Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3696) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make certain improvements regarding cybersecurity

and critical infrastructure protection, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3696, the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014. I have worked on this for a long time and introduced this bill with my good friend and colleague, the chairman of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Congressman Pat Meehan. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Thompson, as well as Ranking Member Clarke of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, for all their hard work in forging this bipartisan bill. These efforts once again prove that we can work together, despite our differences, to craft legislation that improves our national security and helps protect American critical infrastructure from devastating cyber attacks.

Just last week, the Homeland Security Committee heard testimony that we are at a pre-9/11 mindset when it comes to cybersecurity and that the government needs to do a better job at warning the public about the dangers of attacks on networks we rely upon. That was from the 9/11 Commission itself.

Cyber vulnerabilities in our Nation's critical infrastructure are an Achilles heel in our homeland security defenses. Let me be very clear. The cyber threat is real and it is happening right now. The Internet has become the next battlefield for warfare, but unlike land, sea, and air, cyber attacks occur at the speed of light, they are global, and they are more difficult to attribute.

Criminals, hacktivists, terrorists, and nation-state actors such as Russia, China, and Iran are increasingly using malicious malware to hack into U.S. companies for espionage purposes or financial gain, our defense systems to steal our sensitive military information, and our critical infrastructure to gain access to our gas lines, power grids, and water systems.

Iranian hackers, for example, continue to attack the American financial services sector to shut down Web sites and restrict America's access to their bank accounts. Additionally, Iran continues to build more sophisticated cyber weapons to target U.S. energy companies and has demonstrated these capabilities when they attacked Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco, and erased critical files on 30,000 computers. We cannot allow rogue nations like Iran to be able to shut things down and have capabilities that match our defenses. That would be a game-changer for our national security.

The Chinese, in particular, are hacking into major U.S. companies to give their industries competitive economic advantages in our global economy. I applaud the recent efforts taken by the Justice Department for indicting five members of the Chinese government for conducting cyber espionage attacks against U.S. industry, but more needs to be done. Those indictments send a clear message to our adversaries that cyber espionage and theft of American intellectual property, trade secrets, military blueprints, and jobs will not be tolerated.

A recent McAfee and Center for Strategic and International Studies report on the economic impact of cyber crime found an annual effect of roughly $455 billion globally, with 200,000 jobs lost in the United States alone as a result. In fact, former Director of the NSA, General Keith Alexander, described cyber espionage and the loss of American intellectual property and innovation as ``the greatest transfer of wealth in history.''

A recent poll conducted by Defense News revealed that our top Nation's top security analysts see cyber attacks as the greatest threat to our Nation. In fact, Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, testified earlier this year that: ``Critical infrastructure, particularly the systems used in water management, oil, and gas pipelines, electrical power distribution, and mass transit, provides an enticing target to malicious actors.''

A cyber attack on U.S. critical infrastructure--such as gas pipelines, financial services, transportation, and communication networks--could result in catastrophic regional or national effects on public health or safety, economic security, and national security.

High-profile retail breaches like the ones at Target and Neiman Marcus that compromised the personal information of over 110 million American consumers resonate with Americans, but as bad as those breaches were, a successful cyber attack on our critical infrastructure could cause much more damage in terms of lives lost and monetary damage. We cannot and will not wait for a catastrophic 9/11-scaled cyber attack to occur before moving greatly needed cybersecurity legislation.

The National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act ensures that DHS and not the military is responsible for domestic critical infrastructure protection.

Specifically, H.R. 3696 ensures that there is a ``civilian interface'' to the private sector to share real-time cyber threat information across the critical infrastructure sectors, particularly in light of the Snowden revelations.

Importantly, the bill protects civil liberties by putting a civilian agency with the Nation's most robust privacy and civil liberties office in charge of preventing personal information from being shared. While also prohibiting any new regulatory authority, this bill builds upon the groundwork already laid by industry and DHS to facilitate critical infrastructure protection and incidence response efforts.

