What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Director of National Intelligence to study whether the United States should create a Cyber Defense National Guard. The Director must work with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to complete this study. The study results must be shared with Congress within 240 days of the bill becoming law.
Who It Affects
The Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and members of Congress receive direct duties or reports under this bill. People who work in the cybersecurity field or in the military could potentially be affected if a Cyber Defense National Guard is eventually created based on this study.
Key Provisions
• The Director of National Intelligence must conduct a study on whether establishing a Cyber Defense National Guard is feasible (Sec. 2(a))
• The study must analyze the costs of creating this organization and how many people would be needed to protect U.S. critical infrastructure (systems the nation depends on) from cyber attacks (Sec. 2(b)(1) and (b)(2))
• The study must examine where potential members could come from, including private industry, colleges and universities, research facilities, and federal contractors (Sec. 2(b)(3))
• The study must determine which parts of the federal government would best recruit, train and manage this organization (Sec. 2(b)(4))
• A written report must be submitted to eight Congressional committees in unclassified form, though it may include a classified annex (a separate secret section) (Sec. 2(c)(1) and (c)(2))
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the Director of National Intelligence must begin a study on creating a Cyber Defense National Guard and report findings to Congress. No actual Cyber Defense National Guard is created by this bill. This bill only requires research and a report.
Important Definitions
None defined in bill text.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 278
To require the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a study on the
feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense National Guard.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 11, 2023
Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
A BILL
To require the Director of National Intelligence to conduct
a study on the feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense
National Guard.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cyber Defense Na-
4
tional Guard Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. STUDY ON ESTABLISHMENT OF CYBER DEFENSE
6
NATIONAL GUARD.
7
(a) STUDY.—The Director of National Intelligence,
8
in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Sec-
9
retary of Homeland Security, shall conduct a study on the
10
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:50 Jan 21, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H278.IH
H278
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2
•HR 278 IH
feasibility of establishing a Cyber Defense National
1
Guard.
2
(b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub-
3
section (a) shall include an analysis of—
4
(1) the cost of creating a Cyber Defense Na-
5
tional Guard;
6
(2) the number of persons who would be needed
7
to defend the critical infrastructure of the United
8
States from a cyber attack or manmade intentional
9
or unintentional catastrophic incident;
10
(3) the sources of potential members of a Cyber
11
Defense National Guard, including industry, aca-
12
demic institutions, research facilities, and Federal
13
contractors;
14
(4) which elements of the Federal Government
15
would be best equipped to recruit, train, and manage
16
a Cyber Defense National Guard;
17
(5) the criteria required for persons to serve in
18
a Cyber Defense National Guard;
19
(6) if an incident disrupts communications in a
20
region or area, what resources can be pre-positioned
21
and training instilled to assure the effectiveness and
22
responsiveness of a Cyber Defense National Guard;
23
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:50 Jan 21, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H278.IH
H278
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3
•HR 278 IH
(7) the minimum requirements for consider-
1
ation for inclusion in a Cyber Defense National
2
Guard;
3
(8) the impact of the effectiveness of a Cyber
4
Defense National Guard of the possibility that the
5
population of potential recruits may be dominated by
6
men and women without military, intelligence, law
7
enforcement, or government work experience;
8
(9) the recruitment and vetting costs for a
9
Cyber Defense National Guard;
10
(10) the frequency of cyber defense and unit co-
11
hesion training;
12
(11) how well military discipline is able to be
13
adapted for use for creating command and control
14
systems and protocols for a Cyber Defense National
15
Guard;
16
(12) the logistics of allowing governors to use
17
the Cyber Defense National Guard in States during
18
times of cyber emergency;
19
(13) the advantages and disadvantages of cre-
20
ating a Cyber Defense National Guard on the cyber
21
security of the United States; and
22
(14) whether a force trained to defend the net-
23
works of the United States in the event of a major
24
attack or natural or manmade disaster will benefit
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:50 Jan 21, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H278.IH
H278
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4
•HR 278 IH
overall efforts to defend the interests of the United
1
States.
2
(c) REPORT.—
3
(1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 240 days
4
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di-
5
rector of National Intelligence, in consultation with
6
the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
7
Homeland Security, shall submit to the Committee
8
on Armed Services, the Committee on Homeland Se-
9
curity, the Permanent Select Committee on Intel-
10
ligence, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
11
House of Representatives and the Committee on
12
Armed Services, the Committee on Homeland Secu-
13
rity and Governmental Affairs, the Select Committee
14
on Intelligence, and the Committee on the Judiciary
15
of the Senate a report containing the results of the
16
study required under subsection (a).
17
(2) FORM.—The report required under para-
18
graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form,
19
but may include a classified annex.
20
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:50 Jan 21, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H278.IH
H278
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB