U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, reintroduced a bill on Wednesday to address the nation’s cybersecurity workforce shortage.
Green’s bill, the Cyber PIVOTT Act, seeks to establish educational and training partnerships between government institutions and community colleges, technical schools, and other higher education institutions that offer two-year programs in the cybersecurity field.
“Today’s reintroduction of the ‘Cyber PIVOTT Act’ alongside @SenatorRounds could not come at a more consequential time.”
More on @RepMarkGreen's bill to create a pipeline for up to 10,000 cyber professionals per year to join the cyber workforce: https://t.co/IdMO7n9gPo
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) February 5, 2025
The bill would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to establish such partnerships and oversee a scholarship program – similar to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship – to target “entry-level cyber talent, including those who would like to ‘pivot’ their careers.”
Upon completing the two-year cyber program, scholarship recipients would be required to serve as government employees at the federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial level in a “cyber-relevant role” to “advance the cyber mission of an executive agency.”
As stated in the bill, cyber-related areas are defined as “areas of national security that would impact the cyber resiliency of the United States, including relating to operational technology, critical infrastructure, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, security awareness, or computer science.”
The bill seeks to create 10,000 scholarships per year.
Green said the creation of such scholarships will “have a return on investment for both the public and private sectors.”
“Far too often, cybersecurity can be a daunting industry for students and mid-career professionals to break into, creating a dangerous challenge for businesses, institutions, or agencies that work to protect the digital infrastructure Americans rely on every day. My legislation would open doors for professionals who are hoping to ‘pivot’ to the cybersecurity field but might not have access to, or want to pursue, a traditional four-year degree,” Green added.
Green’s bill comes as the U.S. has seen a 17 percent increase in its cyber workforce gap but only an 11 percent increase in its cyber workforce, according to the 2023 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study.
There are currently 500,000 vacant cybersecurity jobs in the nation, according to the House Homeland Security Committee.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Mark Green” by Mark Green.
