include any recommendations that the 

7 Secretary, in collaboration with the heads of the 

8 appropriate Federal entities, may have for im9 provements or modifications to the procedures 

10 developed and issued under this section; 

11 (B) evaluate the effectiveness of the proce12 dures developed and issued under subsection 

13 (c)(1)(A); 

14 (C) identify processes and procedures that 

15 improve the ability of private entities and the 

16 Federal Government to adapt to emerging risks 

17 to the marketplace; 

18 (D) provide technical guidance on procure19 ment of communications equipment and services 

20 offered by private entities in order to mitigate 

21 vulnerabilities; 

22 (E) include recommendations to streamline 

23 the provision of security clearances for relevant 

24 private sector actors; and 


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1 (F) assess coordination between the heads 

2 of the appropriate Federal entities, including by 

3 identifying distinct competencies and jurisdic4 tions of each appropriate Federal entity. 

5 (3) FORM OF REPORTS.—Each report sub6 mitted under paragraph (1) shall be in unclassified 

7 form, but may include a classified annex. 

8 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec9 tion shall be construed to authorize the Secretary or the 

10 head of any other Federal agency to issue new regulations. 

Æ 


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