Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act
Bill: H.R.7535 | Sponsor: Rep. Khanna, Ro (D-CA)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act
This act addresses the migration of executive agencies' information technology systems to post-quantum cryptography. Post-quantum cryptography is encryption strong enough to resist attacks from quantum computers developed in the future. The act does not apply to national security systems.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall issue guidance on the migration of information technology to post-quantum cryptography.
Each executive agency must maintain an inventory of all information technology in use by the executive agency that is vulnerable to decryption by quantum computers.
After the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued post-quantum cryptography standards, the OMB shall issue guidance requiring each executive agency to develop a plan to migrate information technology of the agency to post-quantum cryptography.
OMB shall submit to Congress a report on

[117th Congress Public Law 260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 136 STAT. 2389]]

Public Law 117-260
117th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To encourage the migration of Federal Government information technology 
        systems to quantum-resistant cryptography, and for other 
            purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 21, 2022 -  [H.R. 7535]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Quantum 
Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 6 USC 1500 note.>>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Quantum Computing Cybersecurity 
Preparedness Act''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 6 USC 1526 note.>>  FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Cryptography is essential for the national security of 
        the United States and the functioning of the economy of the 
        United States.
            (2) The most widespread encryption protocols today rely on 
        computational limits of classical computers to provide 
        cybersecurity.
            (3) Quantum computers might one day have the ability to push 
        computational boundaries, allowing us to solve problems that 
        have been intractable thus far, such as integer factorization, 
        which is important for encryption.
            (4) The rapid progress of quantum computing suggests the 
        potential for adversaries of the United States to steal 
        sensitive encrypted data today using classical computers, and 
        wait until sufficiently powerful quantum systems are available 
        to decrypt it.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) a strategy for the migration of information technology 
        of the Federal Government to post-quantum cryptography is 
        needed; and
            (2) the governmentwide and industrywide approach to post-
        quantum cryptography should prioritize developing applications, 
        hardware intellectual property, and software that can be easily 
        updated to support cryptographic agility.
SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 6 USC 1526 note.>>  DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency .--The term ``agency''--
                    (A) means any executive department, military 
                department, Government corporation, Government 
                controlled corporation, or other establishment in the 
                executive branch of the Government (including the 
                Executive Office of the President), or any independent 
                regulatory agency; and
                    (B) does not include--

[[Page 136 STAT. 2390]]

                          (i) the Government Accountability Office; or
                          (ii) the governments of the District of 
                      Columbia and of the territories and possessions of 
                      the United States, and their various subdivisions.
            (2) Classical computer.--The term ``classical computer'' 
        means a device that accepts digital data and manipulates the 
        information based on a program or sequence of instructions for 
        how data is to be processed and encodes information in binary 
        bits that can either be 0s or 1s.
            (3) Director of cisa.--The term ``Director of CISA'' means 
        the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 
        Agency.
            (4) Director of nist.--The term ``Director of NIST'' means 
        the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology.
            (5) Director of omb.--The term ``Director of OMB'' means the 
        Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
            (6) Information technology.--The term ``information 
        technology'' has the meaning given the term in section 3502 of 
        title 44, United States Code.
            (7) National security system.--The term ``national security 
        system'' has the meaning given the term in section 3552 of title 
        44, United States Code.
            (8) Post-quantum cryptography.--The term ``post-quantum 
        cryptography'' means those cryptographic algorithms or methods 
        that are assessed not to be specifically vulnerable to attack by 
        either a quantum computer or classical computer.
            (9) Quantum computer.--The term ``quantum computer'' means a 
        computer that uses the collective properties of quantum states, 
        such as superposition, interference, and entanglement, to 
        perform calculations.
SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 6 USC 1526.>>  INVENTORY OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS; 
                    MIGRATION TO POST-QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY.