This bipartisan bill, which is rare in this day and age, Mr. Speaker, is a product of 19 months of extensive outreach and great collaboration with all stakeholders, including more than 300 meetings with experts, industry, government agencies, academics, privacy advocates, and other committees of jurisdiction.

We went through several drafts and countless hours of negotiations to bring this commonsense legislation to the floor with support from all of the critical infrastructure sectors.

I will enter in the Record some of the letters of support, representing over 33 trade associations from across industry sectors, U.S. businesses, national security experts, and privacy and civil liberty advocates.

Specifically, we have received support letters from the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Chemistry Council, AT&T, Boeing, Con Edison, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, GridWise Alliance, and multiple trade associations in the energy sector and the financial services sector, Information Technology Industry Council, the Internet Security Alliance, Rapid7, National Defense Industrial Association, Professional Services Council, Oracle, Entergy, Pepco, Verizon, and Symantec.

I believe that is a very impressive showing on behalf of the privacy advocates and also the private sector.

American Civil Liberties Union,

January 14, 2014.

Re H.R. 3696, the ``National Cybersecurity and Critical

Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013'' (NCCIP Act)

Hon. Michael McCaul, Chairman,

Hon. Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member,

Hon. Patrick Meehan, Subcommittee Chairman,

Hon. Yvette Clarke, Subcommittee Ranking Member,

House Homeland Security Committee,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members: On behalf of the

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), its over half a

million members, countless additional supporters and

activists, and 53 affiliates nationwide, we write in regard

to H.R. 3696, the National Cybersecurity and Critical

Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013 (NCCIP Act). We have

reviewed this legislation and have found that information

sharing provisions in this bill do not undermine current

privacy laws.

As we testified before the Committee last year, it is

crucial that civilian agencies like the Department of

Homeland Security lead domestic cybersecurity efforts and the

NCCIP Act makes strides towards that end. The bill directs

DHS to coordinate cybersecurity efforts among non-

intelligence government agencies and critical infrastructure

entities. The NCCIP Act smartly does that by focusing on

coordination and information sharing within current law and

leveraging existing structures that have proven successful in

the past. Unlike H.R. 624, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and

Protection Act (CISPA), your bill does not create broad

exceptions to the privacy laws for cybersecurity. Instead, it

strengthens private-public partnerships by supporting

existing Information Sharing and Analysis Centers and Sector

Coordinating Councils and reinforces voluntary sharing under

current statutes that already provide for many cybersecurity

scenarios.

We commend the Committee for advancing cyber legislation

that is both pro-security and pro-privacy and we look forward

to working with you further on this matter. Please contact

Michelle Richardson, Legislative Counsel, at 202-715-0825 or

[email protected] for more information.

Sincerely,

Laura W. Murphy,

Director,

Michelle Richardson,

Legislative Counsel.

I want to give a great deal of thanks not only to the Members involved, but to the staff on this committee on both sides of the aisle who have worked countless hours to bring this bill to its fruition on the floor of the House.

I also would like to bring special attention to the endorsement from the ACLU. They refer to H.R. 3696 as ``both pro-security and pro- privacy.'' When have we heard these two coming together?

Striking a balance between security and privacy, I believe, is one of the most difficult challenges in developing cybersecurity legislation, and I am so very proud that this committee and this bill achieves that goal.

I want to close with the threat that I see out there from cyber. People ask me: What keeps you up at night? We can talk about al Qaeda, Mr. Putin, or

ISIS in Iraq and Syria, we can talk about our border and the threats south of the border, but when I see our offensive capability and what we can do offensively, knowing at night that we don't have the defensive capability to stop attacks not only to steal things, not only criminal IP theft, not just espionage, but the power to shut things down and to bring this country to its knees with a cyber 9/11, Mr. Speaker, is really what keeps me up at night.

My father was a World War II bombardier on a B-17. He flew over 32 missions in Europe in support of the D-day invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. In his days, bombs won that war.

