The House on Tuesday passed a bill that seeks to increase cooperation between the U.S. and Israel on cybersecurity initiatives.Reps. John Ratcliffe and Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island) introduced the U.S.-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act in a push to establish a cybersecurity grant program for joint research-and-development ventures between U.S. and Israeli organizations, Ratcliffe’s office said Tuesday.
The introduction of the bill came after the two lawmakers took a congressional delegation trip in May 2016.
“After Jim and I traveled to Israel last year to discuss this important aspect of our national security with top officials, we defined key areas where we could boost our collaboration to strengthen our countries’ cybersecurity posture,” Ratcliffe said.
The bill would require the secretary of Homeland Security to determine research requirements for the proposed cybersecurity grant program with the help of an advisory board comprised of members from the the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the U.S.-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.
