Patents for Humanity Act of 2022

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2629) to establish cybercrime reporting mechanisms, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on S. 2629.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2629, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act. This legislation improves our understanding and tracking of cybercrime so that we can do more to prevent it.

A 2018 Gallup Poll found that 1 in 4 Americans had been a victim of cybercrime. And I might say that it has exponentially grown during the pandemic. From stolen financial information, to system-wide shutdowns, to ransomware attacks, these crimes harm our families, our businesses, and our government.

The Council of Economic Advisers estimates that malicious cyber activities cost our economy as much as $109 billion in 2016, and experts believe these costs are growing. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased opportunities for cybercrime with increases in remote work and the time people are spending online. Hackers also took advantage of our recovery efforts, stealing identities to file fake unemployment claims or fraudulent loan applications. And again, in the midst of other innocent Americans not being able to secure those dollars, and not being able to secure unemployment claims because of the fake process that clouded this system.

Many of the victims of these scams only learned that they were attacked when they went to file genuine claims and were told had already been submitted using their names or businesses.

Sadly, cybercriminals often target older Americans. In 2020, people over 60 accounted for the most complaints of any age group as collected by the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. People over 60 also had the greatest losses, with over $966 billion lost to cybercrime in 2020.

We must do more to protect Americans from cybercrime, and that starts with a better understanding of what it is and how it occurs. The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act will gather experts in law enforcement, business, and technology to create a taxonomy of cybercrime so we can define it and classify it in a uniform way.

This legislation also adds cybercrime to two important law enforcement tools used to track crimes: The National Incident-Based Reporting System and the National Crime Victimization Survey. Together, these provisions will ensure that law enforcement has a complete picture of when and where cybercrime occurs and who is harmed by it.

Finally, this bill directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on reporting mechanisms for cybercrime and the disparities in cybercrime data relative to other types of crime data. Together, this legislation will put in place the tools to clearly define and classify cybercrime, to track cybercrime, and to better understand this serious threat.

Mr. Speaker, it is a very serious threat. And in addition to the monetary damages, people have been personally and psychologically impacted by losses, by lack of employability, by being rejected, for some of these claims having to be delayed when the individual who needs it is desperate and experiencing a desperate economic condition, to find that they have been, in essence, gamed by a cybercriminal. We must stop this.

And as I said earlier, one of the most vulnerable populations are individuals over 60. And really when you find those in their seventies, eighties, nineties, who have lived their lives, supported this Nation, and become victims of cybercrime, it is something that compels you to really want to stop this threat.

I commend Senators Brian Schatz and Thom Tillis for their work on this bipartisan legislation. I also thank Representative Abigail Spanberger for her leadership on the House companion to this bill. I was proud to stand with her in introducing the House companion, along with our Republican colleagues, Representative Blake Moore and Representative Andrew Garbarino.

We must give law enforcement the tools to keep pace with new technology and to get a step ahead of the threats faced by our ever- evolving world. This bill takes an important step in that effort, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Memorandum Excerpt

To: Members of the House Judiciary Committee

From: The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, Committee on

the Judiciary

Re: Markup of H.R. 4977, the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics

Act''; H.R. 55, the ``Emmett Till Antilynching Act'';

H.R. 5338, the ``Radiation Exposure Compensation Act

Amendments of 2021''; and H.R. 5796, the ``Patents for

Humanity Act of 2021''

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2021

On Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. in 2141

Rayburn House Office Building, the House Judiciary Committee

will mark up the following measures: H.R. 3359, the

``Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act of 2021''; H.R.

4977, the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics Act''; H.R. 55, the

``Emmett Till Antilynching Act''; H.R. 5338, the ``Radiation

Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021''; and H.R.

5796, the ``Patents for Humanity Act of 2021''.

II. H.R. 4977, the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics Act''

H.R. 4977, the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics Act'' would

improve the U.S. government's understanding, measurement, and

tracking of cybercrime. The bill would direct the Department

of Justice to work with the National Academy of Sciences, in

consultation with relevant stakeholders, to develop a

taxonomy of cybercrime that could be used by law enforcement

to ensure that the National Incident-Based Reporting System

(NIBRS), or any successor system, include cybercrime reports

from federal, state, and local officials. It also directs the

Bureau of Justice Statistics to include questions relating to

cybercrime in the National Crime Victimization Survey. The

bill also directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO)

to report on the effectiveness of current cybercrime

reporting mechanisms and highlight disparities in reporting

data between cybercrime data and other types of crime data.

This bipartisan bill was introduced on August 6, 2021 by

Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and currently has 18

cosponsors. An identical Senate companion, S. 2629 (Schatz-

HI, Tillis-NC, Cornyn-TX, Durbin-IL), was marked up by the

Senate Judiciary Committee on November 18 and favorably

reported on a unanimous voice vote. The Chairman will offer

an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4977.

A. General Background

Cybercrime continues to be a significant threat to

businesses, governments, and individual Americans. Cybercrime

includes a broad range of conduct including phishing,

ransomware, identity theft, and data breaches.\1\ A recent

survey found one in five Americans have been victims of

ransomware.\2\ The COVID-19 pandemic created new

opportunities for cybercrime, including COVID-related

phishing and malware, with 35.9% of the world's COVID-19

cyber threats occurring in the United States.\3\ Cyber

attackers mainly rely on phishing attacks, which is the most

common attack as measured by the number of victims.\4\

Attackers also use online tools for extortion, data breaches,

identity theft, extracting ransoms, email compromise schemes,

impersonating charities and government actors, and other

schemes.\5\ Researchers attribute the rise in attacks to the

increase in remote work and the lower security protections at

one's home compared to an office.\6\

Cybercrime is costly and harms individuals, government

entities, and businesses across a broad range of industries.

The average data breach in 2020 cost companies $3.83 million

dollars.\7\ Email compromise schemes, in which email accounts

are compromised to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds,

accounted for over $1.8 billion in losses in 2020.\8\ In the

first six months of 2021, six ransomware organizations hacked

292 organizations and stole $45 million dollars.\9\

Organizations that experienced cybercrime this year include

the Colonial Pipeline, the Steamship Authority of

Massachusetts, JBS Foods, and the Washington D.C.