We have a new kind of warfare out there. It is a digital warfare, and the game has changed. It is done anonymously. There are no boundaries to this cyber threat any more. It can come from anywhere, at any time, without being able to attribute it back to the source from where the attack came from.

This bill will for the first time codify DHS' ability--and the NCCIC, which is their cyber command, to better defend and support critical infrastructure in the United States that we so heavily depend on, and it will ultimately protect not only our economy and our infrastructure, but ultimately protect the American people.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation to protect America, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies, who has spent, I must say, countless hours advancing this bill, meeting with the private sector and privacy groups to get to this point where we are today.

I want to commend you, sir, for a job well done.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I believe the gentlewoman from New York has a few additional speakers, so I am prepared to close once the gentlewoman does.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me echo the sentiments of the gentlewoman from New York.

I want to thank you and Mr. Meehan for your work on this bill. You are truly the workhorses--the engines--behind this bill, and I want to thank you for helping us get to this point where we are today.

Congressman Langevin, we were talking about cybersecurity before it was cool to talk about cybersecurity.

Forming the Cybersecurity Caucus, I think, raises awareness of Members of Congress about how important this issue really is, because, I think, when you talk about this issue, Mr. Speaker, people's eyes tend to glaze over. They don't understand how important this is in protecting the American people.

This is a national security bill. I don't believe partisan politics has a place in that. I was at The Aspen Institute with Jane Harman, who served on our committee and on the Intelligence Committee for many years, who also believes that our adversaries don't care whether we are Democrat or Republican. They care about the fact that we are Americans, and they want to hit us. We have adversaries who want to hit us--China, Russia, Iran, and countless others--in the cybersecurity space.

This is a pro-security and pro-privacy bill. I had a reporter ask me, How could you possibly get the ACLU to agree on any security bill? It protects Americans' privacy but also their security through the private civilian interface to the private sector, and that is how we do it. It is not through the military. The NSA has a foreign intelligence role, and the DHS has a domestic critical infrastructure role. Of course, Director Alexander called cybersecurity and what has happened in recent years the largest transfer of wealth in history.

So when the American people say: Why is this so important; the largest transfer of wealth in American history? Why is this so important? Because cyber can bring down things, can shut down things in a 9/11 style.

We have a historical moment in this Congress to pass the first cybersecurity bill through the House and Senate and be signed into law in the history of the Congress. As this bill passes--I hope, in a few minutes--and we send it over to the Senate, I hope our colleagues on the Senate side will respond to this.

They have made great progress on the Senate side in getting work done on cybersecurity. We have a unique opportunity and a great moment here to pass this bill out of the House, get it married with the Senate bill in a bipartisan way to protect the American people, and get it signed into law by the President, something that we very rarely have seen in this Congress. So I think it is a very historic moment.

To close, Mr. Speaker, when 9/11 happened, a lot of people did a lot of finger pointing around here and pointed to Members of Congress and to the executive branch and said: What did you do to stop this? What did you do to stop this?

We had a 9/11 Commission that pointed out all the vulnerabilities and the things that we didn't do as Members of Congress. I don't want that to happen again today. I want to be able to say, Mr. Speaker, if, God forbid, we get hit, and we get hit hard in a cyber attack against the United States of America, that we as Members of Congress and members of this committee did everything within our power to stop it.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the great work we have done together. I look forward to the passage of this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology,

Washington, DC, February 24, 2014.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McCaul: I am writing to you concerning the

jurisdictional interest of the Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology in H.R. 3696, the ``National Cybersecurity and

Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013.'' The bill

contains provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

I recognize and appreciate the desire to bring this

legislation before the House of Representatives in an

expeditious manner, and accordingly, I will waive further

consideration of this bill in Committee, notwithstanding any

provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee

on Science, Space, and Technology. This waiver, of course, is

conditional on our mutual understanding that agreeing to

waive consideration of this bill should not be construed as

waiving, reducing, or affecting the jurisdiction of the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

This waiver is also given with the understanding that the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology expressly

reserves its authority to seek conferees on any provision

within its jurisdiction during any House-Senate conference

that may be convened on this, or any similar legislation. I

ask for your commitment to support any request by the

Committee for conferees on H.R. 3696 as well as any similar

or related legislation.

