House bill would boost CISA funding by $335 million

DHS's CISA welcomed the funding and support from Congress.

House lawmakers on Tuesday released a draft fiscal 2020 appropriations bill that would increase funding by $335 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, according to a bill summary.

The House Appropriations Committee bill would allot $2 billion for CISA in fiscal 2020 in recognition of the tall task CISA faces in helping civilian agencies fend off hackers, among other priorities. According to the summary, the legislation would allot $156 million for Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, which agencies use to monitor their networks for threats.

The bill provides “necessary funding increases…to defend our nation’s infrastructure from physical and rising cyberthreats,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will consider the bill on Wednesday. Senate appropriators have yet to release a companion bill.

CISA, which was formally established in November when the agency’s name and cybersecurity mission was codified into law, welcomed the funding and support from Congress.

Jeanette Manfra, CISA’s assistant director for cybersecurity, said she hopes the funding will “provide a much-needed boost for our cyber threat analysis and response capabilities as well as CISA’s supply chain security efforts.”

“We are hopeful that the additional funds provided in this mark will allow CISA to expand and mature several of our cybersecurity priorities, including expanding and modernizing our federal network services, accelerating the deployment of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, and growing our vulnerability management capabilities,” Manfra said in a statement.

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