Security Industry Association Offers Support, Feedback On Senate And House Of Representatives’ Innovation And Competition Legislation

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has expressed its support for and feedback on S. 1260, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), and H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act.

SIA’s letter comes ahead of a US Senate and House of Representatives conference to reconcile the differences between the two pieces of bipartisan legislation, both of which will bolster U.S. leadership in developing and adopting innovative emerging technologies, in order for domestic companies to remain globally competitive against U.S. adversaries.

SIA’s letter to US Senate and House of Representatives

In an April 11, 2022 letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader - Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker of the House - Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader - Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader - Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the Security Industry Association made the following recommendations for consideration in the final conference report:

• SIA supports USICA’s authorization of US$ 190 billion for federal research and development (R&D) activities, US$ 29 billion in National Science Foundation funding and the inclusion of Sec. 2005 to invest in R&D (research and development), education and training, supply chain security and the broader U.S. innovation ecosystem.
• Security Industry Association supports USICA’s creation of an International Technology Partnership Office to harmonize key technology governance regimes with U.S. partners, coordinate on priority research and development initiatives and collaborate with U.S. allies, in order to pursue such opportunities in key emerging technologies.
• SIA supports the America COMPETES Act’s sections 10226-10227, which include National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reauthorization and biometrics testing.
• Security Industry Association supports the America COMPETES Act’s Secs. 20201-20208, supply chain resiliency measures that create an Office of Manufacturing Security and Resilience within the U.S. Department of Commerce to address supply chain shocks and provide US$ 45 billion in grant, loan and loan guarantee funds to manufacturers, in order to assist with the production and shipment of qualified equipment.
• SIA encourages the conferees to include the America COMPETES Act’s Sec. 10522, which instructs NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, in order to further engage with historically Black colleges and universities, and minority serving institutions, in order to cultivate a diverse talent pipeline.
• Security Industry Association requests that the conferees robustly fund the CHIPS for America Act program, which supports the diversification, expansion and resiliency of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain.

Promoting investments in supply chain resiliency measures

SIA has placed a high priority upon advocating for supply chain assistance, both in the short and long term"

The Security Industry Association’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Don Erickson, said “The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and the America COMPETES Act promote valuable investments in supply chain resiliency measures and federal R&D in areas, like biometrics, AI and machine learning – emerging technologies that have a robust array of applications in security and life safety.”

He adds, “For some time, SIA has placed a high priority upon advocating for supply chain assistance, both in the short and long term. SIA strongly supports the inclusion of an extraordinary level of financial assistance that will help to address long-term supply chain challenges, as well as the potential advocacy for the manufacturing sector that could come through the new Office of Manufacturing Security and Resilience not long after adoption of final legislation by Congress.

Don Erickson further said, “We encourage members of the House and Senate to reconcile some of the significant differences between these two pieces of legislation and work in a bipartisan manner to produce meaningful investments needed to reinforce the United States as the leader in developing cutting-edge technologies that impact our society and security.”

Strong support for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act

The Security Industry Association (SIA) previously expressed its strong support for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act – formerly the Endless Frontier Act – when it was introduced by US Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Notably, the bill aims to strengthen U.S. leadership in critical technologies through research in key focus areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, high-performance computing, advanced computer hardware and software and robotics.

Key focus areas include Biometrics, cyber security

SIA applauded the US House of Representatives for the passage of the America COMPETES Act in February 2022

Additionally, prior to passing in the US Senate, the bill was amended to include ‘data storage, data management, distributed ledger technologies and cyber security, including biometrics’ as key focus areas, an addition that is supported by SIA and proposed by Senators - Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).

Additionally, SIA applauded the US House of Representatives for the passage of the America COMPETES Act in February 2022, encouraging bipartisan efforts in the House and the Senate to reconcile the differences between the two pieces of legislation.

Innovation in security and life safety technologies

The Security Industry Association is committed to promoting policies that support innovation in security and life safety technologies and supports U.S. leadership in key technology areas, including biometrics. SIA recently sent a letter to US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, urging the administration and the US Congress to consider policies that enable American leadership in developing biometric technologies.

The Security Industry Association sent the letter to congressional leadership recommending how SIA members can build public trust surrounding the use of facial recognition technology, issued policy principles that guide the commercial sector, government agencies and law enforcement on how to use facial recognition in a responsible and ethical manner, released comprehensive public polling on support of facial recognition use across specific applications, and published a list of successful uses of the technology.