I ask that a copy of this letter and your response be

included in the report on H.R. 3696 and also be placed in the

Congressional Record during consideration of this bill on the

House floor.

Sincerely,

Lamar Smith,

Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2952) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make certain improvements in the laws relating to the advancement of security technologies for critical infrastructure protection, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2952, the Critical Infrastructure Research Development Advancement, or what we call the CIRDA, Act.

This legislation was passed out of full committee with unanimous bipartisan support, and I would like to thank my good friend, the ranking member on the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies Committee, Ms. Clarke, for cosponsoring and supporting this legislation.

One of the committee's most important duties is to protect our Nation's critical infrastructure. The CIRDA Act will change the way the Department of Homeland Security develops protections for critical infrastructure by creating and facilitating access to new and existing technologies.

Currently, there are barriers within the Department that inhibit strategizing for and, ultimately, the purchasing of the best tools that our country has to offer. The CIRDA Act will direct DHS to facilitate the development of a research and development strategy for critical infrastructure security technologies as well as explore the feasibility of expanding use of public-private R&D consortiums.

Our Nation must have access to new security technologies, and a public-private partnership can help spur innovation and economic competitiveness for entities that protect our Nation's defense systems, essential networks, Americans' financial information, chemical facilities, and the many other areas of our economy that are vital for the protection and confidence of Americans and our way of life.

This is critically important, Mr. Speaker, because of the fact of the nature, when we are dealing with cyber, what we are dealing with is not just the ability of what we can do today to create a defense, but the recognition of those on the other side who are looking to try to exploit our defenses. It is a constant chess game that is taking place.

Whatever we are able to do, immediately somebody is looking for a way to try to get around those protections and compromise them. As a result, we have to be able to have the best capacity, generated either in the private sector or in the government sector, and the ability to get those best protections to the places where they need to be the quickest and the most efficiently.

Finally, the legislation will designate a ``Technology Clearinghouse,'' where proven security tools can be rapidly shared among government and private partners. Keeping pace with the rapidly evolving variables of the threat to our Nation and the technological achievements only enhances our ability to combat attacks to the U.S.' critical infrastructure.

I urge support for the CIRDA Act.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Congress of the United States, House of Representatives,

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,

Washington, DC, January 8, 2014.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McCaul: I am writing to you concerning the

jurisdictional interest of the Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology in H.R. 2952, the ``Critical Infrastructure

Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013.'' The bill

contains provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

I recognize and appreciate the desire to bring this

legislation before the House of Representatives in an

expeditious manner, and accordingly, I will waive further

consideration of this bill in Committee, notwithstanding any

provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee

on Science, Space, and Technology. This waiver, of course, is

conditional on our mutual understanding that agreeing to

waive consideration of this bill should not be construed as

waiving, reducing, or affecting the jurisdiction of the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

This waiver is also given with the understanding that the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will be added as

a recipient of the report required to be provided by the

General Accounting Office in Section 3 of the bill.

Additionally, the Committee on Science, Space, and

Technology expressly reserves its authority to seek conferees

on any provision within its jurisdiction during any House-

Senate conference that may be convened on this, or any

similar legislation. I ask for your commitment to support any

request by the Committee for conferees on H.R. 2952 as well

as any similar or related legislation.

I ask that a copy of this letter and your response be

included in the report on H.R. 2952 and also be placed in the

Congressional Record during consideration of this bill on the

House floor.

Sincerely,

Lamar Smith,

Chairman, Committee on Science,

Space, and Technology.

Enclosure.

