[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2659 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2659
To establish a grant program at the Department of Homeland Security to
promote cooperative research and development between the United States
and Israel on cybersecurity.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 19, 2021
Mr. Langevin (for himself and Mr. Garbarino) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program at the Department of Homeland Security to
promote cooperative research and development between the United States
and Israel on cybersecurity.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``United States-Israel Cybersecurity
Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CYBERSECURITY COOPERATION.
(a) Grant Program.--
(1) Establishment.--The Secretary, in accordance with the
agreement entitled the ``Agreement between the Government of
the United States of America and the Government of the State of
Israel on Cooperation in Science and Technology for Homeland
Security Matters'', dated May 29, 2008 (or successor
agreement), and the requirements specified in paragraph (2),
shall establish a grant program at the Department to support--
(A) cybersecurity research and development; and
(B) demonstration and commercialization of
cybersecurity technology.
(2) Requirements.--
(A) Applicability.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, in carrying out a research,
development, demonstration, or commercial application
program or activity that is authorized under this
section, the Secretary shall require cost sharing in
accordance with this paragraph.
(B) Research and development.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clause (ii), the Secretary shall require not
less than 50 percent of the cost of a research,
development, demonstration, or commercial
application program or activity described in
subparagraph (A) to be provided by a non-
Federal source.
(ii) Reduction.--The Secretary may reduce
or eliminate, on a case-by-case basis, the
percentage requirement specified in clause (i)
if the Secretary determines that such reduction
or elimination is necessary and appropriate.
(C) Merit review.--In carrying out a research,
development, demonstration, or commercial application
program or activity that is authorized under this
section, awards shall be made only after an impartial
review of the scientific and technical merit of the
proposals for such awards has been carried out by or
for the Department.
(D) Review processes.--In carrying out a review
under subparagraph (C), the Secretary may use merit
review processes developed under section 302(14) of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182(14)).
(3) Eligible applicants.--An applicant shall be eligible to
receive a grant under this subsection if the project of such
applicant--
(A) addresses a requirement in the area of
cybersecurity research or cybersecurity technology, as
determined by the Secretary; and
(B) is a joint venture between--
(i)(I) a for-profit business entity,
academic institution, National Laboratory (as
such term is defined in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), or
nonprofit entity in the United States; and
(II) a for-profit business entity, academic
institution, or nonprofit entity in Israel; or
(ii)(I) the Federal Government; and
(II) the Government of Israel.
(4) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this subsection, an applicant shall submit to the Secretary an
application for such grant in accordance with procedures
established by the Secretary, in consultation with the advisory
board established under paragraph (5).
(5) Advisory board.--
(A) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish
an advisory board to--
(i) monitor the method by which grants are
awarded under this subsection; and
(ii) provide to the Secretary periodic
performance reviews of actions taken to carry
out this subsection.
(B) Composition.--The advisory board established
under subparagraph (A) shall be composed of three
members, to be appointed by the Secretary, of whom--
(i) one shall be a representative of the
Federal Government;
(ii) one shall be selected from a list of
nominees provided by the United States-Israel
Binational Science Foundation; and
(iii) one shall be selected from a list of
nominees provided by the United States-Israel
Binational Industrial Research and Development
Foundation.
(6) Contributed funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the Secretary may accept or retain funds contributed by
any person, government entity, or organization for purposes of
carrying out this subsection. Such funds shall be available,
subject to appropriation, without fiscal year limitation.
(7) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
completion of a project for which a grant is provided under
this subsection, the grant recipient shall submit to the
Secretary a report that contains--
(A) a description of how the grant funds were used
by the recipient; and
(B) an evaluation of the level of success of each
project funded by the grant.
(8) Classification.--Grants shall be awarded under this
subsection only for projects that are considered to be
unclassified by both the United States and Israel.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section not less than $6,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
(c) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``cybersecurity research'' means research,
including social science research, into ways to identify,
protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from
cybersecurity threats;
(2) the term ``cybersecurity technology'' means technology
intended to identify, protect against, detect, respond to, and
recover from cybersecurity threats;
(3) the term ``cybersecurity threat'' has the meaning given
such term in section 102 of the Cybersecurity Information
Sharing Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501; enacted as title I of the
Cybersecurity Act of 2015 (division N of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113)));
(4) the term ``Department'' means the Department of
Homeland Security; and
(5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
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