Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., have proposed a bill to protect U.S. telecommunications networks from national security threats posed by equipment produced by Chinese state-backed companies. 

The proposed Secure Equipment Act of 2021 would bar the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from assessing or issuing authorization to companies included in FCC’s list of covered communications equipment or services, Eshoo’s office said Wednesday.

In March, FCC released the covered list that includes telecom and video surveillance equipment from five Chinese companies as part of its compliance with the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., unveiled a similar measure in the Senate in May.

"This legislation will help protect our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, acting chairwoman of FCC.

“And we're not wasting time–last month, I shared a plan with my colleagues to update the Federal Communications Commission's equipment authorization procedures consistent with this effort,” Rosenworcel added.

Rob Joyce, cybersecurity director at the National Security Agency (NSA) and a previous Wash100 Award winner, said any proposal that seeks to help the intelligence community address visibility gaps into foreign hacking operations must combine the signals intelligence data that NSA collects with the information gathered by the private sector, CyberScoop reported Wednesday.

“That takes intelligence, that takes some collaboration, and it’s also really … vital that it can’t be just a government solution, and it can’t just be an industry solution, because we both have parts and pieces that we’re not going to see ourselves,” Joyce said.

He noted that he expects the U.S. government to function as a unit that prevents cyber breaches instead of operating as a crisis response entity for major cyber incidents.

“I don’t want the federal government to be known for outstanding incident responses — that’s important after there’s an intrusion we’ve got to be good at figuring out what went wrong and working backward,” Joyce said. “We need to be left of theft, we need to be in the job of preventing intrusions."

Joyce added that the NSA cybersecurity directorate needs to “work smarter” with available resources amid budget constraints.

Deltek and AIA announced on Wednesday that the companies are working together to deliver a new solution to the AEC industry this September, called Deltek Specpoint. The new solution is an all-in-one specification and design automation tool that will house AIA MasterSpec.

Deltek Specpoint will assist architects and engineers reduce risks and improve project outcomes with the combination of its novel approach to authoring specifications and the industry-proven content supplied via MasterSpec.

“The strong partnership between AIA and Deltek has elevated the importance of specifications as a strategic asset in the architect’s design process. We’re now seeing the partnership take on a more revolutionary approach with the launch of Specpoint. This application offers architects a better pathway to bring their designs into reality,” commented Robert Ivy, AIA executive vice president and CEO of FAIA.

The companies have a long history of partnering and providing leadership in the architecture and building design industry with MasterSpec, created by The AIA for its members. Deltek and AIA have worked together to deliver MasterSpec and software solutions that position architects with valuable tools for specifying building products and materials.

Deltek Specpoint, home of AIA MasterSpec, will be a cloud-based software solution that will change how product manufacturers and architects and engineers collaborate. Users will be enabled to consciously research and select products, effectively write specs and create project manuals to deliver successful projects.

“For decades, Deltek has been working closely with architecture, engineering and construction firms to deliver the most comprehensive software solutions. Together with AIA, we are looking to the future and empowering those companies on their digital transformation journey,” stated Mike Corkery, Deltek president and CEO.

“We are very excited to continue our partnership with AIA and bring the power of Specpoint to market,” concluded Corkery.

Department of Energy will invest $12 million in six research and development projects on technology designed to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Awardees will use these funds to develop direct air capture technology, as the Biden administration seeks to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, DOE said Tuesday.

Cormetech, one of the awardees, will develop a process that captures CO2 while reducing the energy required for DAC. The Research Triangle Institute, another awardee, will test how DAC technology can operate through low-cost wind energy.

DOE selected organizations from Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois and Kansas for the overall project.

“These DOE investments, and the ones we will make with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, are crucial to advancing technology that will help us avoid the worst effects of climate change and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050," said Jennifer Granholm, secretary of Energy.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wants the Senate to boost NASA's funds as the space agency seeks to finance a second contractor for an existing lunar lander project, Space News reported Tuesday.

Nelson told the Senate Appropriations Committee that NASA needs more funds to promote competition in the Human Landing System (HLS) program, which seeks to produce a lunar lander and is currently awarded to SpaceX, the lowest bidder.

The fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill provided HLS $850 million, which is only one-fourth of NASA's request. Of this amount, $400 million was needed to finance work assigned to SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics.

Nelson, who became NASA administrator in May, suggested boosting funds through a jobs bill to allow for competition in the HLS program.

“The jobs bill is a way that you could fund NASA’s needs, not only for infrastructure but also for this additional money to try to give us the competitive proposition so that we can downselect two landers, at least,” he said.

Nelson stressed the HLS program's importance as a means to compete with China's growing space program. HLS's resulting lander would support NASA's Artemis program, which seeks to revive manned space exploration.

The U.S. and the European Union on Tuesday formed a Trade and Technology Council (TTC) to build up global cooperation on digital issues, technology and supply chains, work on international standards development and support collaborative research efforts.

The TTC will be composed of working groups focused on advancing cooperation on tech standards on artificial intelligence, the internet of things and other emerging technologies, ICT security, data governance, investment screening and semiconductors, the White House said Tuesday.

A senior administration official said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will co-chair the council, according to a report by The Hill.

The U.S. and EU also announced their intent to create a Joint Technology Competition Dialogue that would focus on strengthening cooperation in the tech sector with plans to pursue a research program on genomics and biotechnology and deepen collaboration on cybersecurity certification of software and data sharing on cyberthreats.

The EU and the U.S. announced the moves as part of the renewal of their transatlantic partnership during the U.S.-EU Summit held Tuesday in Brussels. They also outlined their specific plans for ending the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing for future health emergencies, advancing democracy and addressing climate change.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) come up with a comprehensive strategy for supply chain management to address its acquisition management-related issues and better meet the needs of veterans.

GAO made the recommendation after it found that each of VA’s initiatives to advance supply chain modernization and prepare for future public health crises faces delays, according to a report published Tuesday.

Those initiatives are the department’s replacement of its inventory management platform with the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support system, establishment of four centers as central sources of critical medical supplies and planned participation in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) program to ensure emergency access to critical supplies.

The congressional watchdog has provided VA with 49 recommendations to make improvements to its acquisition management since 2015. The department has addressed 22 of those recommendations, according to the report.

Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said the bureau and its industry partners need to piece together perspectives on cybersecurity incidents to prevent network attacks at agencies and companies, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

“The private sector holds valuable cyber threat intelligence that exists nowhere else,” Ugoretz told attendees at a virtual conference.

Industry submitted tips to the FBI regarding some large-scale breaches such as the SolarWinds hack.

Ugoretz said the bureau will continue efforts to analyze data and connect with other organizations as part of its cybersecurity mission.

President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget request for the FBI includes $15.2 million to fund its Enterprise Security Operations Center and Cybersecurity Threat Assessment Program.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told The Wall Street Journal in a June 3 interview that the bureau was looking into 100 ransomware types and emphasized the importance of coordinated efforts to fight malicious threats.

“There’s a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies but across the private sector and even the average American,” Wray said.