Mr. Speaker, I want to express as well, as I close, once again, my appreciation for the tremendous collaborative working relationship with my colleague, Ms. Clarke, and her staff and the staffs from both committees who have worked extensively to put these bills in the position that they have.

It is a joy to be part of something here in this Congress in a bipartisan fashion, in which people are working together to solve problems that challenge us all.

In my closing, I will include in the Record a letter in support of H.R. 2952 that is written by the Security Industry Association. These are the folks that represent over 470 suppliers of electronic physical security and other kinds of solutions.

Security Industry Association,

September 12, 2013.

Hon. Pat Meehan,

Chairman, House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure

Protection, and Security Technologies, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Meehan: The Security Industry Association

(SIA) would like to express its strong support for H.R. 2952,

the ``Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Act of

2013'' (CIRDA). SIA represents more than 470 suppliers of

electronic physical security solutions and countless

technology leaders who design and install the security

systems that protect millions of Americans each day in our

nation's cities and towns, schools, factories, government

buildings, transportation systems, ports, and other

components of critical infrastructure. Owners and operators

of these facilities work closely with SIA members as trusted

advisors to ensure that cutting edge security technology

solutions are adopted to prevent crime and terrorist attack.

SIA believes the CIRDA legislation will help the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set clear and

measureable R&D priorities that will accelerate the

development of cutting-edge security technologies to protect

critical infrastructure. More specifically, we strongly

support the provision of H.R. 2952 that will require the

development of a R&D strategy by the DHS Science and

Technology Directorate that draws upon the expertise of

Sector Coordinating Councils to identify security risks and

technology gaps. With this essential information, DHS will be

in a better position to communicate with the private sector

about the security technologies that are most needed to

prevent emerging threats to our homeland. SIA is pleased to

serve on the Emergency Services Sector Coordinating Council

and would be pleased to identify Subject Matter Experts from

our membership to contribute to the development of this

proposed R&D strategy and the Critical Infrastructure

Protection Technology Clearinghouse provided for in your

legislation.

Thank you for your leadership in introducing this important

piece of legislation. SIA appreciates the priority this

legislation places upon public-private partnerships and we

look forward to working with you to ensure swift passage of

CIRDA this year.

Sincerely,

Donald R. Erickson,

Chief Executive Officer.

The essence of what this is is the recognition by those who are in the industry that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be able to set clear and measurable R&D priorities that will accelerate the development of cutting-edge security technologies to protect the critical infrastructure.

When we are out there so frequently, what we hear from people is the concern: I have been attacked. What do I do to protect myself? And they turn to the Department of Homeland Security for advice.

As I said at an earlier point, the reality is that, while the responsibility rests with the Department and in the government to be able to facilitate the protection of the homeland and our assets, the reality is that 90 percent of these assets are placed within the private sector, and it is, in fact, there where much of, as much of, in fact, maybe some of the most pioneering research and development is accomplished.

One of the other realities we face, and I think the gentlelady pointed to it so well, this concept of innovation, when we often think of innovation in a positive way. It usually is a positive thing. It means somebody is always thinking of a new and better way to accomplish a task.

But criminals do that, too, and so do those who want to do us harm; and no matter how good our protections are, there is the reality that somebody else, the moment that it goes online, is looking for a way to get around it. That means that we have to have the capacity to have the ability to work quickly and effectively; then, once those who are in a position to know what is best, to be able to communicate down the line. So not just the big company that is situated someplace in New York City, but the small manufacturer in the middle of Kansas who is

still worried about their R&D, can have access to the same kinds of protections.

This bill allows that kind of collaboration to take place, working through the clearinghouse in the Department of Homeland Security. That is why I think it is so important that we take this step forward. I urge all Members to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I want to thank the gentleman from Texas and my colleagues from both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3696, the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014.

Before I really talk about the substance, I want to associate myself for a moment with the comments and very effective commentary of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), but his closing, I think, really summed it up. It is not just what we are doing; but why does this matter? Why does this matter now?

