S. 1157: PATCH Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-05-17 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-05-17 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 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

PATCH 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 Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

PATCH Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Alternatives

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Ron Johnson (R-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] reported raising $1.8 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 Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s1157.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s1157 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115