Security
Department Heads Urge Info Sharing As Anti-Terror Tool
     The heads of the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury and Justice each stressed the importance of information-sharing and greater use of technology in an unusual hearing in which they jointly testified about the proposed Homeland Security Department before the select committee considering it. Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., set the stage for the heavy emphasis on information sharing with opening remarks that the new department "must be streamlined, agile and able to take advantage of the technology revolution, to improve communications between those who have access to information and those who need it." Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of State Colin Powell specifically addressed the importance of such information-sharing capabilities in their opening remarks. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill also briefly addressed how information technology can enhance government operations.

Security
Panel Adds Cyber-Security Program To Homeland Department
     The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed its version of the bill, H.R. 5005, to establish a new Homeland Security Department with several changes, including the creation of a distinct program on cyber security. The committee's bill "maintains the primary functions of the new undersecretary for information analysis and infrastructure protection and elaborates and expands upon his responsibility for cyber security," said committee Chairman W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, R-La. "We do this by establishing a new federal cyber-security program within the department that will be a resource to other federal agencies to help identify and correct weaknesses in critical federal computer systems." The panel did not address a contentious issue over allowing a sweeping exemption to the Freedom of Information Act as an incentive for businesses to share security information.

Security
Science Committee Significantly Amends Homeland Bill
     The House Science Committee voted to significantly change the Bush administration's bill to create a Homeland Security Department. The committee passed its own version of the bill, adding an undersecretary for science and technology who would conduct and fund research and development, among other things. The amendment also creates a "coordination council" for R&D, comprised of all department undersecretaries setting R&D priorities. The committee blocked the White House proposal to transfer the computer security division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the new department. The tech industry had lobbied hard to prevent the transfer. The committee measure also includes a bill, H.R. 1259, which would make NIST the consultant to government on computer security. But some in the tech industry are concerned that the bill will lead to mandatory conformance assessments of commercial products.

R&D
National Labs Urge Major R&D Plan For Homeland Defense
     A new Homeland Security Department must contain a unit to coordinate major research and development initiatives for technologies necessary to defend the nation's borders from potential attacks, experts told a Senate panel. As congressional committees begin sifting through legislative proposals to create a new Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department, federal officials are weighing in with specifics as to how certain sectors of the department should be structured. Michael Anastasio, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, urged members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to consider crafting a unit or agency within the new department to manage research initiatives related to the new security mandates. His comments were supported by Don Cobb, associate director for threat reduction at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Harvey Drucker, director of the Argonne National Laboratory, noted that bioterrorism represents the "greatest, long-term domestic threat."

Budget
House Approves Defense R&D Budget
     The House has approved a Defense Department research and development budget, in which science and technology funding would be boosted by $11.7 billion, according to an updated analysis of R&D in the fiscal 2003 budget conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Much of the R&D increase would go toward development activities, such as new aircraft and weapons-systems development. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency would receive $2.8 billion, a 24 percent increase.

Business
Tech Generally Pleased With 'Corporate Responsibility' Plans
     With many high-tech company stocks in a slump, industry representatives were pleased that President Bush focused on restoring investor confidence through a series of corporate responsibility proposals including boosting enforcement and technology funds for the Securities and Exchange Commission and increasing punishment for executives who commit financial fraud. In a speech to Wall Street, Bush called for Congress to provide an additional $100 million for the agency to increase its ability to enforce the law, as well as ordered the creation of a corporate-fraud taskforce to help federal officials investigate financial fraud. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is one of the administration officials who will serve on the task force. Many tech firms also were pleased that Bush did not address the issue of stock-option expensing.

Intellectual Property
Coble To Sign On To Berman Peer-To-Peer Network Bill
     The chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee responsible for copyright law has agreed to co-sponsor a controversial bill designed to thwart consumers who use peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to trade digital music files, said aides to chairman Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C. Initially proposed by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., ranking member of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, the measure would permit record companies to use "technological self-help measures" against P2P networks. Examples of such self-help measures could be files that electronically disintegrate when traded over P2P networks, or otherwise redirect those who download them to a Web site where consumers can purchase a copy from a licensed Web site. The idea behind the legislation is to clarify that content owners retain the right to trade misleadingly-labeled "spoof" files on networks as a way to detract from the easy available of pirated content on such services, its supporters say.

Privacy
Businesses Raise Objections To Anti-Identity Theft Bill
     In spite of a compromise designed to satisfy the needs of both privacy advocates and companies that provide verification services, businesses raised objections anew to an anti-identity theft bill barring the public display of the Social Security numbers. The bill originally was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and substantially modified last year after extensive negotiations with technology industry groups and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. The compromise bill, S. 848, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in May but also has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Testifying before that committee's Social Security and Family Policy Subcommittee, the top lobbyist for Reed Elsevier's Lexis-Nexis protested that by curbing the use of Social Security numbers on public documents, S. 848 would "effectively construct a two-tiered system for public records" that it called "unworkable."

Telecom
Adelstein Nomination In Senate Hands
     After months of delay, Jonathan Adelstein is one step closer to becoming an FCC commissioner with the Bush administration's decision to forward Adelstein's nomination to the Senate. In February, the White House announced its intention to nominate Adelstein, telecommunications aide to Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota. But Adelstein was caught up in the uproar over the Senate's rejection of Judge Charles Pickering's federal judicial nomination. Adelstein was nominated to fill the Democratic slot at the FCC vacated by Gloria Tristani. The term expires June 30, 2003. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, D-S.C., scheduled a hearing on Adelstein's nomination for Tuesday afternoon.