We have generated tremendous economic prosperity by virtue of the creation of a global Internet, but the fact of the matter is that while this has closed our world and enabled instantaneous communications and other kinds of benefits, it has also created a situation, for the first time in the history of our Nation, in which we aren't protected by two oceans and, effectively, two friendly countries on our borders. Now, we are able to be accessed from anywhere in the world at a moment's notice.

It was instructive to me that I often used to say, when we were handling a case, that you let the evidence be put in through the words of the witnesses. If you pay attention to the words of the witness, that is more powerful than what you can say.

It is instructive to me that the first thing former CIA Director and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta did when he stepped down as Secretary of Defense was to travel to New York and warn not just New York, but this Nation about the potential impact of what he termed a ``cyber Pearl Harbor.''

As a result, this is a critically important and timely issue that we are working on. As importantly, it has been addressed in an effective bipartisan fashion.

In the wake of more aggressive and escalating cyber attacks on our Nation's critical infrastructure, including our financial systems, NASDAQ, and the recent Neiman Marcus and Target breaches of Americans' personal information, we bring H.R. 3696 to the House floor.

Cyber attacks and cyber hacks are now front and center in our homeland, and the media is reporting more now than ever on what cyber targets already know--that the threat is constant and evolving.

Americans expect Congress to act.

We who serve in Congress and government know all too well that the cyber threat is real and imminent and can do catastrophic damage and destruction to the critical infrastructure of our Nation--our bridges, tunnels, oil

and gas pipelines, water systems, financial systems and their markets, air traffic control systems, and more. Today, the U.S. House of Representatives takes a significant step forward in protecting and securing cyberspace through the cyber infrastructure act that we have put on the floor today.

I am very proud of this bill and of all of the good work and due diligence that went into it. Chairman McCaul and I and our staffs held over 300 stakeholder meetings to ensure we got this legislation right.

I want to thank as well my good friends on the other side of the aisle--Ranking Member Bennie Thompson and subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette Clarke--for their leadership and their work collectively on this.

This is bipartisan legislation but not just amongst those of us working together here within the House. As the chairman identified, it has also been supported by private sector stakeholders, by the ACLU. In fact, the ACLU has called it--and the chairman as well--pro-security and pro-privacy. That is because, very notably, this bill puts the Department of Homeland Security, a civilian agency with the Nation's first-created and most robust privacy office, in charge of preventing personal information from getting inadvertently caught in the net, which is a big, important part of the work that has been done here.

This bill builds upon the Department of Homeland Security's unique public-private partnership in securing the Nation's critical infrastructure, and it codifies the Department's critical cybersecurity mission. Public-private is important, as 90 percent of the assets in the cyber world are in the private sector. The Department of Homeland Security works with the other Federal Government partners in a collaborative effort to secure our Nation against cyber attacks, and this bill cements DHS' critical role.

Specifically, this bill requires the Department to collaborate with industry to facilitate both the protection of our infrastructure and our response to a cyber attack. The bill, very importantly, strengthens DHS' civilian, transparent interface to allow real-time cyber threat sharing across the critical infrastructure sectors. This legislation also strengthens the integrity of our Nation's information systems, and it makes it more difficult for online hackers to compromise consumer and personal information, like we saw in Target, and it prevents hackers from stealing Americans' business and intellectual property-- another point well driven home by the chairman in talking about jobs and of the hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development that are stolen from America by virtue of these cyber attacks.

The ability of these attacks to take place at the level of sophistication necessary to penetrate some of the world's most mature networks should come as no surprise. Foreign adversaries, including China, Iran, and Russian criminal enterprises, have spent years and have invested billions of dollars into crafting and securing the tools and intelligence necessary to target American citizens. Whether it is the theft of wealth or intelligence or that of launching a malicious attack on our Nation's energy, transportation, or chemical networks, American lives and livelihoods remain at risk without sufficient security.