Metropolitan Police Department.\10\ As shown by the gas

shortage due to the Colonial Pipeline breach, these attacks

can shut down critical infrastructure, create shortages,

increase the cost of goods and services, and cost

organizations money from both operational shutdowns and

paying ransoms to hackers.\11\ Likewise, the December 2020,

SolarWinds attack targeted SolarWinds' 300,000 customers and

endangered the cybersecurity of many federal government

agencies, including the Department of Defense, as well as 425

of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies.\12\ Cybercrime harms

businesses across all industries, but it had a particular

effect on companies responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by

disrupting COVID-19 supply chains and the government's

efforts to address the spreading virus.\13\

Bad actors gravitate to cyber-attacks because of the

anonymity the internet provides and the low chances of

getting caught. The detection and prosecution rate of cyber

criminals in the United States is .05%.\14\ Given the

difficulty in tracing and prosecuting these crimes, it is

important to further study and track them so that we can work

to prevent cybercrime. H.R. 4977, the Better Cybercrime

Metrics Act will provide law enforcement with the tools to

uniformly classify and track cybercrime, furthering the

government's understanding of this serious problem and

building the foundation for improved cybercrime prevention

efforts.

B. Section-by-Section Analysis for the Amendment in the Nature of a

Substitute

Section 1. Short Title. Section 1 sets forth the short

title of the bill as the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics Act.''

Section 2. Cybercrime Taxonomy. Section 2 requires, within

90 days of the passage of the Act, the DOJ and the National

Academy of Sciences to develop a taxonomy that can be used by

law enforcement to categorize and track cybercrime, and

requires that the taxonomy be presented to Congress. The bill

authorizes $1,000,000 to carry out this section.

Section 3. Cybercrime Reporting. Section 3 requires, not

later than 2 years after the passage of the Act, the DOJ to

establish a category in the National Incident-Based Reporting

System to enable the collection of cybercrime and cyber-

enabled crime reports from Federal, State, and local

officials, incorporating the taxonomy developed under Section

2 as appropriate.

Section 4. National Crime Victimization Survey. Section 4

requires cybercrime to be added to the National Crime

Victimization Survey. The bill authorizes $2,000,000 to carry

out this section.

Section 5. GAO Study on Cybercrime Metrics. Section 5

directs the GAO to do a study on the current reporting

mechanisms of cybercrime and the disparities in data between

(A) data relating to cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime; and

(B) other types of crime data.

Endnotes

\1\ Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint

Ctr., Internet Crime Report 2020 19 (2021) https:// www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2020_IC3Report.pdf.

\2\ Joe Franscella, Anomali Harris Poll: Ransomware Hits 1

in 5 Americans, Anomali (Aug. 16, 2019), https:// www.anomali.com/blog/anomali-harris-poll-ransomware-hits-1- in-5.

\3\ Trend Micro Research, Attacks from All Angles: 2021

Midyear Cybersecurity Report 23 (2021) https:// documents.trendmicro.com/assets/rpt/rpt-attacks-from-all- angles.pdf.

\4\ Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint

Ctr., Internet Crime Report 2020 6 (2021) https:// www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2020_IC3Report.pdf.

\5\ Id. at 19.

\6\ The 10 Biggest Ransomware Attacks of 2021, Touro

College Illinois (Nov. 12, 2021). https://illinois.touro.edu/ news/the-10-biggest-ransomware-attacks-of-2021.php.

\7\ Ken Brisco, Cost of a Data Breach: Behind the Numbers

of a Cvbersecurity Response Plan, Secureworks (Jul. 27,

2021), https://www.secureworks.com/blog/data-breach-response- planning-cyber-threat-intelligence.

\8\ Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint

Ctr., Internet Crime Report 2020 10 (2021) https:// www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2020_IC3Report.pdf.

\9\ Six Ransomware Gangs Claim 290+ New Victims in 2021,

Potentially Reaping $45 Million for the Hackers, eSentire.

https://www.esentire.com/resources/library/six-ransomware- gangs-claim-290-new-victims-in-2021-potentially-reaping-45- million-for-the-hackers (last visited Dec. 3. 2021).

\10\ The 10 Biggest Ransomware Attacks of 2021, Touro

College Illinois (Nov. 12, 2021), https://illinois.touro.edu/ news/the-10-biggest-ransomware-attacks-of-2021.php.

\11\ Id.

\12\ Jake Williams, What You Need to Know About the

SolarWinds Supply-Chain Attack, SANS Institute (Dec. 15,

2020) https://www.sans.org/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about- the-solarwinds-supply-chain-attack.

\13\ Jackie Drees, Cyberattacks on COVID-19 vaccine supply

chain much larger than initially thought, IBM says, Becker's

Hospital Review (Apr. 30, 2021) https:// www.beckershospitalreview.com/cybersecurity/cyberattacks-on- covid-19-vaccine-supply-chain-much-larger-than-initially- thought-ibm-savs.html.

\14\ Mieke Eoyang, Alison Peters, Ishan Mehta, Brandon

Gaskew, To Catch a Hacker: Toward a comprehensive strategy to

identify, pursue, and punish malicious cyber actors, Third

Way (Dec. 3, 2021) https://www.thirdway.org/report/to-catch- a-hacker-toward-a-comprehensive-strategy-to-identify-pursue- and-punish-malicious-cyber-actors.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger), who was astute enough to be able to offer the companion bill, and I thank her for her leadership and career leadership on these issues.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me just take an opportunity to thank Congresswoman Spanberger for the knowledge she brings to this issue and to this legislation. We have already said that this is not a harmless crime.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record Cybercrime predictions for 2022: Deepfakes, cryptocurrencies, and misinformation, to further emphasize the lack of the harmlessness that it is. It is harmful. One sentence says it all: Fake news 2.0 and the return of misinformation campaigns. They cite in particular COVID-19. I think all of us can attest to the terrible damage that was done during the pandemic with the huge issues of the question of COVID and the vaccination. Fake vaccine passport certificates were on sale for $100 to $125, and the volume of advertising groups and group sizes publishing sellers and multiplied over and over again.

