What the New Draft Quantum Computing Legislation Says About our Quantum Preparedness.

More Laws. More Strategies. More Action?

Here’s a riddle:

What do a Senator from Michigan and a Senator from Tennessee have in common?

Need a hint?

One is a Democrat, and one is a Republican.

That probably didn’t help honestly so I’ll just give you the answer:

Quantum computing!

Didn’t see that coming? I understand. Bipartisanship is difficult to come by these days so when Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced draft bipartisan legislation to mandate the creation of a National Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Strategy, many took notice. In the emerging technology world, many people cheered this latest move at the federal level to prioritize quantum computing and post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) readiness. Given the scarcity of action on the PQC front, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to federal movement on the topic. We should, however, reflect on the lack of action to date that made this draft legislation possible. No one is cheering the bipartisanship more than I am, but why is this law necessary and is it what we really need to kick our quantum preparation and resilience into high gear?

The quantum preparedness issue has a longer history than many realize, but it has been long on strategy and short on implementation. In fact, there’s already a law on the books from December of 2022 (nearly three years ago) that mandated specific actions to prepare for PQC and move our preparedness forward. That it is requiring a second law years later to compel federal agencies to even run a pilot program should make everyone stop and think.

Quantum computing is the single most threatening cybersecurity threat we will face in our lifetimes and progress toward mitigating a threat we know is coming (and have plenty of lead time to prepare for) has been shocking slow. As of April 2025, 95% of organizations polled by ISACA said they were not prepared to transition to new PQC algorithms. Senators Blackburn and Peters are doing something noble. They are trying to push this issue forward but that they must get involved speaks volumes about our collective preparedness for quantum in general.

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