Bills Introduced – 12-4-25
Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 115 bills introduced. Two of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:
HR 6429 To establish in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security a program to promote the cybersecurity field to disadvantaged communities, including older individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, geographically diverse communities, socioeconomically diverse communities, women, individuals from nontraditional educational paths, individuals who are veterans, and individuals who were formerly incarcerated, and for other purposes. Brown, Shontel M. [Rep.-D-OH-11]
HR 6460 To amend title 49, United States Code, to clarify exceptions for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft, and for other purposes. Mann, Tracey [Rep.-R-KS-1]
Cybersecurity Training
It looks like HR 6429 will be similar to HR 9469, the Diverse Cybersecurity Workforce Act of 2024, that was introduced by Brown in May 2024. No additional actions were taken on that bill in the 118th Congress. I will be covering this bill.
UAS Operations
I can find no legislation in the 118th Congress that appears to be similar to HR 6460. I will be looking for language and definitions that would allow recreational operations in or around restricted areas.
MIP Legislation
I would like to mention in passing two bills that will not receive additional coverage in this blog:
HR 6425 To establish a national strategy for combating scams, and for other purposes. Amo, Gabe [Rep.-D-RI-1]
S 3355 A bill to establish a national strategy for combating scams, and for other purposes. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [Sen.-D-NY]
Scams have always been a problem, but in the modern age with the ubiquitous mass communications capabilities of the internet and cell phones, it is becoming increasingly difficult for local police forces to investigate these crimes, catch perpetrators, and see them prosecuted in local courts. Even federal agencies have a difficult time because of the international scope of the problem. So, I am not sure what legislative actions at the federal level are going to be able to do much more than provide educational efforts to make it easier for individuals resist these attacks.
Having said that, there have been proposals to allow ‘hacking back’ as a way to deal with international cyber crimes. Most of those proposals have had various problems associated with them, but I would like to propose my own (not necessarily unique) solution; letters of marque. We could authorize the DOJ to issue letters of marque (LOM) to entities in the United States to attack scammers outside the boundary of the US. This would only be allowed when an investigation by federal agencies has determined that a financial crime has occurred and the perpetrators (and their funds) are outside of the jurisdiction of the US. LOM holders would be authorized to seize funds from the perpetrators accounts in amounts sufficient to make victims whole and allow the LOM to receive a set percentage of the recovery. Any excess would be remanded to the US Treasury. Lots of details would have to be worked out, but allowing electronic privateers to take on foreign cyber criminals could have a significant impact on this problem.