[From the Future, December 4, 2021]

Cybercrime Predictions for 2022: Deepfakes, Cryptocurrencies, and

Misinformation

(By Maya Horowitz)

While cybercriminals continue to leverage the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic, they

will also find new opportunities to attack such as deepfakes,

cryptocurrency and mobile wallets.

In 2021, cyber criminals adapted their attack strategy to

exploit vaccination mandates, elections and the shift to

hybrid work, to target organizations' supply chains and

networks for them to achieve maximum disruption.

The sophistication and scale of cyberattacks will continue

to break records and we can expect a huge increase in the

number of ransomware and mobile attacks. Looking ahead,

organizations should remain aware of the risks and ensure

that they have the appropriate solutions in place to prevent

them without disrupting their normal business flow. To stay

ahead of threats, organizations must be proactive and leave

no part of their attack surface unprotected or unmonitored or

otherwise risk becoming the next victim of sophisticated,

targeted attacks.

Global cybercrime predictions for 2022

Fake news 2.0 and the return of misinformation campaigns

The claim of `fake news' surrounding contentious issues has

become a new attack vector over previous years without people

really understanding its full impact. Throughout 2021,

misinformation was spread about the COVID-19 pandemic and

vaccination information. The black market for fake vaccine

certificates expanded globally, now selling fakes from 29

countries. Fake `vaccine passport' certificates were on sale

for $100-120 and the volume of advertisement groups and group

sizes publishing sellers multiplied within the year. In 2022,

cyber groups will continue to leverage these types of fake

news campaigns to execute cybercrime through various phishing

attacks and scams.

In addition, prior to the 2020 US presidential election,

Check Point researchers spotted surges in malicious election-

related domains and the use of ``meme camouflage'' aimed at

shifting public opinion. In the run-up to the US midterm

elections in November 2022, we can expect to see these

activities in full effect and for misinformation campaigns to

return on social media.

Cyberattacks targeting supply chains

Supply chain attackers take advantage of a lack of

monitoring within an organization's environment. They can be

used to perform any type of cyberattack, such as data

breaches and malware infections.

The well known cybercrime--SolarWinds supply chain attack

stands out in 2021 due to its scale and influence, but other

sophisticated supply chain attacks have occurred such as

Codecov in April, and most recently, Kaseya. Kaseya provides

software for Managed Service Providers and the REvil

ransomware gang exploited the company to infect over 1,000

customers with ransomware. The group demanded a ransom of $70

million to provide decryption keys for all affected

customers.

Supply chain attacks will become more common and

governments will have to establish regulations to address

these attacks and protect networks. They will also look into

collaborating with the private sectors and internationally to

identify and target more threat groups operating on global

and regional scales. In 2022, expect to discover more about

the global impact of the infamous Sunburst attack.

The cyber `cold war' intensifies

The cyber way is intensifying, and taking place online as

more nation-state actors push Western governments to continue

to destabilize society. Improved infrastructure and

technological capabilities will enable terrorists groups and

political activists to further their cybercrime agendas and

carry out more sophisticated, widespread attacks.

Cyberattacks will increasingly be used as proxy conflicts to

destabilize activities globally.

Data breaches are larger scale and more costly

Going into 2022 we will see an increase in data breaches

that will be larger scale. These breaches will also have the

potential to cost organizations and governments more to

recover. In May 2021, a US insurance giant paid $40 million

in ransom to hackers. This was a record, and we can expect

ransom demanded by attackers to increase in 2022.

Technology cybersecurity predictions for 2022

Mobile malware attacks increase as more people use mobile

wallets and payment platforms:

In 2021, 46 percent of organizations had at least one

employee download a malicious mobile application. The move to

remote work for almost entire populations across the world

during the COVID-19 pandemic saw the mobile attack surface

expand dramatically, resulting in 97 percent of organizations

facing mobile threats from several attack vectors. As mobile

wallets and mobile payment platforms are used more

frequently, cybercrimes will evolve and adapt their

techniques to exploit the growing reliance on mobile devices.

Cryptocurrency becomes a focal point for cyberattacks

globally

When money becomes purely software, the cybersecurity

needed to protect us from hackers stealing and manipulating

bitcoins and altcoins is sure to change in unexpected ways.

As reports of stolen crypto wallets triggered by free

airdropped NFTs become more frequent, Check Point Research

(CPR) investigated OpenSea and proved it was possible to

steal crypto wallets of users by leveraging critical

security. In 2022, we can expect to see an increase in

cryptocurrency related attacks.

Attackers leverage vulnerabilities in microservices to launch

largescale attacks

The move to the cloud and DevOps will result in a new form

of cybercrime. With microservices becoming the leading method

for application development, and microservices architecture

being embraced by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), attackers

are using vulnerabilities found in microservices to launch

their attacks. We can also expect to see large scale attacks

targeting CSPs.

Deepfake technology weaponized

Techniques for fake video or audio are now advanced enough

to be weaponized and used to create targeted content to

manipulate opinions, stock prices or worse. As in the case of

other mobile attacks that rely on social engineering, the

results of a phishing attacks can range from fraud to more

advanced espionage. For instance in one of the most

significant deepfake phishing attacks, a bank manager in the

United Arab Emirates fell victim to a threat actor's scam.

Hackers used AI voice cloning to trick the bank manager into

transferring $35 million. Threat actors will use deepfake

social engineering attacks to gain permissions and to access

sensitive data.

Penetration tools continue to grow

Globally in 2021, 1 out of every 61 organizations was being

impacted by ransomware each week. Cybercrime through

ransomware will continue to grow, despite the efforts of law

enforcement to limit this growth globally. Threat actors will

target companies that can afford paying ransom, and

ransomware attacks will become more sophisticated in 2022.

Hackers will increasingly use penetration tools to customize

attacks in real time and to live and work within victim

networks. Penetration tools are the engine behind the most

sophisticated ransomware attacks that took place in 2021. As

the popularity of this attack method grows, attackers will

use it to carry out data exfiltration and extortion attacks.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the article: ``Ho, Ho, Ho, Holiday Scams'' FBI Portland. During the 2020 holiday season, this article says this FBI Internet Compliance Center received more than 17,000 complaints regarding the nondelivery of goods resulting in losses of more than $53 billion.

