A Senate panel on Wednesday approved more than a dozen bills including several to improve the sharing of cybersecurity information, creating a new assistant secretary for trade position within the Department of Homeland Security, and preventing organizational conflicts of interests by federal contractors.
The Intragovernmental Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 4000) calls for DHS to establish cybersecurity information sharing agreements with Senate and House officials “to ensure robust collaboration between the executive branch and Congress on Federal cybersecurity.”
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), would require the sharing of cyber threat data and seats for Senate and House cybersecurity personnel at cybersecurity operations centers.
The Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (S. 3905) directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FARC) to identify contracting methods and types that are the biggest concerns for organizational conflicts of interest by federal contractors.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), also requires the FARC to revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation to ensure consistent government-wide policies to mitigate conflicts of interest, update definitions on conflicts of interest to include contractor relationships with public, private, domestic and foreign entities that could cause contract support to be subject to potential conflicts of interest, and give executive agencies solicitation provisions and contract clauses that require contractors to disclose information relevant to potential conflicts of interest.
The DHS Trade and Economic Security Council Act (S. 4243) establishes the position of assistant secretary for trade and economic security and a DHS Trade and Economic Security Council within the department. The assistant secretary for trade would chair the council and be responsible for policy for economic security and trade related to DHS operations and the coordination of supply chain policy.
The bill was sponsored by Portman and would install the new assistant secretary position within the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.
The council, which would consist of DHS component heads, would identify concentrated risks for trade and economic security, set priorities for security U.S. trade and economic security, and coordinate DHS-wide activity on trade and economic security.
The bills were reported to the Senate unanimously by voice vote en bloc with other measures.