    (a) Inventory.--
            (1) Establishment. <<NOTE: Deadline. Guidelines.>> --Not 
        later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        Director of OMB, in coordination with the National Cyber 
        Director and in consultation with the Director of CISA, shall 
        issue guidance on the migration of information technology to 
        post-quantum cryptography, which shall include at a minimum--
                    (A) <<NOTE: Requirement.>>  a requirement for each 
                agency to establish and maintain a current inventory of 
                information technology in use by the agency that is 
                vulnerable to decryption by quantum computers, 
                prioritized using the criteria described in subparagraph 
                (B);
                    (B) <<NOTE: Criteria.>>  criteria to allow agencies 
                to prioritize their inventory efforts; and
                    (C) a description of the information required to be 
                reported pursuant to subsection (b).
            (2) Additional content in guidance.--In the guidance 
        established by paragraph (1), the Director of OMB shall include, 
        in addition to the requirements described in that paragraph--
                    (A) a description of information technology to be 
                prioritized for migration to post-quantum cryptography; 
                and

[[Page 136 STAT. 2391]]

                    (B) a process for evaluating progress on migrating 
                information technology to post-quantum cryptography, 
                which shall be automated to the greatest extent 
                practicable.
            (3) Periodic updates.--The Director of OMB shall update the 
        guidance required under paragraph (1) as the Director of OMB 
        determines necessary, in coordination with the National Cyber 
        Director and in consultation with the Director of CISA.

    (b) Agency Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, the head of 
each agency shall provide to the Director of OMB, the Director of CISA, 
and the National Cyber Director--
            (1) the inventory described in subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) any other information required to be reported under 
        subsection (a)(1)(C).

    (c) Migration and Assessment. <<NOTE: Deadline. Guidelines.>> --Not 
later than 1 year after the date on which the Director of NIST has 
issued post-quantum cryptography standards, the Director of OMB shall 
issue guidance requiring each agency to--
            (1) prioritize information technology described under 
        subsection (a)(2)(A) for migration to post-quantum cryptography; 
        and
            (2) <<NOTE: Plan.>>  develop a plan to migrate information 
        technology of the agency to post-quantum cryptography consistent 
        with the prioritization under paragraph (1).

    (d) Interoperability. <<NOTE: Assessment. Coordination.>> --The 
Director of OMB shall ensure that the prioritizations made under 
subsection (c)(1) are assessed and coordinated to ensure 
interoperability.

    (e) Office of Management and Budget Reports.--
            (1) Report on post-quantum cryptography.--Not later than 15 
        months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 
        OMB, in coordination with the National Cyber Director and in 
        consultation with the Director of CISA, shall submit to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
        Representatives a report on the following:
                    (A) <<NOTE: Strategy.>>  A strategy to address the 
                risk posed by the vulnerabilities of information 
                technology of agencies to weakened encryption due to the 
                potential and possible capability of a quantum computer 
                to breach that encryption.
                    (B) <<NOTE: Estimate.>>  An estimate of the amount 
                of funding needed by agencies to secure the information 
                technology described in subsection (a)(1)(A) from the 
                risk posed by an adversary of the United States using a 
                quantum computer to breach the encryption of the 
                information technology.
                    (C) <<NOTE: Timelines. Standards.>>  A description 
                of Federal civilian executive branch coordination 
                efforts led by the National Institute of Standards and 
                Technology, including timelines, to develop standards 
                for post-quantum cryptography, including any Federal 
                Information Processing Standards developed under chapter 
                35 of title 44, United States Code, as well as standards 
                developed through voluntary, consensus standards bodies 
                such as the International Organization for 
                Standardization.
            (2) Report on migration to post-quantum cryptography in 
        information technology.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the Director of OMB issues guidance under

[[Page 136 STAT. 2392]]

        subsection (c)(2), and thereafter until the date that is 5 years 
        after the date on which post-quantum cryptographic standards are 
        issued, the Director of OMB, in coordination with the National 
        Cyber Director and in consultation with the Director of CISA, 
        shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives, with the 
        report submitted pursuant to section 3553(c) of title 44, United 
        States Code, a report on the progress of agencies in adopting 
        post-quantum cryptography standards.
SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 6 USC 1526 note.>>  EXEMPTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY 
                    SYSTEMS.

    This Act shall not apply to any national security system.
SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with 
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

    Approved December 21, 2022.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 7535 (S. 4592):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: No. 117-251 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs) accompanying S. 4592.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 168 (2022):
            July 12, considered and passed House.
            Dec. 8, considered and passed Senate, amended.
            Dec. 12, 13, House considered and concurred in Senate 
                amendment.

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