[From FBI Portland, December 1, 2021]

Ho, Ho, Ho, Holiday Scams!

(By Beth Anne Steele)

If you're doing online shopping this holiday season, be on

the lookout for scammers trying to steal a deal, too!

During the 2020 holiday shopping season, the FBI Internet

Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov) received more than 17,000

complaints regarding the non-delivery of goods, resulting in

losses of more than $53 million. The FBI anticipates this

number could increase during the 2021 holiday season due to

rumors of merchandise shortages and the ongoing pandemic.

``Oftentimes when we talk about cyber crimes, we are

referring to massive intrusions into financial institutions

or ransomware attacks against large providers. Smaller cyber

scams run by individuals or groups can be just as frustrating

and difficult for families this time of year when all you

want to do is provide the perfect gift for your family. The

best thing you can do to be a savvy shopper is to know what

scams are out there and take some basic precautions,'' says

Kieran L. Ramsey, special agent in charge of the FBI in

Oregon.

Here's a look at some of the more common scams:

Online Shopping Scams:

Scammers often offer too-good-to-be-true deals via phishing

emails, through social media posts, or through ads. Perhaps

you were trying to buy tickets to the next big concert or

sporting event and found just what you were looking for--at a

good deal--in an online marketplace? Those tickets could end

up being bogus. Or, perhaps, you think you just scored a

hard-to-find item like a new gaming system? Or a designer bag

at an extremely low price? If you actually get a delivery,

which is unlikely, the box may not contain the item you

ordered in the condition you thought it would arrive. In the

meantime, if you clicked on a link to access the deal. you

likely gave the fraudster access to download malware onto

your device, and you gave him personal financial information

and debit/credit card details.

Social Media Shopping Scams:

Consumers should beware of posts on social media sites that

appear to offer special deals, vouchers, or gift cards. Some

may appear as holiday promotions or contests. Others may

appear to be from known friends who have shared the link.

Often, these scams lead consumers to participate in an online

survey that is designed to steal personal information. If you

click an ad through a social media platform, do your due

diligence to check the legitimacy of the website before

providing credit card or personal information.

Gift Card Scams:

Gift cards are popular and a great time saver. but you need

to watch for sellers who say they can get you cards below-

market value. Also, be wary of buying any card in a

store if it looks like the security PIN on the back has been

uncovered and recovered. Your best bet is to buy digital gift

cards directly from the merchant online. Another twist on

this scam involves a person who receives a request to

purchase gift cards in bulk. Here's how it works: the victim

receives a spoofed email, a phone call, or a text from a

person who they believe is in authority (such as an executive

at the company). The fraudster tells the victim to purchase

multiple gift cards as gifts. The victim does so and then

passes the card numbers and PINs to the ``executive'' who

cashes out the value.

Charity Scams:

Charity fraud rises during the holiday season when people

want to make end-of-year tax deductible gifts or just wish to

contribute to a good cause. These seasonal scams can be more

difficult to stop because of their widespread reach, limited

duration and, when done online, minimal oversight. Bad actors

target victims through cold calls, email campaigns,

crowdfunding platforms, or fake social media accounts and

websites. Fraudsters make it easy for victims to give money

and to feel like they're making a difference. The scammer

will divert some or all the funds for personal use, and those

most in need will never see the donations.

Tips to Avoid Being Victimized:

Pay for items using a credit card dedicated for online

purchases, checking the card statement frequently, and never

saving payment information in online accounts.

Never make purchases using public Wi-Fi.

Beware of vendors that require payment with a gift card,

wire transfer, cash, or cryptocurrency.

Research the seller to ensure legitimacy. Check reviews and

do online searches for the name of the vendor and the words

``scam'' or ``fraud.''

Check the contact details listed on the website to ensure

the vendor is real and reachable by phone or email.

Confirm return and refund policies.

Be wary of online retailers who use a free email service

instead of a company email address.

Don't judge a company by its website. Flashy websites can

be set up and taken down quickly.

Do not click on links or provide personal or financial

information to an unsolicited email or social media post.

Secure credit card accounts, even rewards accounts, with

strong passwords or passphrases. Change passwords or

passphrases regularly.

Make charitable contributions directly, rather than through

an intermediary, and pay via credit card or check. Avoid cash

donations, if possible.

Only purchase gift cards directly from a trusted merchant.

Make sure anti-virus/malware software is up to date and

block pop-up windows.

What to Do if You Are a Victim:

If you are a victim of an online scam, the FBI recommends

taking the following actions:

Report the activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center

at IC3.gov, regardless of dollar loss. Provide all relevant

information in the complaint.

Contact your financial institution immediately upon

discovering any fraudulent or suspicious activity and direct

them to stop or reverse the transactions.

Ask your financial institution to contact the corresponding

financial institution where the fraudulent or suspicious

transfer was sent.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the article: ``Without major changes, more Americans can be victims of online crime'' The Hill. ``When you turn on the TV or read the newspaper, it is hard to ignore headlines: `Colonial Pipeline a Victim of Massive Ransomware Attack.' `50 Million People Affected by T-Mobile Data Breach.' `Hackers Exploit SolarWinds to Spy on U.S. Government Agencies.' ''

[From The Hill, Aug. 30, 2021]

Without Major Changes, More Americans Could Be Victims of Online Crime

(By Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA))

When you turn on the TV or read the newspaper, it's hard to

ignore the headlines: ``Colonial Pipeline a Victim of Massive

Ransomware Attack.'' ``50 Million People Affected by T-Mobile

Data Breach.'' ``Hackers Exploit SolarWinds to Spy on U.S.

Government Agencies.''

These major attacks represent a serious threat to our

economy and our national security. After the Colonial

Pipeline attack impacted thousands of our neighbors in

Central Virginia, I was adamant about how our government must

vastly improve its efforts to undercut the activity of

hackers, protect critical infrastructure, and strengthen our

cybercrime prevention efforts.

But the story of cybercrime in 2021 goes far beyond these

news-making cyberattacks--it extends into our communities,

our neighborhoods, and our homes.

