I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2659 

To establish a grant program at the Department of Homeland Security 

to promote cooperative research and development between the United 

States and Israel on cybersecurity. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2021 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program at the Department of Homeland Security to promote cooperative research and development between the United States and Israel on cybersecurity. 

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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CYBERSECURITY CO7 OPERATION. 

8 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in ac2 cordance with the agreement entitled the ‘‘Agree3 ment between the Government of the United States 

4 of America and the Government of the State of 

5 Israel on Cooperation in Science and Technology for 

6 Homeland Security Matters’’, dated May 29, 2008 

7 (or successor agreement), and the requirements 

8 specified in paragraph (2), shall establish a grant 

9 program at the Department to support— 

10 (A) cybersecurity research and develop11 ment; and 

12 (B) demonstration and commercialization 

13 of cybersecurity technology. 

14 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (A) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law, in carrying out a re17 search, development, demonstration, or com18 mercial application program or activity that is 

19 authorized under this section, the Secretary 

20 shall require cost sharing in accordance with 

21 this paragraph. 

22 (B) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

24 in clause (ii), the Secretary shall require 

25 not less than 50 percent of the cost of a 


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1 research, development, demonstration, or 

2 commercial application program or activity 

3 described in subparagraph (A) to be pro4 vided by a non-Federal source. 

5 (ii) REDUCTION.—The Secretary may 

6 reduce or eliminate, on a case-by-case 

7 basis, the percentage requirement specified 

8 in clause (i) if the Secretary determines 

9 that such reduction or elimination is nec10 essary and appropriate. 

11 (C) MERIT REVIEW.—In carrying out a re12 search, development, demonstration, or com13 mercial application program or activity that is 

14 authorized under this section, awards shall be 

15 made only after an impartial review of the sci16 entific and technical merit of the proposals for 

17 such awards has been carried out by or for the 

18 Department. 

19 (D) REVIEW PROCESSES.—In carrying out 

20 a review under subparagraph (C), the Secretary 

21 may use merit review processes developed under 

22 section 302(14) of the Homeland Security Act 

23 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182(14)). 


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1 (3) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—An applicant shall 

2 be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection 

3 if the project of such applicant— 

4 (A) addresses a requirement in the area of 

5 cybersecurity research or cybersecurity tech6 nology, as determined by the Secretary; and 

7 (B) is a joint venture between— 

8 (i)(I) a for-profit business entity, aca9 demic institution, National Laboratory (as 

10 such term is defined in section 2 of the 

11 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

12 15801)), or nonprofit entity in the United 

13 States; and 

14 (II) a for-profit business entity, aca15 demic institution, or nonprofit entity in 

16 Israel; or 

17 (ii)(I) the Federal Government; and 

18 (II) the Government of Israel. 

19 (4) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

20 grant under this subsection, an applicant shall sub21 mit to the Secretary an application for such grant 

22 in accordance with procedures established by the 

23 Secretary, in consultation with the advisory board 

24 established under paragraph (5). 

25 (5) ADVISORY BOARD.— 


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1 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall establish an advisory board to— 

3 (i) monitor the method by which 

4 grants are awarded under this subsection; 

5 and 

6 (ii) provide to the Secretary periodic 

7 performance reviews of actions taken to 

8 carry out this subsection. 

9 (B) COMPOSITION.—The advisory board 

10 established under subparagraph (A) shall be 

11 composed of three members, to be appointed by 

12 the Secretary, of whom— 

13 (i) one shall be a representative of the 

14 Federal Government; 

15 (ii) one shall be selected from a list of 

16 nominees provided by the United States17 Israel Binational Science Foundation; and 

18 (iii) one shall be selected from a list 

19 of nominees provided by the United States20 Israel Binational Industrial Research and 

21 Development Foundation. 

22 (6) CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of law, the Secretary may accept 

24 or retain funds contributed by any person, govern25 ment entity, or organization for purposes of carrying 


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1 out this subsection. Such funds shall be available, 

2 subject to appropriation, without fiscal year limita3 tion. 

4 (7) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of completion of a project for which a grant 

6 is provided under this subsection, the grant recipient 

7 shall submit to the Secretary a report that con8 tains— 

9 (A) a description of how the grant funds 

10 were used by the recipient; and 

11 (B) an evaluation of the level of success of 

12 each project funded by the grant. 

13 (8) CLASSIFICATION.—Grants shall be awarded 

14 under this subsection only for projects that are con15 sidered to be unclassified by both the United States 

16 and Israel. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

19 less than $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 

20 2026. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘cybersecurity research’’ means re23 search, including social science research, into ways 

24 to identify, protect against, detect, respond to, and 

25 recover from cybersecurity threats; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘cybersecurity technology’’ means 

2 technology intended to identify, protect against, de3 tect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity 

4 threats; 

5 (3) the term ‘‘cybersecurity threat’’ has the 

6 meaning given such term in section 102 of the Cy7 bersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (6 

8 U.S.C. 1501; enacted as title I of the Cybersecurity 

9 Act of 2015 (division N of the Consolidated Appro10 priations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114–113))); 

11 (4) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart12 ment of Homeland Security; and 

13 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

14 of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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