# H.R. 1717 (119th): Communications Security Act

Communications Security Act This bill provides statutory authority for a council established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide advice regarding the security, reliability, and interoperability of communications networks. (This advice is currently provided by the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.) The bill specifies that the FCC may designate an existing advisory committee to fulfill this role, provided the committee’s membership is modified, as necessary, to comply with membership requirements set forth in the bill. Specifically, the bill requires the council to include, to the extent practicable, representatives of companies in the communications industry; public interest organizations or academic institutions; and federal, state, tribal, and local governments (with at least one member representing each level of government). Members are to be selected by the FCC's chair and generally may not include representatives of entities owned or controlled by, or subject to the influence of, a foreign adversary, or otherwise deemed to pose a threat to U.S. national security. Under current law, federal advisory committees must generally terminate after two years unless they are renewed or a statute specifies a different termination date. However, the bill exempts the council from this requirement.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: advisory_committee. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: communication_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: communications_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: national_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: network_reliability. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 196: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill directs an ordinary, prudential advisory function for network security and reliability, with reasonable goods of public order and national security. It does not directly advance a named moral harm or directly restrain one. Its foreign-adversary screening and multi-level government membership are prudential design choices, so the measure is best classified as mixed rather than good or evil.
Theological note: The bill concerns the ordinary governance of advisory bodies that help protect communications infrastructure. Scripture's call to stewardship, prudence, and sober care for the common good bears on it, since the security and reliability of networks serve public order. It raises no direct moral question about harm to persons, and its main concerns are institutional design and national security prudence rather than a clear moral evil.

## Recorded votes

Roll 196: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Yea 380 · Nay 33 · Other 19.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-1717-119/