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Senate Passes Portman Measure to Strengthen DHS Cybersecurity Workforce
[September 28, 2014]

Senate Passes Portman Measure to Strengthen DHS Cybersecurity Workforce


(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The office of Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, issued the following news release: As the risk of cyber threats continues to increase, the Senate last night took a step to bolster the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) cybersecurity workforce by passing a bipartisan provision written by U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio). The Portman provision creates a uniform classification system that will help agencies within DHS identify and address cybersecurity personnel shortages.



"I applaud the passage of this critical legislation because it will make it easier for the Department of Homeland Security to have world-class, highly-trained cybersecurity employees in place to secure a vast array of sensitive information and support the protection of our critical infrastructure," said Portman. "This is an important first step and I hope the Senate will now pass our broader, government-wide version of this legislation." The provision is based on a bill Portman and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Col.) introduced in May to strengthen the cyber security workforces across the federal government. Earlier this year, Portman successfully secured a narrower version of the bill as an amendment during the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee's consideration of the Department of Homeland Security Workforce Recruitment and Retention Act, which the Senate passed last night as an amendment to the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2014.

Over the past several decades, agencies across the federal government have responded to the increasing threats to federal IT systems and infrastructure by hiring personnel that fill each agency's individual needs. As cybersecurity needs have grown across the government, it has become increasingly clear that there is a need for a uniform system to better educate, recruit, train, develop, and retain a highly-qualified workforce. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on the significant challenges facing federal agencies to determine the size and composition of their cybersecurity workforce because of variations in how the work is defined.


The National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) together launched the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), which is working to uniformly classify cybersecurity job functions. This new framework will help agencies assess their current workforce to identify skill shortages, and provide a comprehensive look at the cybersecurity workforce across the entire federal government.

The Portman provision will move the initiative forward by defining specific tasks, milestones, and timelines for agencies to follow, and directing the Department of Homeland Security to assess where its cybersecurity workforce are weakest. The bipartisan proposal will help ensure that the Department of Homeland Security meets key deadlines and reports to Congress on time.

TNS30VitinMar-140923-4871496 30VitinMar (c) 2014 Targeted News Service

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