If you are a family banking online, a business managing

your employees' payroll information, or a senior accessing

federal benefits on the internet, you are no stranger to

thinking about how a cyber breach or attack could affect you.

Even worse, you might already be one of the millions of

Americans whose personal data has been compromised, money or

identity stolen, or safety put at risk.

In 2018, Gallup found that nearly one in four U.S.

households has been a victim of cybercrime--making it the

most common crime in America. To confront cybercriminals and

their enablers, we need to have a better understanding of

these incidents. However, many of these cases--a vast

majority of these crimes--are not properly reported or

tracked by law enforcement Often, they are not measured at

all.

By some estimates, the Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI) may only collect about one in 90 of all cybercrime

incidents in its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

database. The lack of information about cyber and cyber-

enabled crime is divorced from what Americans are actually

facing on a day-to-day basis an increased risk of cybercrime.

What's more, these crimes are rising at an alarming rate.

Compounding this challenge is the fact that federal, state,

and local governments do not have a comprehensive, effective

system to measure cybercrime. In 2021--decades after the dawn

of the internet age--we remain woefully unprepared to prevent

or respond to the next generation of cyberattacks.

Accountability for these crimes--and protection against

them--can't fully take shape until we have a clear picture of

the current state of play. For this reason, we need to take

real steps to improve how we track, measure, analyze, and

prosecute cybercrime.

Earlier this month, I introduced the bipartisan Better

Cybercrime Metrics Act, which would allow our federal

government and law enforcement to better track and identify

cybercrime, prevent attacks, and go after perpetrators. This

bill would strengthen our understanding and our defenses

against the phishing attempts, extortion, ransomware, and

identity theft that are plaguing everyday Americans.

As a former federal law enforcement agent, I understand

that local and state police and sheriff's departments are

often strained for resources and time. And as a former CIA

case officer, I recognize the importance of gathering as much

information as possible about potential threats--so that we

can prevent attacks on American citizens and American

businesses.

If signed into law, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act would

improve our cybercrime metrics, anticipate future trends, and

make sure law enforcement has the tools and resources they

need.

Our bill would require federal reporting on the

effectiveness of current cybercrime mechanisms and highlight

disparities in reporting data between cybercrime data and

other types of crime data.

Additionally, it would require the National Crime

Victimization Survey to ask questions related to cybercrime

in its surveys--and it would make sure that the FBI's

National Incident Based Reporting System include cybercrime

reports from federal, state, and local officials.

Notably, our bill would also require the U.S. Department of

Justice to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to

develop a standard taxonomy for cybercrime. These metrics

could be used by law enforcement across the board.

I was proud to introduce this legislation alongside my

colleagues U.S. Reps. Blake Moore (R-Utah), Andrew Garbarino

(R-N.Y.), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Clearly, there is

consensus for these reforms and protections across the

political spectrum.

In the Senate, a companion bill is being led by Sen. Brian

Schatz (D-Hawaii). Joining him are Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John

Cornyn (R-Texas), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). I am

proud to have their partnership on this important, bicameral

effort.

With this legislation and an improved understanding of the

threats ahead, we can prevent more Americans from becoming

targets--or victims--online.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the article titled: ``U.S. Military Has Acted Against Ransomware Groups, General Acknowledges.''

[From the New York Times, December 5, 2021]

U.S. Military Has Acted Against Ransomware Groups, General Acknowledges

(By Julian E. Barnes)

Simi Valley, Calif.--The U.S. military has taken actions

against ransomware groups as part of its surge against

organizations launching attacks against American companies,

the nation's top cyberwarrior said on Saturday, the first

public acknowledgment of offensive measures against such

organizations.

Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and

the director of the National Security Agency, said that nine

months ago, the government saw ransomware attacks as the

responsibility of law enforcement.

But the attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS beef plants

demonstrated that the criminal organizations behind them have

been ``impacting our critical infrastructure,'' General

Nakasone said.

In response, the government is taking a more aggressive,

better coordinated approach against this threat, abandoning

its previous hands-off stance. Cyber Command, the N.S.A. and

other agencies have poured resources into gathering

intelligence on the ransomware groups and sharing that better

understanding across the government and with international

partners.

``The first thing we have to do is to understand the

adversary and their insights better than we've ever

understood them before,'' General Nakasone said in an

interview on the sidelines of the Reagan National Defense

Forum, a gathering of national security officials.

General Nakasone would not describe the actions taken by

his commands, nor what ransomware groups were targeted. But

he said one of the goals was to ``impose costs,'' which is

the term military officials use to describe punitive

cyberoperations.

``Before, during and since, with a number of elements of

our government, we have taken actions and we have imposed

costs;'' General Nakasone said. ``That's an important piece

that we should always be mindful of.''

In September, Cyber Command diverted traffic around servers

being used by the Russia-based REvil ransomware group,

officials briefed on the operation have said. The operation

came after government hackers from an allied country

penetrated the servers, making it more difficult for the

group to collect ransoms. After REvil detected the U.S.

action, it shut down at least temporarily. That Cyber Command

operation was reported last month by The Washington Post.

Cyber Command and the N.S.A. also assisted the F.B.I. and

the Justice Department in their efforts to seize and recover

much of the cryptocurrency ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline.

The Bitcoin payment was originally demanded by the Russian

ransomware group known as DarkSide.

The first known operation against a ransomware group by

Cyber Command came before the 2020 election, when officials

feared a network of computers known as TrickBot could be used

to disrupt voting.

Government officials have disagreed about how effective the

stepped-up actions against ransomware groups have been.

National Security Council officials have said activities by

Russian groups have declined. The F.B.I. has been skeptical.

Some outside groups saw a lull but predicted the ransomware

groups would rebrand and come back in force.

Asked if the United States had gotten better at defending

itself from ransomware groups, General Nakasone said the

country was ``on an upward trajectory.'' But adversaries

modify their operations and continue to try to attack, he

said.

``We know much more about what our adversaries can and

might do to us. This is an area where vigilance is really

important,'' he said, adding that ``we can't take our eye off

it.''

