A subcommittee of the House's Homeland Security Committee is marking up its cybersecurity bill today and has just signed off on an amendment, proposed by Congressman Jim Langevin, that would require the Department of Homeland Security to work with regional cybersecurity collaboratives, like the one he has helped launch in Rhode Island.

Yours truly was on WPRI's "Newsmakers" panel that taped this morning, with Congressman James Langevin as featured guest (thanks to WPRI's Tim White and Ted Nesi for having me on). Among the interesting tidbits: as Nesi has already tweeted, Langevin spoke in support of the prayer banner at Cranston High School West.

I pushed the Congressman a bit on whether the cybersecurity threat he's warned about is as significant as he would have us believe.

Congressman James Langevin has signed on to an alternative to the controversial Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation in the House of Representatives.

Langevin is now a co-sponsor of the OPEN Act, introduced by California Republican Darrell Issa, which aims to move piracy disputes to the International Trade Commission (ITC) and address some of the Internet companies' concerns about SOPA and its Senate corollary, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Hanging over the Congressional redistricting clash that has dominated the news in recent days is this political reality (and I'm not the first to note it): Rhode Island could very well lose one of its two House seats after the next census.

An analysis by state redistricting consultant Kimball Brace shows that Rhode Island barely avoided the fate this time around.

The parade of witnesses at the state redistricting commission's meetings grew predictable after awhile: a state representative complaining about gerrymandering here, a good-government type arguing for fairness there.

But on the night of December 7, an unusual break: four Latino citizens testified; one had her remarks translated by a Latina state representative on the panel.

Congressman James Langevin's office is sharply criticizing Congressman David Cicilline tonight after the release of a new redistricting map that would shift large swaths of the conservative Blackstone Valley into Langevin's district and push a sizable section of liberal south Providence into Cicilline's district.

UPDATE: I checked in with Langevin's spokesman Jonathan Dworkin to get the Congressman's view on the political prospects of a recently promulgated House GOP package of cybersecurity reforms - some plucked from Langevin''s own proposals. Here's the response:

He is cautiously optimistic that we can get something done, though he does not necessarily think it will be the comprehensive legislation that he would prefer, despite that being the preference of leading Senators from both parties on the issue.

Congressmen James Langevin and David Cicilline will host a March 4 fundraiser in Rhode Island for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, though not confirmed, is expected to be in attendance.

Pelosi has appeared at Rhode Island fundraisers in the past, including Jamestown events in both 2009 and 2010.

Congressman James Langevin, who had long supported civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, made a bit of a splash in May when he went a step further: endorsing same-sex marriage with an op-ed in the Providence Journal.

Earlier this month, another ripple that didn't go much noticed: Langevin signed on as the 121st co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that blocks federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

The political set's focus, in recent days, has been on Sheldon Whitehouse's fundraising totals and those of Congressman David Cicilline and his would-be opponents. But don't forget Congressman James Langevin. His haul: almost $150,000 for the quarter. He's got just over $225,000 on hand. Not overwhelming numbers, but for a Congressman with no apparent threat on the horizon, it's solid.

The US Department of Defense released the beginnings of a new cybersecurity policy yesterday. The aim, as Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said, is to deny hackers "the benefit of an attack" - to quickly neutralize the assault and identify the attacker. Identifying hackers is one of the most confounding challenges in cybersecurity.

Congressman James Langevin, the most prominent Democratic voice in the House of Representatives on cybersecurity, has lately complained that Speaker of the House John Boehner has shut out Democrats on the issue by creating an all-Republican cybersecurity task force.

From Politico:

“It’s frustrating to see at the leadership level that Speaker Boehner and [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor are making this into a partisan issue,” Rep.

Congressman James Langevin's cybersecurity amendment, which passed the House last year, was defeated today. From the Congressman's office:

While recognizing the importance of moving forward with the bill, the Congressman expressed disappointment that the House did not pass an amendment he offered to address our country’s urgent need to strengthen its cybersecurity.

I've got a piece in the Phoenix today on the momentum surrounding cybersecurity legislation, designed to stave off attacks on critical US infrastructure and bite into billions of dollars in intellectual property theft.

One point that didn't get into the piece: the importance of election year politics.

National security issues, in theory, have the sort of bi-partisan appeal that might override electoral considerations.