House Judiciary Approves State, Local Cybercrime Bill
The House Judiciary Committee approved the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act (HR-3490), sending the bill to the House floor by voice vote during a markup Wednesday. The bill authorizes the Secret Service to train state and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges through the Alabama-based National Computer Forensics Institute how to investigate cybercrimes and electronic crimes, do computer and mobile device forensic exams, and respond to network intrusion investigations, a committee news release said.
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Bill author Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, submitted an amendment during the markup to clarify the jurisdiction granted to the Secret Service and FBI on the cybersecurity and terrorism issues. The amendment was unanimously accepted as the new text of the bill.
Cybercrime is among the biggest threats to the country, said Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. Passing bills like this helps law enforcement combat cybercrime, Goodlatte said. Ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., expressed support for the bill as well, saying it no longer takes a sophisticated bad actor to breach a system and expose personal information of millions of American citizens, including members of the law enforcement and intelligence communities. The bill also would protect American citizens from unwarranted government intrusions by establishing standards for conducting cybercrime investigations, Conyers said.
Cybercrime is an epidemic affecting private and government businesses at local, state and federal levels, said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. She and Conyers said that the clarifying amendment made important technical changes on the differing responsibilities of the Secret Service and the FBI, which has been primarily responsible for terrorism investigations.
Ratcliffe said it's imperative that law enforcement be equipped with the tools necessary so they can best protect the most vulnerable from being exploited by cybercriminals.
The House Homeland Security Committee also passed HR-3490 Wednesday on a voice vote as part of its markup of 15 bills on Department of Homeland Security operations. The committee cleared a pair of amendments to the bill from Jackson Lee. One of the amendments would expand state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies' access to federal cybercrime resources, and the other would clarify that HR-3490 wouldn't be used to abridge citizens' Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment constitutional rights. House Homeland Security also advanced the DHS Cybersecurity Strategy Act (HR-3510) and the Promoting Resilience and Efficiency in Preparing for Attacks and Responding to Emergencies Act (HR-3583) during its markup (see 1509300065).