I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1717 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a council 
to make recommendations on ways to increase the security, reliability, 
and interoperability of communications networks, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2025 
Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to estab-
lish a council to make recommendations on ways to in-
crease the security, reliability, and interoperability of 
communications networks, 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 ‘‘Communications Secu-
rity Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RELI-
ABILITY, AND INTEROPERABILITY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 
shall— 
(1) establish a council to advise the Commission 
on issues including the security, reliability, and 
interoperability of communications networks; or 
(2) designate for purposes of this section an ad-
visory committee of the Commission that is oper-
ating on the date of the enactment of this Act under 
a charter for the purpose of addressing the issues 
described in paragraph (1) and, if the membership 
of such committee does not comply with subsection 
(b), modify such membership to comply with such 
subsection. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) APPOINTMENT.—The members of the coun-
cil shall be appointed by the Chair. 
(2) COMPOSITION.—To the extent practicable, 
the membership of the council shall be composed of 
the following: 
(A) Representatives of companies in the 
communications industry, except companies 
that are determined by the Chair to be not 
trusted. 
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(B) Representatives of public interest orga-
nizations or academic institutions, except public 
interest organizations or academic institutions 
that are determined by the Chair to be not 
trusted. 
(C) Representatives of the Federal Govern-
ment, State governments, local governments, or 
Tribal Governments, with at least one member 
representing each such type of government. 
(3) KNOWLEDGE
AND
EXPERIENCE.—Each 
member of the council shall have knowledge and ex-
perience relevant to the purpose and goals of the 
council. 
(4) TERMS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 
council shall be appointed for a term of 2 years, 
except as provided in subparagraph (B). 
(B) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed 
to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration 
of the term for which the member’s predecessor 
was appointed shall be appointed only for the 
remainder of that term. A member may serve 
after the expiration of that member’s term until 
a successor has taken office. 
(c) REPORTS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date on which the council is established or des-
ignated (as the case may be) under subsection (a), 
and every 2 years thereafter, the council shall sub-
mit to the Chair each report adopted by the council 
during the preceding 2-year period, and any report 
adopted by any working group of the council during 
such period, including any such report of the council 
or a working group containing recommendations on 
ways to increase the security, reliability, and inter-
operability of communications networks, and on 
other relevant issues as appropriate. 
(2) AVAILABILITY ON COMMISSION WEBSITE.— 
The Commission shall make each report submitted 
under paragraph (1) publicly available on the 
website of the Commission. 
(d) DURATION.—Section 1013(a)(2) of title 5, 
United States Code (relating to the termination of advi-
sory committees) shall not apply to the council. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CHAIR.—The term ‘‘Chair’’ means the 
Chair of the Commission. 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Communications Commission. 
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(3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘council’’ means the 
council established under subsection (a)(1) or the 
advisory committee designated under subsection 
(a)(2), as the case may be. 
(4) NOT TRUSTED.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘not trusted’’ 
means, with respect to an entity, that— 
(i) the Chair has made a public deter-
mination that such entity is owned by, con-
trolled by, or subject to the influence of a 
foreign adversary; or 
(ii) the Chair otherwise determines 
that such entity poses a threat to the na-
tional security of the United States. 
(B) CRITERIA
FOR
DETERMINATION.—In 
making a determination under subparagraph 
(A)(ii), the Chair shall use the criteria de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 
2(c) of the Secure and Trusted Communica-
tions Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 
1601(c)), as appropriate. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 
Æ 
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