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Congressional Daily Record
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June 29, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7266) to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 7266
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Rural and Municipal Utility
Cybersecurity Act”.
SEC. 2. RURAL AND MUNICIPAL UTILITY ADVANCED CYBERSECURITY
GRANT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
Section 40124 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(42 U.S.C. 18723) is amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 40124. RURAL AND MUNICIPAL UTILITY ADVANCED
CYBERSECURITY GRANT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
“(a) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) Advanced cybersecurity technology.—The term
`advanced cybersecurity technology' means any technology,
operational capability, or service, including computer
hardware, software, or a related asset, that enhances the
security posture of electric utilities through improvements
in the ability to protect against, detect, respond to, or
recover from a cybersecurity threat.
“(2) Bulk-power system.—The term `bulk-power system' has
the meaning given the term in section 215(a) of the Federal
Power Act.
“(3) Cybersecurity threat.—The term `cybersecurity
threat' has the meaning given the term in section 2200 of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002.
“(4) Defense critical electric infrastructure.—The term
`defense critical electric infrastructure' has the meaning
given the term in section 215A(a) of the Federal Power Act.
“(5) Eligible entity.—The term `eligible entity' means—
“(A) a rural electric cooperative;
“(B) an electric utility owned by a political subdivision
of a State, such as a municipally owned electric utility;
“(C) an electric utility owned by any agency, authority,
corporation, or instrumentality of 1 or more political
subdivisions of a State;
“(D) a not-for-profit entity that is in a partnership with
not fewer than 6 entities described in subparagraph (A), (B),
or (C); and
“(E) an investor-owned electric utility that sells less
than 4,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year.
“(6) Program.—The term `Program' means the Rural and
Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical
Assistance Program established under subsection (b).
“(b) Establishment.—The Secretary shall maintain a
program, to be known as the Rural and Municipal Utility
Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance
Program, to provide technical assistance and award funding,
including grants, cooperative agreements, and prizes, to
eligible entities to protect against, detect, respond to, and
recover from cybersecurity threats.
“(c) Objectives.—The objectives of the Program shall be—
“(1) to deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies for
electric utility systems; and
“(2) to increase the participation of eligible entities in
cybersecurity threat information sharing programs.
“(d) Awards.—
“(1) In general.—In carrying out the Program, the
Secretary—
“(A) shall, subject to the availability of appropriations,
provide technical assistance, and award funding, including
grants, cooperative agreements, and prizes, to eligible
entities on a competitive or noncompetitive basis;
“(B) shall develop criteria for providing such technical
assistance and awarding such funding;
“(C) may enter into agreements that can facilitate the
objectives described in subsection (c) with eligible entities
to provide technical assistance or award funding, including
grants, cooperative agreements, and prizes; and
“(D) shall establish a process to ensure, to the extent
practicable, that all eligible entities are informed about
opportunities to receive technical assistance or funding,
including grants, cooperative agreements, and prizes.
“(2) Priority for funding and technical assistance.—In
providing technical assistance and awarding funding,
including grants, cooperative agreements, and prizes, under
the Program, the Secretary shall give priority to an eligible
entity that, as determined by the Secretary—
“(A) has limited cybersecurity resources;
“(B) owns assets critical to the reliability of the bulk-
power system; or
“(C) owns or operates defense critical electric
infrastructure.
“(e) Protection of Information.—Information shared by or
with the Federal Government or a State, Tribal, or local
government under the Program shall be deemed voluntarily
shared information and exempt from disclosure under section
552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the
Freedom of Information Act), or any provision of any State,
Tribal, or local freedom of information law, open government
law, open meetings law, open records law, sunshine law, or
similar law requiring the disclosure of information or
records.
