Cybersecurity Policy Report, Bill Aims to Elevate Federal Supply Chain Security Council, (Sep 17, 2024)
A federal interagency council that seeks to keep untrustworthy technology products out of federal networks would be revamped under bipartisan legislation offered by the leaders of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) Improvement Act (H.R. 9597, 118th Cong. (2024)) would overhaul the structure and duties of the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC), an office that became operational in 2021 pursuant to the 2018 Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (CPR, Aug. 26, 2021).
The bill’s introduction was announced today by Reps. James Comer (R., Ky.) and Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, and John Moolenaar (R., Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.), chairman and ranking member of the Select Committee on the CCP.
The Oversight and Accountability Committee is scheduled to consider the bill tomorrow at a markup scheduled for 10 a.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
“This bipartisan bill provides the Federal Acquisition Security Council with the teeth and resources it needs to protect the federal supply chain from technology companies and products owned or controlled by a foreign adversary,” Rep. Comer said in a news release.
“We look forward to moving this bill through the Oversight Committee this week to ensure protections for the federal supply chain and agency information systems,” Rep. Comer added.
“We have bipartisan consensus that protecting our nation’s supply chains is key to national security,” Rep. Raskin noted.
“This legislation takes an important step to protecting the federal government against the purchase of products and services from our foreign adversaries. It will help address any vulnerabilities in our technology infrastructure and guard against national security threats,” he said.
Currently chaired by a representative from the Office of Management and Budget, the bill would move the FASC to the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) and place it under the leadership of ONCD’s director or the director’s designee, according to its text.
The bill would authorize the FASC “to issue binding removal and exclusion orders when directed to do so by Congress, creating a standardized process for Congress to direct the exclusion or removal of sources of concern from the Federal procurement system,” the lawmakers explained in the news release.
In addition, the mission of the FASC would be expanded “to include acquisition security more broadly,” and it would be required “to proactively monitor and evaluate certain covered articles for ongoing risk,” they said.
The FASC’s focus would continue to be technology supply chain threats from “covered” nations, including North Korea, Iran, China, and Russia.
“U.S. taxpayer dollars should not be going to foreign adversary companies that pose a risk to U.S. national security. I am proud to co-lead Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin’s overhaul of federal procurement law to better protect our national security and our supply chains,” Rep. Moolenaar said.
“Building supply chain resilience is an essential step in strengthening both our economy and our national security,” Rep. Krishnamoorthi said. “Our bipartisan legislation will enable the Federal Acquisition Security Council to protect the federal supply chain from foreign adversaries and help mitigate supply chain disruptions in the future.”
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