II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3988 

To codify and authorize the Federal Communications Commission’s establishment of a council to make recommendations on ways to increase the 

security, reliability, and interoperability of communications networks, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4 (legislative day, MARCH 31), 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Transportation 

A BILL 

To codify and authorize the Federal Communications Commission’s establishment of a council to make recommendations on ways to increase the security, reliability, and interoperability of communications networks, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Communications Secu5 rity, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act’’. 


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

3 (a) CODIFICATION AND ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

6 shall establish a council to advise the Commission on 

7 issues including the security, reliability, and inter8 operability of communications networks. 

9 (2) EXISTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Any 

10 Federal advisory committee of the Commission that 

11 is operating on the date of enactment of this Act 

12 under a charter filed in accordance with section 9(c) 

13 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

14 App.) for the purpose of addressing the issues de15 scribed in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall sat16 isfy the requirement under that paragraph if, not 

17 later than 90 days after that date, the membership 

18 of the Federal advisory committee is modified, as 

19 necessary, to comply with subsection (b) of this sec20 tion. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The members of the Coun23 cil shall be appointed by the Chair. 

24 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Chair shall appoint as 

25 members of the Council the following: 


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1 (A) Representatives of companies or rel2 evant trade associations in the communications 

3 industry with facilities in the United States, ex4 cept entities that are determined by the Chair 

5 to be not trusted, including, at minimum— 

6 (i) 1 representative of a national wire7 less provider; 

8 (ii) 1 representative of a national 

9 wireline provider; 

10 (iii) 1 representative of a national 

11 cable provider; 

12 (iv) 1 representative of a national sat13 ellite provider; and 

14 (v) 1 representative of an equipment 

15 manufacturer. 

16 (B) Representatives of government, includ17 ing, at minimum— 

18 (i) 1 representative of the Federal 

19 Government, including not less than 1 rep20 resentative of the Department of Home21 land Security; and 

22 (ii) 1 representative of a State govern23 ment, local government, or Tribal govern24 ment, including not less than 1 representaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Apr 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3988.IS S3988

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1 tive from each type of government, if fea2 sible. 

3 (C) Representatives of public interest orga4 nizations or academic institutions, except public 

5 interest organizations or academic institutions 

6 that are determined by the Chair to be not 

trusted, provided that not more than 1 7 ⁄3 of the 

8 membership of the Council be from public inter9 est organizations or academic institutions. 

10 (3) KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE.—Each 

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

13 Council. 

14 (4) TERMS.— 

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

16 Council shall be appointed for a term of 2 

17 years, except as provided in subparagraph (B). 

18 (B) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed 

19 to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration 

20 of the term for which the member’s predecessor 

21 was appointed shall be appointed only for the 

22 remainder of that term. A member may serve 

23 after the expiration of that member’s term until 

24 a successor has taken office. 


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1 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Chair may consult with 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security as the Chair deter3 mines appropriate to enable coordination on matters per4 taining to the Council. 

5 (d) DURATION.—Section 14(a)(2) of the Federal Ad6 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) (relating to the ter7 mination of advisory committees) shall not apply to the 

8 Council. 

9 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

11 Chairman of the Commission. 

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

13 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

14 (3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

15 council established under subsection (a). 

16 (4) NOT TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘not trusted’’ 

17 means, with respect to an entity, that— 

18 (A) the Chair has made a public deter19 mination that such entity is owned by, con20 trolled by, or subject to the influence of a for21 eign adversary; or 

22 (B) the Chair determines that such entity 

23 poses a threat to the national security of the 

24 United States, using solely the criteria de25 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 


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1 2(c) of the Secure and Trusted Communica2 tions Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 

3 1601(c)), as appropriate. 

4 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean5 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica6 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

Æ 


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