CISA Cyber Exercise Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules

and pass the bill (H.R. 3223) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency the National Cyber Exercise Program, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Madam Speaker, as Americans prepared for their 4th of July holiday weekends, a Russian-based cybercrime crime group launched a ransomware attack that would affect up to 1,500 small- and medium-sized businesses and local governments.

The Kaseya ransomware attacks followed a series of cyberattacks, including one that resulted in the shutdown of 5,500 miles of pipeline on the East Coast.

The unfortunate reality is that the rate and ferocity of cyberattacks show no signs of ebbing.

State actors and cybercriminals alike use cyber tools to advance their goals, regardless of whether they are driven by geopolitical considerations or profiteering.

Together, the Federal Government and its State, local, and private sector partners must do everything in their power to defend our networks while deterring and raising the cost of cyberattacks.

At the same time, we must have tested, exercised cyber-incident response plans in place in the event a malicious hacker successfully gains access to a victim network.

Last year's National Defense Authorization Act included language directing DHS, in coordination with interagency partners, to conduct four exercises over the next 12 years to test the resiliency, response, and recovery of the U.S. to a significant cyber incident impacting critical infrastructure.

Such exercises are critical to understanding our national resilience to cyberattacks and where we need to invest in improving capability.

H.R. 3223 would complement the capstone exercise program authorized last year.

It directs the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, together with sector risk management agencies, to develop an exercise program that is designed to more regularly test and assess systemic preparedness and resilience to cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.

The authorization includes requirements for the development of model exercises that State and local governments or private sector entities could readily adapt.

Our collective resilience to cyberattacks demands that we regularly assess and improve our ability to respond to cyberattacks.

The exercise program authorized by H.R. 3223 will help State and local governments and private sector critical infrastructure entities to do just that.

So I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3223, and I reserve the balance of my time

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, the country is experiencing an unprecedented number of significant cyberattacks.

From hospitals to schools to pipelines and a meat processing plant, nothing is immune.

The key to ensuring we are resilient to cyberattacks is to ensure that we have trained and tested cyber incident response plans.

H.R. 3223, the CISA Cyber Exercise Act, is critical in that effort.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3223, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the CISA Cyber Exercise Act, a bipartisan bill to strengthen our preparation for cyber threats, which I introduced following the ransomware attacks on the Colonial Pipeline.

Last month, I happened to have the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Vilsack join me in Ingham County in my district to talk to farmers about protecting family farms, a very important topic in a rural community like mine. And when we went to open Q and A what I think shocked everybody was that the first man to stand up, the first farmer that stood up in his John Deere hat and his overalls wanted to know about cybersecurity. That was the first thing on his mind.

I never imagined that, as a Member of Congress, I would find myself standing in a barn talking with local farmers about ransomware, cyberattacks, and how we are going to protect ourselves but, in fact, I have been having that conversation over and over again in my community. And that is because the last few months have made clear to all Americans that cybersecurity is not just a tech issue, it has gone mainstream. It is at the very heart of protecting our critical infrastructure, energy, food, water, and healthcare that drives our daily lives, and it affects every single one of us. That is why just a week after a ransomware attack struck the world's largest meat processor, these Ingham County farmers wanted to know how cyberattacks would affect their family farms, their livelihood.

What would happen if we were struck by ransomware in Michigan? Who could they turn to to call for help? And above all, what is our government doing to protect citizens who are on the front lines of this threat?

I introduced the CISA Cyber Exercise Act to help answer exactly those questions.

This bill will make sure that our government is preparing for the full range of cyber threats and that we are giving our communities and businesses the tools they need to be secure and resilient.

It strengthens CISA, which is literally America's 911 call for cybersecurity, by formally establishing a National Cyber Exercise Program to test our Nation's response plans for major cyberattacks.

It also directs CISA to build and expand a set of model cyber exercises that can be used by our State and local governments.

By passing this legislation today, we are helping to ensure our Nation and our communities are protected.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 3223, the CISA Cyber Exercise Act. I thank my friend and colleague, Ms. Slotkin, for her leadership on this bill, which establishes a cyber exercise program

within CISA to elevate the National Cyber Incident Response Plan.

As cyberattacks affecting our Nation's critical infrastructure continue to rise, it is imperative that State and local governments and the private sector leverage the free services CISA offers to help prevent and mitigate the scourge of ransomware and other cyberattacks facing our Nation.

I am pleased that this legislation will authorize another vital tool in CISA's arsenal.

I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 3223, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I urge Members to support this fine bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 212.

members recorded pursuant to house resolution 8, 117th congress

Aderholt (Moolenaar)

Buchanan (LaHood)

DeSaulnier (Matsui)

Doyle, Michael F. (Cartwright)

Frankel, Lois (Clark (MA))

Fulcher (Simpson)

Garcia (IL) (Garcia (TX))

Gottheimer (Panetta)

Granger (Calvert)

Grijalva (Stanton)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Jones (Williams (GA))

Kahele (Moulton)

Kirkpatrick (Stanton)

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

McEachin (Wexton)

Meng (Jeffries)

Napolitano (Correa)

Payne (Pallone)

Ruiz (Correa)

Rush (Underwood)

Stewart (Owens)

Trone (Beyer)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 7 of House Resolution 535, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bills: H.R. 678; H.R. 1036; H.R. 1079; H.R. 1158; H.R. 1250; H.R. 1754; H.R. 1833; H.R. 1850;