After Passing House, Peters Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Heads to President to be Signed into Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, applauded House passage of his bipartisan legislation that would help recruit, develop and retain highly skilled cybersecurity professionals in the federal workforce. Agencies across the federal government face growing cyber threats, but struggle to hire and retain qualified cybersecurity employees. The bill has already passed the Senate and now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“As we have seen, cyber-attacks pose a significant threat to our national and economic security and will only continue to grow more sophisticated. That is why we need a highly skilled federal cybersecurity workforce that will enhance our nation’s ability to fight back against online threats from foreign adversaries and criminal hackers for years to come,” said Senator Peters. “Now that this commonsense legislation has passed the House, I urge the President to sign it into law as soon as possible so we can provide federal cybersecurity professionals with additional opportunities to learn how to defend networks from complicated and evolving threats.”

Government agencies often cannot compete with the salaries and other benefits offered by tech giants in Silicon Valley, but they provide valuable opportunities to serve the country and defend our cyber front lines. The Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act creates a civilian personnel rotation program for cybersecurity professionals at federal agencies. This program would enable employees to spend time working at different government agencies, allowing them to gain experience beyond their primary assignment and expand their professional networks. The legislation will provide opportunities to help attract and retain cybersecurity experts in the federal government by offering civilian employees opportunities to enhance their careers, broaden their professional experience, and foster collaborative networks by experiencing and contributing to the cyber mission beyond their home agencies.

As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led efforts to enhance our nation’s cybersecurity. His historic, bipartisan bill to require critical infrastructure owners and operators to report to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) if they experience a substantial cyber-attack or if they make a ransomware payment was signed into law as a part of the recent government funding legislation. Additionally, Senator Peters secured several provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure law to bolster cybersecurity – including $100 million fund to help victims of a serious attack recover quickly. Peters has also authored and passed significant reforms out of the Senate to require civilian federal agencies to report to CISA if they experience a cyber-attack and ensure federal agencies can quickly and securely adopt cloud-based technologies that improve government operations and efficiency.

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