I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7265 
To improve assistance provided by the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership to small manufacturers in the defense industrial supply 
chain on matters relating to cybersecurity, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 18, 2020 
Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. 
MITCHELL, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Ms. STEVENS, 
Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To improve assistance provided by the Hollings Manufac-
turing Extension Partnership to small manufacturers in 
the defense industrial supply chain on matters relating 
to cybersecurity, 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 ‘‘Small Manufacturer 
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Office of the Director of National Intel-
ligence stated in its 2019 Worldwide Threat Assess-
ment that United States adversaries and strategic 
competitors will increasingly use cyber capabilities— 
including cyber espionage, attack, and influence—to 
seek political, economic, and military advantage over 
the United States and its allies. 
(2) The Department of Defense recognizes that 
small manufacturers operating in the defense supply 
chain are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks be-
cause they frequently lack the necessary human and 
financial resources to protect themselves. 
(3) The Department of Defense is imple-
menting its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certifi-
cation (CMMC) to protect Controlled Unclassified 
Information and critical United States technology 
and information from cyber theft and hacking. All 
defense contractors will need to comply with CMMC. 
(4) The Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisi-
tion and Sustainment has stated that smaller com-
panies in the defense supply chain might not be able 
to afford the Department of Defense’s increasingly 
demanding cybersecurity requirements, but that the 
Department is committed to ensuring that such 
companies get the resources they need to comply. 
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(5) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, there are more than 347,000 manufacturing es-
tablishments in the United States, of which 72 per-
cent have fewer than 20 employees and 99 percent 
have fewer than 500 employees. 
(6) During the past 7 years the Hollings Manu-
facturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers 
have worked closely with the Department of Defense 
to bolster the resilience of the defense industrial 
base supply chain by providing cybersecurity services 
to small manufacturers. The MEP Centers have 
worked with more than 26,000 small- and medium- 
sized manufacturers nationwide in fiscal year 2019 
alone. 
(7) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partner-
ship Centers are located in all 50 States and provide 
a nationwide network that is— 
(A) raising the awareness of small manu-
facturers to cyber threats; 
(B) helping small manufacturers comply 
with new Department of Defense cybersecurity 
requirements; and 
(C) helping small manufacturers under-
stand that if they do not comply with new De-
partment of Defense cybersecurity require-
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ments, then they risk losing their defense con-
tracts. 
(8) The Hollings Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership Centers are well-positioned to aid small 
manufacturing companies in the defense supply 
chain in complying with cybersecurity requirements 
to protect controlled unclassified information rel-
evant to defense manufacturing supply chains. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL MANUFACTURERS IN THE 
DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CHAIN ON 
MATTERS RELATING TO CYBERSECURITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 
Office of Economic Adjustment and in consultation with 
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, may make grants to a Center established 
under the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
for the purpose of providing cybersecurity services to small 
manufacturers. 
(b) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish and 
publish in the Federal Register criteria for selecting grant 
recipients under this section. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds under this sec-
tion— 
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(1) shall be used by a Center to provide small 
manufacturers with cybersecurity services related 
to— 
(A) compliance with the cybersecurity re-
quirements of the Department of Defense Sup-
plement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 
including awareness, assessment, evaluation, 
preparation, and implementation of cybersecu-
rity services; and 
(B) achieving compliance with the Cyberse-
curity Maturity Model Certification framework 
of the Department of Defense; and 
(2) may be used by a Center to employ trained 
personnel to deliver cybersecurity services to small 
manufacturers. 
(d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the 
congressional defense committees a biennial report on 
grants awarded under this section. To the extent prac-
ticable, each such report shall include the following with 
respect to the years covered by the report: 
(1) The number of small manufacturing compa-
nies assisted. 
(2) A description of the cybersecurity services 
provided. 
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(3) A description of the cybersecurity matters 
addressed. 
(4) An analysis of the operational effectiveness 
and cost-effectiveness of the cybersecurity services 
provided. 
(e) TERMINATION.—The authority of the Secretary 
of Defense to make grants under this section shall termi-
nate on the date that is five years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 25(a) of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 
(15 U.S.C. 278k(a)). 
(2) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 
The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) 
of title 10, United States Code. 
(3) SMALL MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘small 
manufacturer’’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 1644(g) of the John S. McCain National De-
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub-
lic Law 115–232; 10 U.S.C. 2224 note). 
Æ 
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