I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3811 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study and submit to 
Congress a report on the processes of international standards-setting 
with respect to internet-connected devices, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 17, 2019 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study 
and submit to Congress a report on the processes of 
international standards-setting with respect to internet- 
connected devices, 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 ‘‘IoT Standards Leader-
ship Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
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(1) United States policy has allowed industry in 
the United States to innovate and lead the global 
technology sector; 
(2) as governments have sought to use country- 
specific standards to hinder the innovation and in-
fluence of United States technology, the United 
States should demonstrate leadership and be a vocal 
supporter of the open, voluntary, consensus-based 
international standards system; 
(3) the United States should support multi- 
stakeholder standards-development processes and ro-
bust involvement in international standards-setting 
bodies and organizations with respect to internet- 
connected devices (commonly known as the ‘‘Internet 
of Things’’ or ‘‘IoT’’); 
(4) the United States should support standards 
that enable interoperability among devices and sys-
tems and are country-agnostic and vendor-neutral; 
(5) the United States should maintain and fos-
ter United States leadership in international stand-
ards-setting bodies and organizations with respect to 
internet-connected devices; 
(6) the United States should work with govern-
ments and nongovernmental stakeholders to deter 
the establishment of government-driven, country-spe-
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cific standards, which can be detrimental to inter-
operability and security; 
(7) the convergence of traditional information 
technology devices, networks, and systems with 
internet-connected devices, networks, and systems, 
including consumer and industrial internet-connected 
devices, networks, and systems, may create cyberse-
curity and interoperability challenges, including 
cyber exposure gap challenges, with respect to which 
United States leadership in international standards- 
setting bodies and organizations can lead to stronger 
protection of networks to support the security of 
internet-connected devices; and 
(8) the United States should support standards- 
development processes for internet-connected device 
security that focus on prioritized, flexible, repeat-
able, performance-based, and cost-effective ap-
proaches to cyber hygiene and managing risk. 
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Commerce shall con-
duct a study of the international standards-setting bodies 
and organizations that set standards with respect to inter-
net-connected devices and of the appropriate means to en-
sure robust United States leadership in the processes of 
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such bodies and organizations. In conducting the study, 
the Secretary shall assess— 
(1) the involvement of the United States in 
such processes; 
(2) efforts of countries to create country-spe-
cific standards with respect to internet-connected de-
vices that are not aligned with international stand-
ards-setting processes and international standards; 
(3) the progress, if any, that has been made in 
developing international standards with respect to 
internet-connected devices; 
(4) how to support consistent United States 
private and public sector participation in such bodies 
and organizations; and 
(5) the extent to which international standards 
for internet-connected devices focus on prioritized, 
flexible, repeatable, performance-based, and cost-ef-
fective approaches to cyber hygiene and managing 
risk. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that 
contains— 
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(1) the results of the study required by sub-
section (a); 
(2) recommendations to promote the leadership 
of the United States and all relevant nongovern-
mental stakeholders in the processes of international 
standards-setting bodies and organizations for set-
ting standards with respect to internet-connected de-
vices; and 
(3) an assessment of whether and how the lead-
ership of the Secretary, working with governmental 
and nongovernmental stakeholders, can— 
(A) promote and strengthen international 
standards with respect to internet-connected de-
vices; and 
(B) discourage the development of country- 
specific standards with respect to internet-con-
nected devices that could hinder interoperability 
and security. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CYBER EXPOSURE GAP.—The term ‘‘cyber 
exposure gap’’ means the cybersecurity and vulner-
ability management challenges organizations face in 
seeing and understanding cybersecurity risk across 
the full range of internet-connected platforms of 
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