Senate Homeland panel approves bills to standardize procurement training, develop ‘Cybersecurity Reserve’ program

The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved three bills Wednesday to harden the government’s defenses against cyber threats, via training for federal procurement officials and the establishment of a “Cybersecurity Reserve” pilot program to help agencies address their cyber workforce needs.

Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) sponsored the procurement bill, the Supply Chain Security Training Act, and legislation to support CISA-led cybersecurity education at K-12 schools.

“Rising cyber-attacks on everything from a major oil pipeline and hundreds of small...