ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE

Start of the Second Session of the 107th Congress
National Academy of Sciences Panel Releases Report on Broadband Deployment
Election Reform Legislation Update
AAAS Colloquium to Address Issues Raised by September 11 Attacks
Two New Cybersecurity Bills Introduced in the Senate
OMB Reports to Congress on Federal IT Security
National Academy of Sciences Report Makes Recommendation to Enhance Infrastructure Security
ACM Fellow Dr. Peter Freeman to Head the NSF's Computer Division

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January 31, 2002 Volume 6.0
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INTRODUCTION
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The Association for Computing Machinery is an international professional
society whose 80,000 members (60,000 in the U.S.) represent a critical mass
of computer professionals in education, industry, and government. The USACM
provides a means for promoting dialogue on technology policy issues with
United States policy makers and the general public. The WASHINGTON UPDATE
reports on activities which may be of interest to those in the computing
and information policy communities and will highlight USACM's involvement
in many of these issues.

To subscribe to the ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE send an e-mail to
listserv@acm.org with "subscribe WASHINGTON-UPDATE" (no quotes) in the
body of the message. Back issues are available at: <http://www.acm.org/usacm>

For information about joining the Association for Computing Machinery, see:
<http://www.acm.org/membership/join.html>

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POLICY BRIEFS
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Start of the Second Session of the 107th Congress

January 23, 2002, marked the first legislative day of the second session of
the 107th Congress. Each Congress serves for two years, usually divided into
the first and second session. Legislation introduced throughout the 107th
Congress, which began in January of last year, remains active until it is acted
upon or expires due to adjournment. Many legislative initiatives of the second
session are likely to be influenced by the stark political realities of the
November 5 Congressional elections. At the top of the legislative agenda are
domestic issues including the economy, Operation Enduring Freedom, and homeland
security.

The President will submit a budget in February which outlines Fiscal Year 2003
objectives for his Administration. The House and Senate will begin work on the annual
appropriations bills which must be passed and reconciled prior to the close of official
legislative business for this Congress. Congressional Leaders have targeted October 4,
2002, as the adjournment date for the 107th Congress.

The Congressional schedule for 2002 may be found at: House Calendar

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National Academy of Sciences Panel Releases Report on Broadband Deployment

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) recently released a report
titled "Broadband: Bringing Home the Bits". The report reviewed technologies, economics,
policies, and strategies associated with the challenge of making broadband more accessible
and made a number of recommendations to encourage broadband deployment. The report's findings
and recommendations address regulation, the roles of communities, needed research, public
financing and other aspects. Funding for the report was provided by the National Science
Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Association of Computing
Machinery's (ACM) Special Interest Group on Data Communication.

The full report can be found at: CSTB Broadband Report

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Election Reform Legislation Update

At the close of the first session of the 107th Congress, the House passed comprehensive
election reform legislation. Election reform is expected to be one of the first items on the
Senate's legislative agenda this year. S. 565, the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001,
is likely to be the Senate's legislative vehicle.

S. 565 the establishes a Commission on Voting Rights and Procedures to study a number of issues
including: election technology; ballot design and uniformity; ballot and polling place access; voting
systems capacity and election administration efficiency; voter registration and maintenance of voter
rolls; alternative voting methods; voter intimidation; accuracy of voting, election procedures, and
election technology; voter education; election personnel and volunteer training; and Federal assistance
to State and local authorities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office.

The legislation charges the Commission to develop specific recommendations that are consistent with
certain uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration requirements. Further,
S. 565 authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to pay the Federal share of the costs of
activities to: improve, acquire, or replace voting equipment or technology and improve the accessibility
of polling places; implement new election administration procedures to increase voter participation;
educate voters concerning voting procedures, voting rights or voting technology, and to train election
personnel; and implement other Commission recommendations.

Finally, S. 565 specifies certain uniform and nondiscriminatory requirements each voting system must
meet with regard to election technology and administration, including: an ability to correct errors before
ballot casting; voting records with an audit capacity for each vote cast; accessibility for disabled individuals;
and an error rate not exceeding those in the National Voting Systems Standards.

Last year, USACM sent a letter to Congress making recommendations on electronic voting that may be
found at: letter.

