Cyber Preparedness Act of 2017
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Cyber Preparedness Act of 2017
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative to coordinate with the national cybersecurity and communications integration center (NCCIC) to provide state, local, and regional fusion centers with expertise on DHS cybersecurity resources. (A fusion center serves as a focal point within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners.)
DHS must: (1) provide timely access to technical assistance, risk management support, and incident response capabilities for cybersecurity threat indicators, defensive measures, risks, and incidents, including cybersecurity risks to equipment and technology related to the electoral process; (2) review cybersecurity risk information gathered by fusion centers to incorporate into DHS's cybersecurity risk information; and (3) disseminate cybersecurity risk information to fusion centers.
Fusion center officers or intelligence analysts may be assigned from the NCCIC. Such officers and analysts must assist fusion centers in using cybersecurity risk information to develop a comprehensive and accurate threat picture.
The NCCIC may include, and must share analysis and best practices with, state and major urban area fusion centers.
(Sec. 3) States, local or tribal governments, or high-risk urban areas receiving grants to protect against terrorism under the Urban Area Security Initiative or the State Homeland Security Grant Program may use the funds to: (1) prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks and incidents, and (2) develop statewide cyber threat information analysis and dissemination activities.
(Sec. 4) The bill expresses the sense of Congress that DHS should share actionable information related to cyber threats in an unclassified form to facilitate timely dissemination to state, local, and private sector stakeholders.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House without amendment" stage on January 31, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 1, 2017: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Daniel Donovan (R-NY) introduced it on January 17, 2017, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 17, 2017, 3523 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3508 days ago, on February 1, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers