Sweeping cybersecurity legislation introduced by Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, in April has undergone major changes during the August recess and now features a more prominent focus on ensuring that the U.S. government and private sector have a properly trained workforce to thwart high-tech threats.
A revised version of the bill sent to Commerce and Intelligence committee aides late last week "captures a lot of the input we've received since its introduction" but is still a draft and has not been approved at the member level, Rockefeller aide Chan Lieu said in an e-mail to colleagues obtained by CongressDaily. A separate e-mail from Commerce Committee General Counsel Bruce Andrews said the panel is aiming for a hearing and a markup in September or October.
High up in the reworked document are provisions instructing the Commerce secretary to work with the White House Office of Personnel Management to train and certify government cyber professionals. Under the proposal, uncertified individuals could not represent themselves as such nor could uncertified service providers handle critical infrastructure information systems or networks. A new section would require the head of each federal department to develop an annual workforce plan that includes hiring projections, short- and long-term planning to address skill deficiencies, recruitment strategies and an analysis of barriers to recruitment.
Read the full story on CongressDaily's Web site here (subscription required).
New Media
Online Politics
Tech Policy
Comments
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Tech Daily Dose does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.