Last year, President Obama issued an executive order on cybersecurity because Congress failed to act on this issue, but the threshold of securing our Nation in the 21st century cannot rely on executive orders and Presidential directives. As Members of Congress, we have the responsibility to act in a way that best protects the American citizens. Our enemies live and breathe to catch us asleep at the switch, and I am unwilling, as my colleagues are, to stand by, speechless, when they are asked, What did you do to prevent a cyber attack? Now is the time to show them what we have and what we can do.

This bill doesn't address every issue in cybersecurity, and it is not a comprehensive cybersecurity fix, but it is a giant and critical step forward. Together, we can unite our Nation against those who wish to do us harm, and I have no doubt that we can get it done. In fact, we have no other choice. I urge the support of H.R. 3696.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 2952) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make certain improvements in the laws relating to the advancement of security technologies for critical infrastructure protection, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2952, the Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act. H.R. 2952 was originally passed by the House as the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Act of 2014. The updated legislation passed this week by our Senate colleagues adds important cybersecurity workforce provisions to the bill from what is known as McCaul-Meehan, H.R. 3696.

As cyber attacks by hackers from around the world grow increasingly sophisticated, it is more urgent than ever to improve our ability to stop them. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Communications and Integration Center, NCCIC, must compete with big technology companies and cybersecurity firms for cybersecurity workforce, while DHS is limited in its ability to attract talented and well-trained cyber warriors.

H.R. 2952 will require the Secretary to assess the cybersecurity workforce currently in DHS and develop a strategy to enhance it. The assessment would look at cyber positions, readiness, training, types of positions, and its ability to carry out its cyber mission, with the ultimate goal of enhancing these capabilities and produce a recruitment and implementation plan. Finally, the bill also requires the Secretary to submit a report on the feasibility of establishing a cybersecurity fellowship program.

This legislation along with the others we have brought up today are important pieces in improving the overall capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security and its ability to carry out its cybersecurity mission. This is a critically important piece of legislation which enables the Department of Homeland Security to compete for what are very, very in-demand individuals with talent in the area of cybersecurity and protections.

Most significantly, it allows us to have the kinds of quality of individuals who can work in an equal capacity

with the best of those who are in our other governmental institutions, and particularly those who are now working in the private sector. I believe that the capacity for DHS to attract these workers is critical to its mission. I continue to encourage the growth and development of that expertise.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I am prepared to close once the gentleman does.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank the gentleman for his kind words and for his cooperation. The ranking member helped to set a tone for the collaboration on the committee, along with the leadership of our chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Texas. From the beginning, our focus was on working together to find solutions to the important issues which don't have a Democrat or a Republican unique perspective. It is an American perspective for us to put the priority on protecting our homeland.

I want to particularly express my appreciation to the ranking member of our subcommittee, the gentlewoman from New York, for all of her collaboration and the delightful manner in which we had to work through difficult issues together but, ultimately, got to compromise into important resolutions on these issues and matters of importance.

I appreciate her foresight on this particular provision, which I am pleased to strongly endorse. The reason for that is we are facing a very challenging time globally with the issue of cybersecurity. We not only have to worry about the impacts that can happen with cyber issues for the kinds of materials that we have got in the private sector, that they can be impacted, but we are also dealing in a very unsafe world in which threats are not only the theft of information or interference with systems, but the ability now for those who want to do us harm to use the cyber network to carry out that harm. Therefore, it is more critical than ever that we are able to attract to the Department of Homeland Security, in fact into government, the kinds of people who are prepared to be on the front lines of this battle.

This is exactly what this provision will enable us to do--first, to attract people, and I am always inspired by them, because they have the same sense and focus of dedication to their country that so many brave men and women who sign up and serve us in uniform. While they are serving in a different capacity, their service to our Nation is every bit as real in the sense of the personal sacrifice that they make to help us attract the best and the brightest to protect our assets. You have to appreciate that many of them, once they get that expertise, are very, very desirable to corporations and others in the business world who will pay them significantly more to come to work for them.

