House Committee OKs Two Cybersecurity Bills

The House Science Committee Dec. 7 approved two bipartisan bills designed to improve cybersecurity and enhance information technology research, clearing their way for consideration by the full House of Representatives.

The Cyber Security Research and Development Act, H.R. 3394, would authorize $880 million over five years for programs to prevent and combat terrorist attacks on private and government computers.

The bill would enable the National Science Foundation to create new cybersecurity research centers, undergraduate program grants, community college grants and fellowships. It also would enable the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create program grants for partnerships between academia and industry and a program to encourage senior researchers in other fields to work on computer security.

The Networking and Information Technology Research Advancement Act, H.R. 3400, amends the 1991 High Performance Computing Act, which coordinates the federal IT research and development effort and authorizes a sharp increase in basic research in information technology at six federal agencies.

Science Committee Chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., introduced the Cyber Security Research and Development Act. He said he hopes to move the bill to the House floor early next year and is working with the Senate to develop a companion measure, according to a committee statement.

"Experts from industry, government and academia have told us that we simply do not have enough people conducting enough promising research on how to protect our computers and networks. And no federal agency is charged with solving that problem. H.R. 3394 attacks those concerns head on," he said.

The Networking and Information Technology Research Advancement Act was introduced by Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., chairman of the Subcommittee on Research. It increases funding for and improves coordination of IT research at NSF, NASA, NIST, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The bill authorizes a total of $6.995 billion over five years for these programs, increasing IT research by 46 percent between FY 2003 through 2007.

"The bill authorizes a multiagency research initiative that will ensure that America stays at the cutting edge of new information technologies that stimulate economic growth, stimulate further scientific advancements, and make all of our lives better," Smith said.