The Los Angeles Post

BILLS IN THE PIPELINE

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Multiple bills meant to secure critical infrastructure against cyber threats were approved by the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday afternoon, just a week after a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline caused fuel shortages across the nation.

The committee unanimously approved the Pipeline Security Act, introduced last week by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and a dozen other bipartisan cosponsors, which would boost pipeline security efforts at both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Additionally, the committee approved legislation, spearheaded by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), requiring CISA to establish a National Cyber Exercise Program to test critical infrastructure readiness against cyberattacks.

The State and Local Cybersecurity Act, a major bipartisan effort to help defend against cyber attacks sponsored primarily by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the committee’s cybersecurity subcommittee, was also unanimously approved. The legislation would provide $500 million annually for five years to state and local governments to address increasing cyber threats.

Finally, the committee also approved legislation sponsored primarily by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to help improve the reporting of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The legislation was previously approved by the House in 2019, but was never taken up by the Senate.