{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/committee-passes-peters-bipartisan-bill-to-harmonize-federal-cybersecurity-regulations", "Committee Passes Peters Bipartisan Bill to Harmonize Federal Cybersecurity Regulations", "2024-08-01", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Gary C. Peters", "P000595", "www.peters.senate.gov", "garypeters", "https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) to establish a comprehensive framework for streamlining cybersecurity regulations across the federal government has advanced in the Senate. The bill would mitigate challenges associated with conflicting, contradictory cybersecurity compliance requirements by establishing an interagency Harmonization Committee at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD). Last month, Chairman Peters held a hearing to examine the current federal efforts to align overlapping federal cybersecurity standards. Witnesses emphasized the significant impact that duplicative or contradictory requirements have on businesses and the need for Congress to take swift action to standardize regulations across critical infrastructure sectors and bring all federal agencies, including independent regulatory agencies, together. The bill was passed by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee where Peters serves as Chair, and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.\n\n\u201cCybersecurity is one of the greatest challenges we face, but overlapping and conflicting federal cybersecurity regulations can hinder our ability to protect against and respond to rapidly-evolving cyberattacks,\u201d said Senator Peters. \u201cMy bipartisan bill will streamline the federal cybersecurity environment and address challenges that our businesses and critical infrastructure operators may face while working with federal agencies to ensure we can effectively respond to cybersecurity threats.\u201d\n\nAs cyberattacks grow in intensity and frequency, the cybersecurity compliance environment has become increasingly complex as agencies and regulatory bodies work to prevent online attacks. In many instances, rather than promoting increased cybersecurity, the complex, contradictory, and convoluted compliance landscape has forced companies to spend time, money, and expertise on regulatory examinations. By some estimates, cybersecurity teams are spending 40 to 70% of their time on compliance rather than improvements to their cybersecurity.\n\nThe bipartisan Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act would address the challenges associated with multiple regulatory regimes by establishing an interagency Harmonization Committee at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD). The bill requires the committee, headed by ONCD, develop a framework for the alignment of cybersecurity and information security regulations, rules, examinations, and other compliance requirements. Additionally, the bill establishes a pilot program to test the developed framework on substantially similar regulations. It also requires all federal agencies, including independent regulatory agencies, to consult with the committee before issuing or updating regulations.\n\nAs Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led efforts to ensure our nation is better prepared to defend against cyberattacks. His historic, bipartisan provision to require critical infrastructure owners and operators to report to CISA if they experience a substantial cyberattack or if they make a ransomware payment was signed into law. Peters\u2019 bipartisan bill to enhance cybersecurity assistance to K-12 educational institutions across the country was also signed into law. Peters\u2019 bipartisan bills to bolster cybersecurity for state and local governments, strengthen the federal cybersecurity workforce, and help secure federal information technology supply chains have been signed into law.\n\nBelow are statements in support of the senator\u2019s legislation:\n\n\u201cThere is strong, longstanding, widely agreed- upon, and bipartisan consensus on the need to harmonize cybersecurity regulations. We applaud Senators Peters and Lankford for their work on the Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act, which will help identify cybersecurity federal regulations that are excessively burdensome, conflicting, or ineffective and empower the U.S. National Cyber Director to take action to eliminate those barriers,\u201d said John Miller, ITI Senior Vice President of Policy, Trust, Data, and Technology.\n\n\u201cBSA commends Chairman Peters for his work to take up S. 4630, the Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act. The Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act would empower the Office of the National Cyber Director to evaluate and identify how cybersecurity regulations can be harmonized across government. Harmonizing cybersecurity regulations is a priority for BSA, an issue that enjoys bipartisan support, and an opportunity highlighted by experts to improve the nation\u2019s overall cybersecurity posture. BSA welcomes this effort to better facilitate ONCD\u2019s work and support more meaningful oversight by Congress,\u201d said Henry Young, The Software Alliance.\n\n\u201cThe Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act would mark an important first step toward aligning unnecessarily duplicative or divergent cyber regulatory requirements. The Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) is ideally suited to lead a Harmonization Committee and the development of a framework for achieving harmonization between regulatory agencies given its government-wide remit and previous work on this topic. We appreciate the legislation\u2019s requirement that all agencies\u2014including independent regulators\u2014 consult with the Harmonization Committee before prescribing any cybersecurity regulation, which will help minimize duplicative or unhelpful requirements in the future,\u201d said Greg Baer, President and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports S.4630, the \u201cStreamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act,\u201d which would establish an interagency committee to address the overlapping, duplicative, and often contradictory federal cybersecurity regulatory structure.\n\nThe Chamber believes regulatory harmonization and reciprocity are critical to allowing cybersecurity professionals to focus on protecting digital and critical infrastructure. We look forward to working with Congress \u2013 particularly the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee \u2013 the Office of the National Cyber Director, and federal regulatory agencies to promote an efficient and productive regulatory environment,\u201d said Christopher Roberti, Senior Vice President of Cyber, Space, and National Security Policy at U.S. Chamber of Commerce.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/committee-passes-peters-bipartisan-bill-to-harmonize-federal-cybersecurity-regulations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7400039359927177, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}