Sen. Young: Expect Markup in Coming Weeks on Chip Legislation

Expect a committee markup on the Endless Frontier Act in the coming weeks, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., told reporters Tuesday. He said he’s negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lead sponsor of S-3832, after receiving text from the White House. The bill is meant to increase domestic semiconductor manufacturing and strengthen U.S. competitiveness with China. Schumer said he wants a vote this month, with the bill wrapped into an infrastructure package.

The Senate Commerce Committee plans a hearing on the bill Wednesday in what Young said is an unusual step, because there’s no text for an updated version of the measure. As originally written, S-3832 would redesignate the National Science Foundation as the National Science and Technology Foundation, establish a directorate for technology and increase research funding.

Young said he and Schumer received the White House text several days ago. His staff is working “intensively and constructively” with Schumer to eliminate some “offensive provisions,” he said. Asked if he’s concerned Schumer wants to wrap the bill into an infrastructure package, Young said this is an opportunity to show China that the U.S. is united on national security. Young is expecting text in the “coming days,” but a markup is “probably going to take a couple of weeks,” he said.

Tech competition with China, cybersecurity threats and domestic extremists will be focal points at Wednesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., told reporters (see 2104060050). National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA Director Paul Nakasone and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Scott Berrier will testify at a virtual hearing with a closed portion in the afternoon. Warner said he’s making “good progress” on his cyber breach notification legislation with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Cornyn, R-Texas (see 2103040066). Recognition from industry is growing that there needs to be appropriate identification and a mandatory reporting component for data breaches, said Warner.

It’s “great news” the White House announced nominees for national cyber director and director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (see 2104120059), said Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio. “I’m going to be very supportive of that person but also providing adequate resources so we can have the expertise within government,” he said of the national cyber director role. He noted three or four different officials now are accountable for cyber issues: “When everyone’s responsible, nobody’s responsible.” CISA also needs more funding to recruit top talent to act on “offense and defense,” he said (see 2104060058).

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said he saw the names Biden announced but hasn’t looked into their backgrounds deeply. Asked about timing for confirmation hearings, Peters said, “We want to do things as quickly as possible, but” there’s no time frame.

The White House urged all owners and operators of Microsoft Exchange Servers Tuesday to apply a newly released set of Exchange patches to address vulnerabilities. All federal agencies will be required to do so, said Deputy National Security Adviser-Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger. Cybersecurity is a top priority, and the administration is committed to information sharing, she said: “Should these vulnerabilities evolve into a major incident, we will manage the incident in partnership with the private sector.”