H.R. 2481: Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-05-17 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-05-17 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017

Plain summary

Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017 or the PATCH Act of 2017 This bill establishes the Vulnerability Equities Review Board to establish and make available to the public policies on matters relating to whether, when, how, to whom, and to what degree information about a vulnerability in a technology, product, system, service, or application that is not publicly known should be shared or released by the government to a non-federal entity. The board must submit to Congress and the President a draft of such policies, along with a description of challenges or impediments requiring legislative or administrative action. Each federal agency shall, upon obtaining information about such a vulnerability, subject such information to a process established by the board for sharing or releasing the information. Process considerations shall include: which technologies, products, systems, services, or applications are subject to the vulnerability; the potential risks of leaving the vulnerability unpatched or unmitigated; the likelihood that a non-federal entity will discover the vulnerability; and whether the vulnerability can be patched or otherwise mitigated. An agency may share or release such information to a non-federal entity without subjecting it to such process if the agency determines that the information is presumptively shareable or releasable. If the board determines that such information should be shared with or released to the vendor that developed or maintains the technology, it shall provide the information to the Department of Homeland Security, which shall share or release the information as directed by the board.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33] reported raising $2.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hr2481.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hr>

Record fed-us-cong115-hr2481 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115