THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

H.Res. 212 – Rule Providing for Consideration of both H.R. 1560 – Protecting Cyber Networks Act (Rep. Nunes – Intelligence) and H.R. 1731 – National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 (Rep. McCaul – Homeland Security) (One Hour of Debate). The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of two bills.

For H.R. 1560, the Rules committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Rule allows for 5 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the offeror and an opponent. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.R. 1731, the Rules committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security. The Rule allows for 11 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the offeror and an opponent. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

The Rule also contains language to join both H.R. 1560 and H.R. 1731 after passage, so that upon adoption of both bills, the House would send them over to the Senate as one bill. 

Complete Consideration of H.R. 1195 – Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Advisory Boards Act (Rep. Pittenger – Financial Services) (One Hour of Debate). In its original form, this bill represented a bipartisan agreement to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 with a provision which would have established a Small Business Advisory Board within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and codified the CFPB’s Credit Union and Community Bank Advisory Councils.

These boards would provide credit unions, community banks, and small businesses within the financial services sector with a seat at the table, allowing them to consult with the CFPB as it promulgates and implements new rules to protect and fortify the American economy, as well as provide guidance on evolving small business practices.

However, as has become a regular occurrence, House Republicans are once again attaching a poison-pill amendment to a bipartisan agreement. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the creation and staffing of these essential entities will cost $9 million over 10 years. Despite last week’s estate tax repeal, which affects only 0.2% of the population and would cost $269 billion, coming to the Floor without a payfor, Republicans have insisted that this cost be offset from within the funding of the CFPB, by limiting the amount of direct funding that the Bureau may request from the Federal Reserve for two future years. The CFPB projects that this bill would limit its budget by $45 million in FY2020 and $100 million in FY2025. These cuts to the CFPB budget are unnecessary and would create a burden on the already limited funding for the agency.

This tactic has turned a bipartisan agreement into a bill that Democrats cannot support. Republicans have long-opposed the CFPB and this ruse is merely a back-door attempt to limit its funding and undermine its ability to protect our nation’s consumers and their fiscal safety. The White House agrees, and has issued a SAP stating that if the President were presented with this amended version of H.R. 1195 , his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

The Rule makes in order no further general debate. As of last night, the House completed debate on all amendments. The following amendment has a recorded vote pending:

Kuster Amendment #1. Requires the CFPB Director to include representatives of minority- and women-owned small business concerns in the membership of the Small Business Advisory Board, and to include financial institutions predominantly serving traditionally underserved communities and populations and their interests in the membership of the Credit Union Advisory Council and Community Bank Advisory Council.

Bill Text for H.R. 1195:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 1195:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

H.R. 1560 – Protecting Cyber Networks Act (Rep. Nunes – Intelligence) (One Hour of Debate). The bill requires the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to establish procedures to promote the voluntary sharing of information about cyber threat intelligence between private companies and with the federal government. This program would require the DNI to work in consultation with the Departments of Homeland Security, Treasury, Justice, Commerce, and Defense to create procedures to facilitate and promote the timely sharing of cyber threat indicators with the private sector. The procedures would promote the sharing of: classified cyber threat indicators with the private sector; classified cyber threat indicators that may be declassified and shared at an unclassified level; and any information in the possession of the Federal Government about imminent or ongoing cyber threats that may allow private companies to prevent or mitigate those threats. It also requires DNI to establish procedures for protecting privacy and civil liberties with respect to such shared information. The measure does not prescribe rules that require the sharing of cyber intelligence, either within the private sector or between the private sector and government, and allows the private sector to determine the level of detail of information it shares with the government and other private entities.

In order to further promote information-sharing by the private sector, the bill provides that shared information may not be used by other entities to gain an unfair competitive advantage, and provides liability protection for companies that act in “good faith” and choose to protect their networks. In order to protect privacy and civil liberties, the measure requires the government to remove all personally identifiable information, limits what information companies can share with the government and prohibits the government from requiring companies to give the government information in exchange for receiving cyber threat intelligence. The bill also requires a biennial report from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community to ensure that none of the information provided to the government is mishandled or misused.

The bill would also require the President to develop and submit to Congress policies and procedures for the receipt of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures by the Federal Government and establish a Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) within the DNI’s Office to analyze intelligence community information regarding cyber threats.

Last Congress, the House passed a similar cyber security bill. This year’s bill includes a number of changes to address the procedures and issues surrounding the voluntary sharing of cyber threat information between private sector companies and the Federal Government. These changes, along with additional protections for privacy and civil liberties, ensure that this bill will help improve the government’s ability to protect America against foreign cyber threats. Lastly, the White House supports H.R. 1560, and has issued a SAP supporting its passage in the House so that improvements can be made as the legislative process continues.

The Rule makes in order 5 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent. The amendments are:

Nunes Amendment. Makes technical changes to several sections of the bill. Clarifies the authorization for the use of defensive measures. Further clarifies the liability protections for network monitoring and sharing and receipt of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures.
Cardenas Amendment. Instructs the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide assistance to small businesses and small financial institutions to participate under this section, instruct the SBA to generate a report about such entities participation and instruct the federal government to engage in outreach to encourage small business and small financial institution participation.
Carson Amendment. Adds the requirement that the Inspector General report on current procedures pertaining to the sharing of information, removal procedures for personal information or information identifying a specific person, and any incidents pertaining to the improper treatment of information.
Mulvaney Amendment. Sunsets the provisions of the bill after 7 years.
Jackson-Lee/Polis Amendment. Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide a report to Congress on the actions taken by the Federal Government to remove personal information from data shared through the programs established by this statute.

Bill Text for H.R. 1560:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 1560:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, April 23: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider H.R. 1731 – National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 (Rep. McCaul – Homeland Security).