IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 612 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2017 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To establish a grant program at the Department of Home-
land Security to promote cooperative research and devel-
opment between the United States and Israel on cyberse-
curity. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Israel 
Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 
2. 
UNITED 
STATES-ISRAEL 
CYBERSECURITY 
CO-
OPERATION. 
(a) GRANT PROGRAM.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in ac-
cordance with the agreement entitled the ‘‘Agree-
ment between the Government of the United States 
of America and the Government of the State of 
Israel on Cooperation in Science and Technology for 
Homeland Security Matters’’, dated May 29, 2008 
(or successor agreement), and the requirements 
specified in paragraph (2), shall establish a grant 
program at the Department to support— 
(A) cybersecurity research and develop-
ment; and 
(B) demonstration and commercialization 
of cybersecurity technology. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, in carrying out a re-
search, development, demonstration, or com-
mercial application program or activity that is 
authorized under this section, the Secretary 
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shall require cost sharing in accordance with 
this paragraph. 
(B) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 
in clause (ii), the Secretary shall require 
not less than 50 percent of the cost of a 
research, development, demonstration, or 
commercial application program or activity 
described in subparagraph (A) to be pro-
vided by a non-Federal source. 
(ii) REDUCTION.—The Secretary may 
reduce or eliminate, on a case-by-case 
basis, the percentage requirement specified 
in clause (i) if the Secretary determines 
that such reduction or elimination is nec-
essary and appropriate. 
(C) MERIT REVIEW.—In carrying out a re-
search, development, demonstration, or com-
mercial application program or activity that is 
authorized under this section, awards shall be 
made only after an impartial review of the sci-
entific and technical merit of the proposals for 
such awards has been carried out by or for the 
Department. 
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(D) REVIEW PROCESSES.—In carrying out 
a review under subparagraph (C), the Secretary 
may use merit review processes developed under 
section 302(14) of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182(14)). 
(3) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—An applicant shall 
be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection 
if the project of such applicant— 
(A) addresses a requirement in the area of 
cybersecurity research or cybersecurity tech-
nology, as determined by the Secretary; and 
(B) is a joint venture between— 
(i)(I) a for-profit business entity, aca-
demic institution, National Laboratory (as 
defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy 
Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), or non-
profit entity in the United States; and 
(II) a for-profit business entity, aca-
demic institution, or nonprofit entity in 
Israel; or 
(ii)(I) the Federal Government; and 
(II) the Government of Israel. 
(4) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this subsection, an applicant shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application for such grant 
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in accordance with procedures established by the 
Secretary, in consultation with the advisory board 
established under paragraph (5). 
(5) ADVISORY BOARD.— 
(A) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall establish an advisory board to— 
(i) monitor the method by which 
grants are awarded under this subsection; 
and 
(ii) provide to the Secretary periodic 
performance reviews of actions taken to 
carry out this subsection. 
(B) COMPOSITION.—The advisory board 
established under subparagraph (A) shall be 
composed of three members, to be appointed by 
the Secretary, of whom— 
(i) one shall be a representative of the 
Federal Government; 
(ii) one shall be selected from a list of 
nominees provided by the United States- 
Israel Binational Science Foundation; and 
(iii) one shall be selected from a list 
of nominees provided by the United States- 
Israel Binational Industrial Research and 
Development Foundation. 
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(6) CONTRIBUTED
FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the Secretary may accept 
or retain funds contributed by any person, govern-
ment entity, or organization for purposes of carrying 
out this subsection. Such funds shall be available, 
subject to appropriation, without fiscal year limita-
tion. 
(7) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of completion of a project for which a grant 
is provided under this subsection, the grant recipient 
shall submit to the Secretary a report that con-
tains— 
(A) a description of how the grant funds 
were used by the recipient; and 
(B) an evaluation of the level of success of 
each project funded by the grant. 
(8) CLASSIFICATION.—Grants shall be awarded 
under this subsection only for projects that are con-
sidered to be unclassified by both the United States 
and Israel. 
(b) TERMINATION.—The grant program and the ad-
visory board established under this section terminate on 
the date that is 7 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
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(c) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No addi-
tional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements 
of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘cybersecurity research’’ means re-
search, including social science research, into ways 
to identify, protect against, detect, respond to, and 
recover from cybersecurity threats; 
(2) the term ‘‘cybersecurity technology’’ means 
technology intended to identify, protect against, de-
tect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity 
threats; 
(3) the term ‘‘cybersecurity threat’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 102 of the Cy-
bersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (en-
acted as title I of the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 (di-
vision N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2016 (Public Law 114–113))); 
(4) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security; and 
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(5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Homeland Security. 
Passed the House of Representatives January 31, 
2017. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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