Ntia Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1766, The NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, is a critical agency within the Department of Commerce that works across the Federal government to develop telecommunications and information policy. Congress should support this agency and give it the resources and authorities it needs to fulfill its current mission. However, this bill would waste taxpayer dollars by unnecessarily duplicating activities already authorized by Congress.

The NTIA was originally part of its sister agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Since Congress established NTIA as its own agency in 1978, the two agencies have carried out complementary but distinct areas of work. NIST serves as an independent, unbiased arbiter of trusted measurements and standards while NTIA has its regulatory responsibilities.

These two agencies often work together, unfortunately this bill would swell NTIA's mission into a cybersecurity role to which it does not possess the appropriate experience or expertise and blur the lines between the agencies, especially on issues related to cybersecurity. For example, Congress authorized NIST, in collaboration with CISA, to conduct a cybersecurity activity related to the internet and communications networks in the Cybersecurity Enhancements Act of 2014, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2020, the HACKED Act of 2021, and more. H.R. 1766 would directly duplicate, at NTIA, those ongoing efforts underway at NIST. There is also a provision in the bill that implicates agencies outside of the Department of Commerce by duplicating the Department of Homeland Security's information technology supply chain security programs.

This Act was included as part of a broader NTIA Reauthorization that was considered in the 118th Congress. At the time, the Department of Commerce weighed in requesting significant changes to the provision that are unfortunately not included in the Act we will consider today. As such, this bill merits further vetting and input from the Department of Commerce.

This bill needs to be changed to address these concerns. Until that happens I must regretfully oppose this legislation in its current form.

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