I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1572
To require the adoption and utilization of digital signatures by Federal
agencies and to encourage the use of digital signatures in private sector
electronic transactions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 27, 1999
Mr. GORDON (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, and Mr. BROWN of Cali-
fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Science
A BILL
To require the adoption and utilization of digital signatures
by Federal agencies and to encourage the use of digital
signatures in private sector electronic transactions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Signature Act
of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. RECOGNITION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURES.
(a) REQUIREMENT.—To the extent that a Federal
agency recognizes a written signature as authenticating a
document, the agency shall recognize a digital signature
as authenticating an equivalent electronically formatted
document.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take ef-
fect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. DIGITAL SIGNATURE INFRASTRUCTURE.
(a) GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS.—Not later than
6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Director, in consultation with industry, shall develop dig-
ital signature infrastructure guidelines and standards for
use by Federal agencies to enable those agencies to effec-
tively utilize digital signatures in a manner that is—
(1) sufficiently secure to meet the needs of
those agencies and the general public; and
(2) interoperable, to the maximum extent pos-
sible.
(b) ELEMENTS.—The guidelines and standards devel-
oped under subsection (a) shall include—
(1) technical security requirements for digital
signature infrastructure products and services;
(2) validation criteria to enable Federal agen-
cies to select digital signature infrastructure prod-
ucts and services appropriate to their needs; and
(3) minimum interoperability specifications for
the Federal acquisition of digital signature infra-
structure products and services.
(c) 
COORDINATION
WITH
NATIONAL
POLICY
PANEL.—The Director shall ensure that the development
of guidelines and standards under this section is carried
out in coordination with the efforts of the National Policy
Panel for Digital Signatures under section 7.
(d) REVISIONS.—The Director shall periodically re-
view the guidelines and standards developed under sub-
section (a) and revise them as appropriate.
SEC. 4. VALIDATION OF PRODUCTS.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and periodically thereafter as appro-
priate, the Director shall make available to Federal agen-
cies and to the public an evaluation of the conformance
with the guidelines and standards developed under section
3 of commercially available digital signature infrastructure
products, and other such products used by Federal agen-
cies.
SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS.
(a) CRITERIA.—Not later than 6 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab-
lish minimum technical criteria for the use by Federal
agencies of electronic certification and management
systems.
(b) EVALUATION.—The Director shall establish a
program for evaluating the conformance with the criteria
established under subsection (a) of electronic certification
and management systems, developed for use by Federal
agencies or available for such use.
(c) MAINTENANCE
OF LIST.—The Director shall
maintain and make available to Federal agencies a list of
electronic certification and management systems the Di-
rector has evaluated as conforming to the criteria estab-
lished under subsection (a).
SEC. 6. REPORTS.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director
shall transmit to the Congress a report that includes—
(1) a description and analysis of the utilization
by Federal agencies of digital signatures;
(2) an evaluation of the extent to which Federal
agencies’ digital signature infrastructures conform
to the guidelines and standards developed under sec-
tion 3(a);
(3) an evaluation of the extent to which Federal
agencies’ electronic certification and management
systems conform to the criteria established under
section 5(a);
(4) the list described in section 5(c); and
(5) evaluations made under section 4.
SEC. 7. NATIONAL POLICY PANEL FOR DIGITAL SIGNA-
TURES.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary
shall establish a National Policy Panel for Digital Signa-
tures. The Panel shall be composed of government, aca-
demic, and industry technical and legal experts on the im-
plementation of digital signature technologies, State offi-
cials, including officials from States which have enacted
laws establishing digital signature infrastructures, and
representative individuals from the interested public.
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Panel shall serve as a
forum for exploring all relevant factors associated with the
development of a national digital signature infrastructure
based on uniform standards to enable the widespread
availability and use of digital signature systems. The
Panel shall develop—
(1) model practices and procedures for certifi-
cation authorities to ensure the accuracy, reliability,
and security of operations associated with issuing
and managing digital certificates;
(2) standards to ensure consistency among ju-
risdictions that license certification authorities; and
(3) audit standards for certification authorities.
(c) COORDINATION.—The Panel shall coordinate its
efforts with those of the Director under section 3.
(d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Under Sec-
retary shall provide administrative support to enable the
Panel to carry out its responsibilities.
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall
transmit to the Congress a report containing the rec-
ommendations of the Panel.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘certification authorities’’ means
issuers of digital certificates;
(2) the term ‘‘digital certificate’’ means an elec-
tronic document that binds an individual’s identity
to the individual’s digital signature;
(3) the term ‘‘digital signature’’ means a math-
ematically generated mark utilizing asymmetric key
cryptography techniques that is unique to both the
signatory and the information signed;
(4) the term ‘‘digital signature infrastructure’’
means the software, hardware, and personnel re-
sources, and the procedures, required to effectively
utilize digital certificates and digital signatures;
(5) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
(6) the term ‘‘electronic certification and man-
agement systems’’ means computer systems, includ-
ing associated personnel and procedures, that enable
individuals to apply unique digital signatures to elec-
tronic information; and
(7) the term ‘‘Under Secretary’’ means the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology.
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