GOP lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve a platform listing common cyber vulnerabilities.

Committee Chairman Greg Walden Gregory (Greg) Paul WaldenOVERNIGHT ENERGY: House passes sweeping clean energy bill | Pebble Mine CEO resigns over secretly recorded comments about government officials | Corporations roll out climate goals amid growing pressure to deliver House passes sweeping clean energy bill Hillicon Valley: DOJ proposes tech liability shield reform to Congress | Treasury sanctions individuals, groups tied to Russian malign influence activities | House Republican introduces bill to set standards for self-driving cars MORE (R-Ore.) joined Reps. Gregg Harper Gregory (Gregg) Livingston HarperCongress sends bill overhauling sexual harassment policy to Trump's desk Dems cry foul in undecided N.C. race Mississippi New Members 2019 MORE (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn Marsha BlackburnHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Key Democrat opposes GOP Section 230 subpoena for Facebook, Twitter, Google Senate panel threatens subpoena for Google, Facebook and Twitter executives MORE (R-Tenn.) and Rob Latta (R-Ohio) to write a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Kirstjen Michele NielsenMore than million in DHS contracts awarded to firm of acting secretary's wife: report DHS IG won't investigate after watchdog said Wolf, Cuccinelli appointments violated law Appeals court sides with Trump over drawdown of immigrant protections MORE on Monday suggesting that the program is granted a line item in the DHS budget instead of receiving uneven funding through contracts.

The lawmakers also recommended that the program be reviewed biennially by both DHS and MITRE, the nonprofit that also manages the platform.

ADVERTISEMENT

The platform — known as the Comment Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program — was established nearly two decades ago to help companies, groups, agencies and others identify and share bugs.

“The historical practices for managing the CVE program are clearly insufficient. Barring significant improvements, they will likely lead again to challenges that have direct, negative impacts on stakeholders across society,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The Republicans noted that they had requested copies of all reviews of the program by DHS or MITRE, but received none from the department and only a few slides from the federal contractor. “The Committee finds the lack of documentation produced by DHS and MITRE to be revealing in and of itself,” the letter reads.

The committee members also called the current funding mechanisms for the resource “unstable and prone to acute fluctuations,” asking how officials “were expected to maintain a stable and effective program” under the conditions.

DHS declined to comment on the letter to The Hill, citing an agency policy on not commenting on congressional correspondence.

The committees had requested the documents after media reports stated that those who submitted bugs to the platform were not receiving numbers for the vulnerabilities, meaning that they were not formally being added to the list and shared with others who lean on the resource.

The reports also stated that the platform could no longer keep up with the number of requests for CVE numbers, citing the different kinds of devices that were now open to vulnerabilities.