Since taking over in May 2018, General Nakasone has worked

to increase the pace of cyberoperations, focusing first on

more robust defenses against foreign influence operations in

the 2018 and 2020 elections. He has said that his commands

have been able to draw broad lessons from those operations,

which were seen as successful, and others.

``Take a look at the broad perspective of adversaries that

we've gone after over a period of five-plus years: It's been

nation-states, it's been proxies, it's been criminals, it's

been a whole wide variety of folks that each require a

different strategy,'' he said. ``The fundamental piece that

makes us successful against any adversary are speed, agility

and unity of effort. You have to have those three.''

Last year's discovery of the SolarWinds hacking, in which

Russian intelligence agents implanted software in the supply

chain, giving them potential access to scores of government

networks and thousands of business networks, was made by a

private company and exposed flaws in America's domestic

cyberdefenses. The N.S.A's Cybersecurity Collaboration Center

was set up to improve information sharing between the

government and industry and to better detect future

intrusions, General Nakasone said, although industry

officials say more needs to be done to improve the flow of

intelligence.

General Nakasone said those kinds of attacks are likely to

continue, by ransomware groups and others.

``What we have seen over the past year and what private

industry has indicated is that we have seen a tremendous rise

in terms of implants and in terms of zero-day vulnerabilities

and ransomware,'' he said, referring to an unknown coding

flaw for which a patch does not exist. ``I think that's the

world in which we live today.''

Speaking on a panel at the Reagan Forum, General Nakasone

said the domain of cyberspace had changed radically over the

past 11 months with the rise of ransomware attacks and

operations like SolarWinds. He said it was likely in any

future military conflict that American critical

infrastructure would be targeted.

``Borders mean less as we look at our adversaries, and

whatever adversary that is, we should begin with the idea

that our critical infrastructure will be targeted:' he told

the panel.

Cyber Command has already begun building up its efforts to

defend the next election. Despite the work to expose Russian,

Chinese and Iranian efforts to meddle in American politics,

General Nakasone said in the interview that foreign malign

campaigns were likely to continue.

``I think that we should anticipate that in cyberspace,

where the barriers to entry are so low, our adversaries are

always going to be attempting to be involved;'' he said.

The recipe for success in defending the election, he said,

is to provide insight to the public about what adversaries

are trying to do, share information about vulnerabilities and

adversarial operations, and finally take action against

groups trying to interfere with voting.

While that might take the form of cyberoperations against

hackers, the response can be broader. Last month, the Justice

Department announced the indictment of two Iranian hackers

the government had identified as being behind an attempt to

influence the 2020 election.

``This really has to be a whole-of-government effort,''

General Nakasone said. ``This is why the diplomatic effort is

important. This is why being able to look at a number of

different levers within our government to be able to impact

these type of adversaries is critical for our success.''

The roll call goes on and on and on.

I thank my colleagues for their words of support for this bipartisan legislation. I believe the time is now. We are going to continue this journey. This is not the last legislative initiative, that is why we will be holding a hearing tomorrow with the representative from the FBI because this is a growing continuing project and problem. If I might use the terminology, we will have to re-image constantly.

This legislation is also supported by law enforcement groups and those with particular expertise in cybercrime, including the National Fraternal Order of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and the National Association of Police Organizations, the National White Collar Crime Center, and the Cybercrime Support Network.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Senator Schatz, Senator Tillis, and as I indicated, our colleague, Representative Spanberger for their leadership on this bipartisan legislation. I am glad to have joined it and I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2629, the ``Better Cybercrime Metrics Act.''

This legislation improves our understanding and tracking of cybercrime so that we can do more to prevent it.

A 2018 Gallup poll found that one in four Americans has been a victim of cybercrime.

From stolen financial information, to systemwide shutdowns, to ransomware attacks, these crimes harm our families, our businesses, and our government.

The Council of Economic Advisers estimated that malicious cyber activities cost our economy as much as $109 billion in 2016, and experts believe these costs are growing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased opportunities for cybercrime, with increases in remote work and the time people spend online.

Hackers also took advantage of our recovery efforts, stealing identities to file fake unemployment claims or fraudulent loan applications.

Many of the victims of these scams only learned they were attacked when they went to file genuine claims and were told that one had already been submitted using their name or business.

Sadly, cyber criminals often target older Americans. In 2020, people over 60 accounted for the most complaints of any age group, as collected by the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.

People over 60 also had the greatest losses, with over $966 million lost to cybercrime in 2020.

We must do more to protect Americans from cybercrime, and that starts with a better understanding of what it is and how it occurs.

The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act will gather experts in law enforcement, business, and technology to create a taxonomy of cybercrime so that we can define it and classify it in a uniform way.

This legislation also adds cybercrime to two important law enforcement tools used to track crimes, the National Incident-Based Reporting System and the National Crime Victimization Survey.

Together these provisions will ensure that law enforcement has a complete picture of when and where cybercrime occurs, and who is harmed by it.

Finally, this bill directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on reporting mechanisms for cybercrime, and the disparities in cybercrime data relative to other types of crime data.

Together this legislation will put in place the tools to clearly define and classify cybercrime, to track cybercrime, and to better understand this serious threat.

I commend Senators Brian Schatz and Thom Tillis for their work on this bipartisan legislation. I also thank Representative Abigail Spanberger for her leadership on the House companion to this bill. I was proud to stand with her in introducing the House companion, along with our Republican colleagues, Representative Blake Moore and Representative Andrew Garbarino.

We must give law enforcement the tools to keep apace with new technology and to get a step ahead of the threats faced by our ever- evolving world.

This bill takes an important step in that effort and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, DHS Secretary Ali Mayorkas has repeatedly asserted, including in sworn testimony to multiple committees of this House, that the southern border is secure. This, of course, is a lie, and not even a subtle one.

We know the numbers--a stunning 4.1 million encounters since inauguration day, when Joe Biden reversed the Trump administration's enforcement measures. In the same period, another 1 million known got- aways have entered the country while the border patrol has been overwhelmed changing diapers and arranging for transportation for thousands of illegal crossings each day.

So how do our Democratic colleagues react to this unprecedented illegal immigration they have unleashed?

Do they call on the Biden administration to stop the releases?