“(f) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section
$250,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2027 through
2031.”.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to include extraneous material on H.R. 7266.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 7266, the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, sponsored by Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa's First Congressional District.
held several hearings examining the state of our Nation's energy system and the persistent threats facing critical infrastructure. We heard directly from industry experts and administration officials about the ability of adversarial nations to exploit vulnerabilities in our energy infrastructure.
intricate networks of energy delivery systems could widen attack surfaces and opportunities to cause harm and sow chaos in the daily lives of hardworking Americans.
utility operators that do not have the same resources as their investor-owned counterparts. These rural cooperatives and municipal utilities are economic drivers for small towns and remote areas of our country to ensure they can participate in the 21st century economy.
H.R. 7266 reauthorizes the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program for 5 years to equip small utilities with the resources necessary to secure their systems and keep the lights on for their communities.
practices at the Department of Energy to reduce unnecessary regulatory bureaucracy. By simplifying the funding process, we can get dollars from the agency into the hands of cybersecurity professionals in a way that meets the urgency needed to address our system needs.
Department of Energy by providing targeted technical assistance to cybersecurity operators to enhance threat visibility and implement security protections.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 7266, the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan) and the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), reauthorizes a critical program from the bipartisan infrastructure law. This initiative is designed to aid municipal utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and small investor-owned utilities.
Nation's power grid are growing every day, from sophisticated cyberattacks from nation-state actors to AI-enhanced cyberattacks from single criminals. The offensive capabilities of people who would attack our power grid are growing.
{time} 1630
The only solution is an investment in a robust defense of the grid. While larger utilities may have more resources to invest in cybersecurity, the smaller utilities and nonprofit cooperatives and municipal utilities may not have the resources to spend on sophisticated cyber defenses.
fill the gap, ensuring that those smaller entities get the assistance and the guidance they need from the Department of Energy.
makes it easier for smaller utilities to access DOE's technical assistance programs, a tweak that should result in more eligible utilities gaining access to DOE's knowledge and resources.
co-lead on this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote “yes,” and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), who has been a leader in this issue. She stands before us to protect rural and small-town America, and that is exactly what her legislation does.
Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 7266, the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, a bipartisan bill I am proud to lead with Congresswoman McClellan, to help reauthorize and strengthen a critical program that helps rural and municipal electric utilities defend against growing cybersecurity threats to our Nation's energy grid.
nation-states are shifting from isolated cyber incidents to sustained campaigns against U.S. critical infrastructure, including the energy sector. Yet, many small and rural utilities lack the capacity and expertise to act on this information.
RMUC is designed to close that gap. In Iowa's First District, rural electric cooperatives serve ratepayers across 20 counties and face the same threats as major urban systems but with fewer resources.
Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program at DOE and authorizing $250 million over 5 years to deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies and support participation in information-sharing programs, this bill ensures rural electric cooperatives, public power, and other small utilities have access to advanced cybersecurity tools, technical assistance, and grant funding to protect, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber threats.
escalating, small and rural utilities need the resources to defend against nation-state actors and sophisticated threats. This bill provides that support.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan), and I thank her for her leadership on behalf of rural and smaller municipal utilities in communities across the country.
Ms. McCLELLAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, which I am proud to co-lead with Representative Miller-Meeks of Iowa.
for the security and stability of the American grid and the safety of the American people.
small municipalities to protect themselves against ever-multiplying and more sophisticated cybersecurity threats that could prove severely disruptive to small and rural communities alike, just like the ones I represent in Virginia's Fourth Congressional District.
necessary to defend against malign actors targeting important infrastructure and services, and AI has made it easier for such malign actors to do so.
just a few weeks ago, fell victim to a cyber incident that impacted the county's payment services. Fortunately, the attack didn't impact other, more consequential services, but it serves as an example of why we must take proactive steps to ensure the security of our grid, especially in small and rural communities that are especially vulnerable.
the challenges of our increasingly digital world and, in turn, bolster cybersecurity defenses for the entire Nation's grid.
advance this important bill, and I urge my colleagues to support our legislation to reauthorize this vital program.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I urge a “yes” vote on the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my good friends from Virginia and Iowa working together on this bill. I encourage my colleagues to vote “yes” on H.R. 7266, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7266, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.