HR 162 Introduced
Digital Reserve Corps
Earlier this month Rep Gonzales (R,TX) introduced HR 162, the National Digital Reserve Corps Act. The bill would establish within the General Services Administration (GSA) a ‘National Digital Reserve Corps’, to help address the digital and cybersecurity needs of Executive agencies. The bill would add a new Chapter 103 to 5 USC. The bill would authorize $30 million for this new program.
This bill is identical to HR 4818 that was introduced by Gonzales in the 117th Congress. That bill saw no committee action in the 117th. Gonzales did attempt to get the bill added to the National Defense Authorization Act (both HR 4350 and HR 7900) as a floor amendment, but the amendment was never added to the list of amendments allowed to be offered on the floor.
Definitions
The new §10401 would provide the definition of key terms for this new chapter. The four definitions provided are purely administrative terms. There are no definitions of the technical terms like ‘cybersecurity needs’ used in the bill.
National Digital Reserve Corps
Section 10402 would establish the NDRC. The GSA would be required to develop guidance for the NDRC within six months of the enactment of this bill. It would include procedures for coordinating with Executive agencies to:
Identify digital and cybersecurity needs which may be addressed by the National Digital Reserve Corps, and
Assign active reservists to address such needs.
The GSA would be responsible for:
Establishing standards for serving as a reservist, including educational attainment, professional qualifications, and background checks,
Ensure those standards are met,
Recruit individuals to the National Digital Reserve Corps, and
Activate and deactivate reservists as necessary.
GSA would contract with personnel to become reservists for a three-year period. Those reservists would be required to perform at least 30 days of duty as an active reservist each year. Their pay would be limited to $10,000 per year. While serving as an active reservist they would be considered to be a special Government employee as that term is defined in 18 USC 202. This would limit their time as an active reservist to 130 days during a one-year period.
The GSA would be authorized to “pay for reservists to acquire training and receive continuing education, including attending conferences and seminars and obtaining certifications, that will enable reservists to more effectively meet the digital and cybersecurity needs of Executive agencies.”
Moving Forward
Neither Gonzalez nor his sole cosponsor {Rep Kelly (D,IL)} have been assigned to committees yet, so it is too early to tell if they have the influence necessary to see the bill considered in the House Oversight Committee to which this bill has been assigned for consideration. While I suspect that this bill would receive bipartisan support were it considered, I am afraid that the focus of the Committee on investigations dealing with the Biden Administration will limit the number of bills that will be considered. I also suspect that the Committee leadership would not be inclined to expand federal government operations, even in the cybersecurity realm.