I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4651 
To establish in the legislative branch the National Commission on Security 
and Technology Challenges. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 29, 2016 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 
BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. HURD of Texas, 
Miss RICE of New York, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. SWALWELL of Cali-
fornia, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mrs. MIMI 
WALTERS of California, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, and Mr. 
REICHERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 
the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish in the legislative branch the National 
Commission on Security and Technology Challenges. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Digital Security Commission Act of 2016’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Establishment of the National Commission on Security and Technology 
Challenges. 
Sec. 4. Composition of Commission. 
Sec. 5. Reports to Congress. 
Sec. 6. Powers of Commission. 
Sec. 7. Nonapplicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act. 
Sec. 8. Staff. 
Sec. 9. Meeting and hearings. 
Sec. 10. Termination. 
Sec. 11. Funding. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Today, more than ever before, digital secu-
rity and communications technology, national secu-
rity, public safety, and counterterrorism are inex-
tricably linked; indeed, digital security and commu-
nications technology plays a critically important role 
in efforts to keep the United States and its citizens 
safe. 
(2) Technological innovation and development is 
critical to the United States economy and the com-
petitiveness of United States businesses in the global 
marketplace. 
(3) Technology companies represent some of 
the largest employers in the United States and con-
tribute significantly to the gross domestic product of 
the United States. 
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(4) The digital security and communications 
technology that the people of the United States use 
every day to protect communications and data, in-
cluding encryption, is essential to the present and 
future of the United States. 
(5) Digital security and communications tech-
nology helps to protect critical infrastructure, finan-
cial and banking systems, health records, online se-
curity, commercial transactions, proprietary enter-
prise and governmental information, and privacy and 
civil liberties. 
(6) The same technology that benefits the peo-
ple of the United States in so many ways also pre-
sents new challenges; in the wrong hands, digital se-
curity and communications technology can be used 
to facilitate crime and terrorism and is used by mali-
cious actors, including drug traffickers, child preda-
tors, and cybercriminals, to carry out criminal activi-
ties. 
(7) Terrorist and criminal organizations use 
digital security and communications technology to 
evade law enforcement and national security entities 
when plotting attacks and recruiting supporters in 
the United States and abroad, and law enforcement 
and national security authorities have indicated that 
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the use of this technology presents unique challenges 
to their ability to protect the public. 
(8) Rapidly evolving technological advancements 
drive the modern economy in many ways, but can 
also create challenges for the law enforcement and 
national security communities. 
(9) Ensuring that analysts, law enforcement of-
ficers, and policymakers fully understand the dy-
namic digital landscape will become increasingly im-
portant in the coming decades. 
(10) The United States currently faces the dif-
ficult question of how best to take advantage of the 
security and privacy benefits digital security and 
communications technology provides, while at the 
same time ensuring that the dangers posed by the 
use of digital security and communications tech-
nology by terrorists and criminals is mitigated; in-
deed, the challenge is to reconcile equally important 
security interests. 
(11) Despite years of dialogue between the 
technology sector, law enforcement, national security 
professionals, and others, no clear path forward has 
been developed that would benefit each of the critical 
security interests simultaneously; rather, there seems 
to be a consensus among stakeholders, lawmakers, 
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and experts that the question of reconciling com-
peting security interests is one without an easy or 
obvious answer. 
(12) Leading experts and practitioners from the 
technology sector, cryptography, law enforcement, 
intelligence, the privacy and civil liberties commu-
nity, global commerce and economics, and the na-
tional security community must be brought together 
to examine these issues in a systematic, holistic way 
and determine the implications for national security, 
public safety, data security, privacy, innovation, and 
American competitiveness in the global marketplace. 
(13) It is important to approach these issues 
with recognition that the communications market-
place is increasingly global and marked by competi-
tion from foreign firms and the growing prominence 
of international technical standards. 
(14) With respect to competing security inter-
ests, it is incumbent upon the United States to be 
forward-thinking and to assess how it can and 
should adapt to the emerging challenges of the dig-
ital world. 
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