SBA cybersecurity, manufacturing web portal bills pass the House
A tech-heavy agenda out of the House Small Business Committee this year got another boost Wednesday as the lower chamber passed a cybersecurity bill and modernization legislation that originated from the panel.
The Cybersecurity for Small Businesses Act (H.R.10238) and the Reshoring American Manufacturing Act (H.R.9718) were two of seven bills from the committee that cleared the House on Veterans Day and are now teed up for Senate consideration.
The first bill would require the Small Business Administration to work with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies on the creation and dissemination of resources to help small businesses adopt best cybersecurity practices.
Rep. Tony Wied, R-Wis., lead sponsor of both bills, said on the House floor that a “lack of resources” to defend against cybersecurity threats “leaves our nation’s small businesses especially vulnerable,” but this legislation will ensure they “receive the most accurate and up-to-date information.”
Another provision in the legislation — co-sponsored by Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, George Latimer, D-N.Y., and Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, R-Northern Mariana Islands —
directs the SBA to share information with small businesses about compliance with the Defense Department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program.
“This will help small businesses better understand the cybersecurity requirements that they must meet to compete for federal contracts,” Wied said, “and ensure that they’re not forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cybersecurity measures that they simply don’t need, because Washington bureaucrats have failed to provide clear guidance.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, said the bill would “build upon” the SBA’s existing cyber strategy for Small Business Development Centers.
Committee Chair Roger Williams, R-Texas, said it would give “Main Street businesses the tools they need to protect their operations in complete secrecy.”
The second bill — co-sponsored by Van Duyne and Reps. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, Brad Finstad, R-Minn., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., John James, R-Mich., and Johnny Olszewski, D-Md. — would require the SBA administrator to maintain a webpage containing resources and information about small business concerns over onshoring manufacturing capacity.
Run through the SBA’s Office of Manufacturing and Trade, the Make Onshoring Great Again portal would be codified for four years and provide small businesses with connections to relevant agency offices and partner organizations.
Velazquez called the bill “a step in the right direction,” and specifically highlighted a measure requiring the SBA to deliver a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the website.
With more than 1 million American suppliers currently listed in the portal, Wied said the legislation will give “small businesses greater access to domestically sourced products” while helping to “shift manufacturing back to the United States and reduce our reliance on foreign nations.”
House passage of both pieces of legislation came on the heels of several other House Small Business Committee-backed SBA technology bills clearing the chamber this year, including the Small Business Cybersecurity Assistance Evaluation Act, the SBA Artificial Intelligence Utilization Act, the AI for Main Street Act and the AI WISE Act.
