I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3840 
To establish a consortia of universities to advise the Secretary of Defense 
on cybersecurity matters, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 18, 2019 
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To establish a consortia of universities to advise the Sec-
retary of Defense on cybersecurity matters, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘National Defense Cy-
bersecurity Consortia Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSORTIA OF UNIVERSITIES TO ADVISE SEC-
RETARY OF DEFENSE ON CYBERSECURITY 
MATTERS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall establish one or more consortia to advise and assist 
the Secretary on matters relating to cybersecurity. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The consortium or consortia es-
tablished under subsection (a) shall consist of universities 
that have been designated as centers of academic excel-
lence by the Director of the National Security Agency or 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(c) ORGANIZATION.— 
(1) DESIGNATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE CHAIR 
AND
TERMS.—For each consortium established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary, based on rec-
ommendations from the members of the consortium, 
shall designate one member of the consortium to 
function as an administrative chair of the consor-
tium for a term with a specific duration specified by 
the Secretary. 
(2) SUBSEQUENT
TERMS.—No member of a 
consortium designated under paragraph (1) may 
serve as the administrative chair of that consortium 
for two consecutive terms. 
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(3) DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE CHAIR.—Each 
administrative chair designated under paragraph (1) 
for a consortium shall— 
(A) act as the leader of the consortium for 
the term specified by the Secretary under para-
graph (1); 
(B) be the liaison between the consortium 
and the Secretary; 
(C) distribute requests from the Secretary 
for advice and assistance to appropriate mem-
bers of the consortium and coordinate responses 
back to the Secretary; and 
(D) act as a clearinghouse for Department 
of Defense requests relating to advice and as-
sistance on matters relating to cybersecurity 
and to provide feedback to the Secretary from 
members of the consortium. 
(d) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of a consortium es-
tablished under subsection (a) are as follows: 
(1) To provide to the Secretary access to the 
expertise of the members of the consortium on mat-
ters relating to cybersecurity. 
(2) To align the efforts of such members in 
support of the Department. 
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(3) To act as a facilitator in responding to De-
partment requests relating to advice and assistance 
on matters relating to cybersecurity and to provide 
feedback to the Secretary from members of the con-
sortium. 
(e) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall establish pro-
cedures for organizations within the Department to access 
the work product produced by and the research, capabili-
ties, and expertise of a consortium established under sub-
section (a) and the universities that constitute the consor-
tium. 
Æ 
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