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AAAS Colloquium to Address Issues Raised by September 11 Attacks

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 27th Annual Colloquium on Science
and Technology Policy will be held on April 11-12, 2002, in Washington, DC. This year's event will
focus on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and is entitled, "Science and Technology in a Vulnerable
World: Rethinking Our Roles". In addition, the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction
(SIGCHI) will devote several sessions to these themes at their annual CHI 2002 Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems. This year's SIGCHI conference is April 20-25, 2002, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
For more information, SIGCHI members have generated a resource page which may be found at:
SIGCHI.

For more information about the AAAS colloquium, see the web site at: AAAS Colloquim

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Two New Cybersecurity Bills Introduced in the Senate

Senator John Edwards recently introduced two bills to curb cyberterrorism. The bills authorize a
total of $400 million for cyber security research. The first bill, the Cyberterrorism Preparedness Act
of 2002, authorizes $350 million over five years into strengthening the cyber defenses of the federal
government and the private sector. The bill would create a consortium bringing together government,
academic and private sector experts dedicated to creating and disseminating information about best
security practices. Such practices would be implemented first in the federal government and then
nationally. The second bill, the Cybersecurity Research and Education Act of 2002, provides $50
million over four years for Information Assurance Fellowships to train computer specialists in cyber
security. The bill also creates an online university where systems administrators could get the latest
security training.

The USACM testified before Congress last year and made recommendations on enhancing cybersecurity.
The testimony and other activities of ACM's Advisory Committee on Security and Privacy can be found at:
ACSP

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OMB Reports to Congress on Federal IT Security

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will submit a report to Congress next month regarding
Federal information technology (IT) security. In September, agency chief information officers and
inspectors general submitted to OMB the first self-assessments required under the Government Information
Security Reform Act of 2001. OMB is required to provide a summary report to Congress, which they plan
to do as part of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2003 (FY03) budget submission. In FY02, agencies
spent about $3 billion on security out of the total $45 billion spent on IT products across government.
About 80 percent of the agencies spent between 1 to 3 percent of their overall budgets on security.

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National Academy of Sciences Report Makes Recommendation to Enhance Infrastructure Security

A report by the National Academy of Sciences Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB)
concludes that new laws may be needed to deter software makers from producing software with security
holes. The report suggests that Congress should make it easier to punish companies that produce insecure
software that puts business and consumers at risk. The nation's computer security systems in the wake
of September 11 should provide more scrutiny of software and systems vendors by making them liable for
systems breaches. Further, the report finds that mainstream businesses have failed to take security
seriously. In the future, security administrators will need more money and more clout to keep networks
safe from terrorists and criminals. In addition, the report suggests the ordinary workers will need to
be trained in good security and have the tools necessary for it on their own computers. Finally, government
needs to improve its own record in computer security, while funding more research and development to protect
computers everywhere. The market cannot respond to national imperatives when so many security products are
designed for basic business, the report concludes.

To full report may be found at: CSTB Infrastructure Report

Last year, USACM made certain recommendations to Congress on improving our nation's security
infrastructure which may be found at: USACM Recommendations

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ACM Fellow Dr. Peter Freeman to Head the NSF's Computer Division

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named veteran computer scientist and administrator
Peter A. Freeman as the foundation's new assistant director for Computer and Information Science
and Engineering (CISE). Dr. Freeman, Currently John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean of Computing at Georgia
Institute of Technology, will take office in May.

Since 1990, Dr. Freeman has served Georgia Tech as a professor and founding dean of the College
of Computing. From 1992 to 1995, he also acted as the university's Chief Information Officer. He is a
recognized leader in encouraging interdisciplinary work involving computer science. He has served on
numerous national panels and advisory committees, is a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research
Association since 1988.

Dr. Freeman chaired the Sam Nunn Nations Bank Policy Forum on information security in 1998. This
forum led to the creation of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, one of the first comprehensive
centers in the United States concentrating on information security.

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Contacting the ACM Public Policy Office

Should you have questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations regarding
public policy issues or USACM activities, please contact the ACM Public Policy
Office located in Washington, DC, by e-mailing usacm_dc@acm.org or calling
(202)659-9711. The ACM Public Policy Office would also be pleased to assist
ACM members in contacting or meeting with their elected officials in Washington, DC.