Do they call on the President to actually enforce U.S. immigration law or at least stop incentivizing this mass illegal immigration?

No. Instead, they produce this bill, that readmits immigrant veterans who were later deported, mainly for committing criminal offenses.

This needs to be clearly understood. A noncitizen who joins the military promising to defend our country, and instead commits crimes against the citizens of our country is subject to deportation, and rightly so.

This bill adds a political advisory committee, handpicked by Mr. Mayorkas that, in effect, can override our deportation laws, and it invites criminal offenders who have already been deported back into our country. It presumes they are of good moral character despite their criminal offenses simply by producing a green card. This is astonishing.

Let's be very clear, that the vast majority of legal immigrants who enlist in our military do so because of patriotism toward our country, and they are exemplary citizens and exemplary members of our Armed Forces. In recognition of their service, we offer them special avenues for naturalization under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

That is as it should be. About 3 percent of U.S. veterans today are foreign-born, and many of them have chosen to become U.S. citizens. But that is not what this bill is about. This bill is about the bad apples who have been ordered deported for breaking our laws.

Since its creation in 2002, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has naturalized over 148,000 members of the U.S. military.

If an alien servicemember or veteran is removed from this country, it is only after that alien has had their due process in immigration court and an immigration judge has issued a final order of removal.

Alien servicemembers and veterans are also afforded a special process upon encounter by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, under which, through a totality of the circumstances approach, ICE agents determine whether arrest and placement in removal proceedings are the appropriate actions to take.

However, in this bill, the Democrats have decided that an advisory committee of people chosen by Secretary Mayorkas is better equipped to determine whether an alien's actions warrant removal than a trained ICE official.

Yesterday in the Committee on Rules, the chair of the subcommittee even indicated that these random people chosen by the Secretary would be better than a trained immigration judge at determining whether an alien should be able to stay in the U.S.

During the Committee on the Judiciary markup, my Republican colleagues offered an array of amendments aimed at ensuring alien servicemembers, veterans, and their family members who committed serious crimes would not be able to benefit from the provisions in this bill that prevent removal and allow green cards to be issued.

We tried to prevent individuals with convictions for things like drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, explosives trafficking, perjury, domestic violence, obstruction of justice, and even illegal voting from being able to benefit from the bill's provisions, but the Democrats rejected nearly all such amendments.

They did reluctantly agree to exclude murderers, rapists, and child sex abusers as beneficiaries of this bill. I suppose we can claim some progress.

They couldn't even bring themselves to accept an amendment to preclude aliens who have DUI convictions from benefiting from this bill. They decided that five DUIs were too many. So, ridiculously, the bill allows aliens to have four DUI convictions and still benefit from this bill.

Democrats in committee also opposed an amendment to ensure that alien veterans who benefit from the bill were honorably discharged from the military. Right now, as the bill stands, it only requires that the alien have been discharged under other than honorable conditions.

Democrats also rejected a Republican amendment that would have given the victims of a crime committed by the alien servicemember a say in whether or not the alien should face immigration consequences.

This bill once again lays bare the true objectives of the Democrats. First, ignore the 4.1 million illegal aliens encountered by Border Patrol and the 1 million got-aways as well, blurring the distinction between legal immigrants who obey our laws and the millions of illegal immigrants that the Democrats are now happily allowing to stream into our country. Then, they introduce bills like this that blur the distinction between the many legal immigrants who have honorably served in our Nation's Armed Forces and the handful of bad apples who have broken our laws and have been ordered deported for doing so.

This is the woke insanity that grips the Democratic Party today. Thank God the voters have just broken their grip on the House of Representatives.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost).

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct that the legislation emanating from the Judiciary Committee doesn't have anything to do with the border because the Democrats, having created this monumental crisis, refused to do anything to address it.

Instead, we are left with bills like this that set distractions on the most important question facing America today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, we can now plainly see the effect of the Democrats' open border policies on communities across our Nation; the strain on our schools, our hospitals, our public safety, working class wages and opportunities, and social services.

No civilization has ever survived the magnitude of illegal mass migration that the Democrats have unleashed upon our country in the span of just 23 months; and Gallup warns us there are another 42 million people living in poverty just in Latin America and the Caribbean who intend to come here now that they can.

When Secretary Mayorkas appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, he couldn't tell us how it benefits the American people to have their classrooms packed with non-English-speaking students, their emergency rooms flooded with illegals demanding basic care, how their families will be safer with increased gang activity and fentanyl inundating communities, or how working families will be made better off by flooding the labor market with cheap illegal labor, or how taxpayers are served by footing the bill for supporting a largely unskilled, uneducated, and dependent population.

Now, where is this bill taking us? Well, we already know because we have already had a taste of it. For a while, we allowed aliens on temporary visas and even illegal immigrants here under DACA to enlist so that they could claim a fast track to citizenship. It was called the MAVNI program.

One MAVNI enlistment, Ji Chaoqun, was found to be a Chinese spy. A number of foreign nationals who enlisted in our military were subsequently deported for committing crimes. That program was such a debacle that the Obama administration, the architects of DACA, had to suspend it in 2016 because of the danger it posed to national security.

Now, foreign nationals who come to America legally, who obey our laws and seek to serve our country because of a love of it and of the principles upon which it is founded, are one of our greatest strengths.

Eleven years ago, I spoke at the funeral of Corporal Gurpreet Singh, whose family had emigrated from India legally 11 years before.

Let me tell you a little bit about Gurpreet Singh. His father described him this way. He said Gurpreet ``was always a very patriotic man for the U.S. From the time he was a little boy, he knew he wanted to serve in the U.S. military. Gurpreet was very proud of his service with the Marines.''

Corporal Singh was wounded in combat, chose to return, overstayed his assignment in order to relieve a friend, and was killed in action in Helmond Province, June 22, 2011.

Yet, the Democrats are either unable or unwilling to tell the difference between a Chinese spy like Ji Chaoqun and an American hero like Gurpreet Singh. It appears the Democrats are attempting to equate the heroism, devotion, and fidelity of heroes like Gurpreet Singh with the convicted criminals that a court has ordered to be deported from our country, or the lawless, illegal mass migration the Democrats are not only ignoring, but actively aiding and abetting with their policies.

