ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE

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November 29, 2002, Volume 6.11
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New Department of Homeland Security Becomes Law
Cyber Security R&D Bill Set to Become Law
NSF Reauthorization Doubling Funding Set to Become Law
New Congress to Convene in January 2003
ACM Internet Governance Project Participates in ICANN Meeting
Kid-friendly Web Domain Bill Set to Become Law

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INTRODUCTION
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POLICY BRIEFS
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New Department of Homeland Security Becomes Law

Legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security was recently signed
into law. The effort involves the most significant change to the federal govern-
ment structure in over fifty years. The new cabinet level Secretary would bring
to fifteen the number of departments that make up the Executive Branch of the
Federal government.

The legislation creates one federal government agency to be responsible for
coordinating protection of the nation's borders, coastlines, airports, landmarks,
utilities and other major facilities, both public and private. With more than
170,000 employees, the new agency is expected to lead the nation's defense
against potential cyber, chemical, biological or nuclear attacks.

The new agency has several technology support offices including an Under-
secretary for Science and Technology, a technology clearing house, and an
independent Homeland Security Institute. The location of the Homeland
Security Institute has prompted discussions, which may not be resolved until
the next Congress meets in January. In addition, the existing National Institute
of Standards and Technology’s Computer Security Division will remain at the
Department of Commerce rather than being transferred to the new agency.

For more information on the organization of the new agency, see: Department of
Homeland Security

For more information on other Executive Departments, see: Executive Departments

For a look at H.R. 5710, see: H.R. 5710

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Cyber Security R&D Bill Set to Become Law

Legislation updating federal programs designed to improve Cyber Security
Research and Development was recently signed into law. The law authorizes
the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Stan-
dards and Technology (NIST) to spend $903 million over the next five years
on systems security research, education, and related programs.

The law directs the NSF to establish centers for computer and network
security research at universities and provide doctoral fellowships. In addition,
NIST will negotiate and oversee university-industry partnerships for cyber
security research. Efforts to improve cyber security research mandate a report
to Congress on critical infrastructure weaknesses and require the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop strategies for greater coor-
dination of research and development activities.

For a look at the Cyber Security Research and Development Act, see: H.R. 3394

For a look at the USACM testimony of Gene Spafford before the House
Committee on Science, see: Testimony

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NSF Reauthorization Doubling Funding Set to Become Law

Congress recently sent the “National Science Foundation Authorization Act
of 2002” to the President for signature. The House and Senate reached an
agreement on the bill that includes language from five House-passed Science
Committee bills -- H.R. 4664 (the NSF authorization); H.R. 1858 (on K-12
math and science education); H.R. 100 (on master teachers); H.R. 3130 (The
Tech Talent Act, on undergraduate education); and H.R. 2051 (on biotech-
nology research) -- and from the Senate NSF authorization (S. 2817).

The final legislation also included compromise language worked out with the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to satisfy the Administration's
concerns. The language makes the last two years of authorization (fiscal
years 2006 and 2007) contingent on a finding by the Congress that NSF "has
made successful progress toward meeting management goals," which will take
into consideration OMB's evaluation on that progress.

Authorization legislation establishes the rules that govern funding levels
and activities that govern the existence of a federal or quasi-federal entity.
However, once authorization legislation becomes law additional legislation in the
form of appropriations is required before federal funding will be available.

For a look at H.R. 4664, the NSF Authorization Bill, see: H.R. 4664

For a look at H.R. 1858, the K-12 Math and Science Education Act, see: H.R. 1858

For a look at H.R. 100, the Master Teachers Act, see: H.R. 100

For a look at H.R. 3130, the Tech Talent Act, see: H.R. 3130

For a look at H.R. 2051, Biotechnology Research Act, see: H.R. 2051

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ACM Internet Governance Project Participates in ICANN Meeting

On October 28-31, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) held a four-day meeting in Shanghai and Kathryn Kleiman, Director of
ACM's Internet Governance Project (ACM-IGP) attended. The meeting's agenda
included consideration of major changes to ICANN's structure and procedures,
and discussion of reforms to the domain name registration process. Most of the
meeting was devoted to a set of bylaw, structural and procedural changes called
the "Evolution and Reform" documents.

During the meeting's public forum, ACM-IGP voiced concerns about the elimina-
tion of direct elections for half of the ICANN Board seats by the public (widely
seen as key to ICANN's legitimacy), the continuing broad and loosely defined scope
of ICANN's mission statement, and the adoption of extremely short, mandatory time-
lines for domain name policy development which make participation largely impossi-
ble for constituencies and organizations without fulltime paid legal staffs.

For a brief report of the ICANN meeting provided by Kathryn Kleiman, see the
web site: Report

For a look at the USACM Internet Governance page, see: Internet Governance

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Kid-friendly Web Domain Bill Set to Become Law

The White House has received from the House and Senate the "Dot-Kids
Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002" which creates an Internet
domain space exclusively for children. The bill makes a child-oriented
addressing space within America's sovereign "dot-us" Internet domain.
The legislation directs content and chat rooms to voluntarily register in
the new space after meeting specific guidelines determined to be appro-
priate for children 12 years old and younger.

The measure would designate a ".kids.us" Internet domain that would be
available within a year and monitored by a government contractor to en-
sure the material is appropriate for children under 13. The bill is at the
White House awaiting President Bush’s signature.

For a look at H.R. 3833, see: H.R. 3833

For a look at S. 2537, see: H.R. 2537

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New Congress to Convene in January 2003

January will mark the beginning of the First Session of the 108th Congress,
which will run until December 2003. House and Senate members elected to
serve in this Congress will have an opportunity to introduce new legislation
or reintroduce legislation that was not successful during the previous
Congress, which ended earlier this month.

The term of a Congress of the United States is two years. Each Congress has
two sessions marked by the close of each calendar year that it is in service.
The previous federal legislature was designated as the 107th Congress. The
107th Congress marked the 214th year that the United States Legislative
Branch has served the nation.

For a look at more on Congressional History, see: History

For a look at the dates that Congress has been in session, see: Sessions

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For Earlier Editions of the ACM Washington Update. 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)478-6312.
The ACM Public Policy Office would also be pleased to assist ACM members
in contacting or meeting with their elected officials in
Washington, DC.

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