The House of Representatives returned from August recess on Monday and got to work passing key pieces of bipartisan legislation to bolster communications security and modernize Congress’ work.
By unanimous vote on Sept. 9, the House passed the Securing Global Telecommunications Act; the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act; and the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service’s Access to Data Act.
The Senate still needs to act on those measures.
The ROUTERS Act aims to safeguard Americans’ communications networks from foreign adversary-controlled technology, including routers, modems, or devices that combine both.
The bill, introduced by Reps. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, has a Senate companion led by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.
“As communist China seeks to undermine our people, workforce, and nation, House Republicans are working to curtail their malign influence. I’m encouraged my ROUTERS Act was unanimously approved by the U.S. House today because it will protect Americans from cyber threats posed by foreign-adversary controlled technology,” Rep. Latta said on Monday. “We now urge Senate leadership to take up our solution to protect Americans and send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”
The ROUTERS Act would require the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to conduct a study of the national security risks posed by routers, modems, or devices that combine both, that are designed or supplied by persons in the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela.
The House also passed by voice vote the Securing Global Telecommunications Act – led by Reps. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., and Young Kim, R-Calif. – which would require the Department of State develop a strategy to promote the use of secure telecommunication infrastructure in countries other than the United States.
Additionally, the House passed the Administration Modernization Subcommittee’s Modernizing the Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) Access to Data Act.
This bill grants the CRS the authority to secure all forms of records, information, and data directly from the various departments, agencies, and establishments of the executive branch, regulatory agencies, and commissions to carry out congressional requests.