So this idea of beginning to create the bullpen, so to speak, of the next

generation of cyber-prepared warriors for our country is at the heart of what the gentlewoman is trying to do, to enable universities and others to develop these kinds of programs that support students who, in return for some support for their education, will come to work for us. That will get us the next level of individuals, and it will begin the process of training those individuals, which we will need.

So this is, again, another important piece of our overall successful approach to trying to create cybersecurity.

I urge all of the Members to join me in supporting this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3696, the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014, and I am pleased to be here today as an original cosponsor of this legislation.

This bipartisan legislation gives the Department of Homeland Security the legislative authority it needs to carry out its cyber mission and to help protect our Nation's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks and intrusions.

The approach taken in this bill is very much in line with DHS' approach since 2007, when President Bush designated the Department as the lead Federal civilian agency for cybersecurity.

This is a dual mission. DHS is responsible for working with Federal civilian agencies to protect Federal IT networks and the dot-gov domain. At the same time, DHS is responsible for effectively partnering with the private sector to raise its level of cyber hygiene and foster greater cybersecurity.

I am pleased that H.R. 3696 authorizes the 247 operations of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, also referred to as NCCIC. The NCCIC has been the epicenter for information sharing about the activities of cyberterrorists and criminals and the reporting of cyber incidents by critical infrastructure owners and operators.

Additionally, the bill codifies ongoing efforts to raise the level of cybersecurity within critical infrastructure sectors. Specifically, it authorizes the development and implementation, in coordination with the private sector, of voluntary risk-based security standards.

This provision essentially codifies the process that the National Institute of Standards and Technology, also known as NIST, undertook pursuant to an executive order that President Obama issued in February of 2013.

Under the approach taken in this bill, we are asking business and government to come together to find an adaptable and cooperative cybersecurity framework, not an off-the-shelf or check-the-box solution, to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Nation.

I am pleased that the measured and targeted approach taken to working with the private sector was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, which called our bill ``pro-security and pro-privacy.''

The President said it best:

It is the policy of the United States to enhance the

security and resilience of the Nation's critical

infrastructure and to maintain a cyber environment that

encourages efficiency, innovation, and economic prosperity

while promoting safety, security, business confidentiality,

privacy, and civil liberties.

While I am also pleased about all we do with respect to the Department's mission to work with the private sector on cybersecurity, I am a bit disappointed that key language that clarifies DHS' roles with respect to other Federal agencies and protection of the dot-gov domain is not in the bill before you today.

Unfortunately, the striking of these provisions appears to have been the price the Committee on Homeland Security had to pay to get this important legislation to the floor.

It seems that the provisions that would have given DHS specific authority to respond in a more timely manner to Federal network breaches were opposed by another committee chairman. Unfortunately, that chairman has willfully chosen to ignore reality.

The reality is that since 2008, DHS has assumed responsibility for working with agencies to protect the dot-gov domain, not the Office of Management and Budget.

It is my hope that, as this legislation moves through the legislative process, there will be progress on efforts to ensure that the law reflects this reality.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3696, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), the cochair of the House Cybersecurity Caucus.

(Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. If the gentleman from Texas has no more speakers, then, in closing, I urge the passage of H.R. 3696. It is legislation that will enhance DHS' ability to execute its cybersecurity mission. I am particularly pleased that it includes language that I authored to help ensure that DHS has the cyber workforce it needs to execute that mission.

I would like to thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson, as well as the subcommittee chair, Mr. Meehan, for their leadership and their vision, and for their understanding that this is something that keeps us up at night, that this is something that this body must move forward to address--that this is a 21st century threat for which we cannot sit idly by and do nothing about. Their leadership on H.R. 3696 and on the suite of cyber legislation on the floor today speaks volumes to moving us in the right direction.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 3696, and I yield back the balance of my time.