The House Science and Technology Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would reauthorize and expand federal cybersecurity research programs. The bill (H.R. 4061) would require federal agencies to develop, update, and implement a strategic plan for cybersecurity research and development. The bill, which combined two different bills, would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and implement a plan to ensure coordination on the development of international cybersecurity technical standards within the federal government.

"This bill will help to ensure an overall vision for the federal cybersecurity R&D portfolio, will help train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, will improve cybersecurity technical standards and will strengthen public-private partnerships in cybersecurity," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., chairman of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee, in a statement.