Now, even if every convicted criminal the Democrats are trying to benefit with this bill were meritorious, wrongly convicted of crimes and exemplary in every way, we are still talking about an infinitesimal fraction of those who are being allowed into our country every day by the dangerous policies of this administration. That includes 120 known terrorists we have intercepted, and God only knows how many more among the 1 million got-aways who have entered our country on Joe Biden's watch.

The Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee has done nothing to address this crisis; the Judiciary Committee has done nothing to address this crisis; and the House has done nothing to address this crisis, a crisis that literally began on Inauguration Day when Biden reversed the policies of the Trump administration that had finally secured our borders.

I can assure the American people that 28 days from today, all of that is going to change.

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

Mr. Speaker, I claim time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I would remind my friend that every alien who serves in our military has the right to naturalize; but that does not give them a right to commit crimes against our country, and that is what this bill does.

This amendment sets 90 days as the deadline for promulgating regulations to implement this bill, a bill that overrides the laws governing deportation of aliens who commit crimes in our country if they have enlisted in the Armed Forces. It raises some disturbing questions.

Why is it that the bill surrenders legislative prerogatives to the executive? If you are going to write the law, then write it in its entirety in the open.

Yes, we have been granting these powers to the executive branch for a very long time. The point is that 10 times more laws are written by the bureaucracies than by the body solely vested with lawmaking authority, but we will save that discussion for another day.

Ninety days is an absurdly short period of time to write the regulations, publish the regulations, allow for full public input for the regulations, rewrite the regulations in light of public comments, and publish the final version. It begs the question: Why?

Is it possible that the supporters of this law know exactly what they want to do and have no interest in listening to the public? That has been the history of the left's approach to defending the public safety and the Nation's sovereignty, so it would not much surprise me if this is the case.

Mr. Speaker, I would simply say that it is clear that the supporters of the amendment are simply trying to rush a bad bill into implementation without the public having any opportunity to see the ramifications of this bill's provisions.

As I said earlier, we tried to get into the bill a provision that would allow the victims of these criminal aliens to testify as to the impact of the crimes on their lives, and the Democrats rejected it.

Notice and comment periods themselves require 30 to 60 days after the notice of proposed rulemaking is published for the public to submit comments about the proposed rule. After that, the agency has to comb through and respond to all of the submitted comments. There is simply no way to comply with Executive Order 12866's economic analysis requirement for a significant rule, and that is certainly what this is, within a 90-day period of enactment.

It is apparent that the Democrats are trying to rush out an interim final rule on this bill before the American public has any opportunity to see what they are doing. We can only conclude that the Democrats know that the American people are not going to like what they see.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment and a ``no'' vote on the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1508, I call up the bill (H.R. 7946) to provide benefits for noncitizen members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 7946.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, this House will pass H.R. 7946, the Veteran Service Recognition Act 2022. This is a bill that recognizes and honors the commitment and sacrifices of our noncitizen servicemembers and veterans.

Noncitizens have served in our military in every conflict since the Revolutionary War. In tribute to their patriotism, our laws offer noncitizen servicemembers an expedited pathway to citizenship.

Unfortunately, this expedited path is not always known to the servicemembers themselves; sometimes there is confusion or lack of information. Not every legal permanent resident who could avail themselves of this opportunity has, in fact, done so; and we have found instances where servicemembers believed that just by serving they had become a United States citizen. Our bill does have some measures to make sure that that information is better communicated in the future and there is less confusion.

However--and unfortunately--the complexity of the current immigration system puts some unnecessary roadblocks to naturalization but also can have a terrible impact on veterans who have not availed themselves of the opportunity.

The traumas of war can have terrible effects on our veterans. Individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are far more likely to become entangled with the criminal justice system. When that happens, citizens merely avail themselves of the criminal justice system. For example, if they are arrested for drug possession, they might serve time in the county jail, and when they are released, they have paid their debt to society. But noncitizens who are in the same situation--people who fought for our country--might serve their jail time for drug possession, but then they also face immigration court because a crime that might lead to relatively minor consequences for a U.S. citizen could lead to deportation of a noncitizen veteran.

Now, noncitizen veterans' service records are meant to be considered during removal proceedings, but such consideration rarely occurs. Consequently, veterans who earned the right to citizenship decades ago have been deported.

H.R. 7946 corrects this problem by giving deported veterans the opportunity to apply for a second chance and obtain lawful permanent residency. Relief under this bill is discretionary--available only to those veterans whose return is in the public interest.

Additionally, the bill creates a review process for servicemembers in removal proceedings to ensure that their service records are taken into account by immigration judges. It has an advisory council to examine at length the veteran's record to see whether or not he or she was suffering from PTSD and the like. The information can then be given to the immigration judge, but the immigration judge retains the authority to make the decision.

The legislation, as I mentioned earlier, makes needed changes to current laws to allow servicemembers to naturalize as early as possible, and we believe these changes will ensure that future veterans will not be at risk of deportation.

Finally, H.R. 7946 codifies the current Parole in Place for the immediate relatives of U.S. citizen servicemembers and veterans, making permanent an administrative program that began in 2007 under then- President George W. Bush. At the time, we had come across instances where an American soldier was killed in action, but his mother was subject to deportation, and that mother who was sent outside of the country could not even visit the grave of her deceased military son.

George Bush sought to change that. We have kept that change in place ever since, and this would codify it.

This bill is supported by numerous advocacy, labor, and veterans' groups, including The American Legion, the Nation's largest veterans service organization. We made a commitment to our noncitizen servicemembers when they joined our Armed Forces, and our laws really should reflect that commitment.

I am proud to have worked alongside my colleagues, Chairman Nadler, as well as Chairman Takano, and I would like to mention specifically other members of our caucus who introduced bills on this subject--they were all collected into this final product--including Congressman Correa, Congressman Ruiz, Congressman Vargas, Congressman Grijalva, and several others.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will note that the exclusion of those serious offenses was in the base bill. We didn't have to be convinced of that. We used the definition of ``veterans'' in the veterans code, and veterans who have an honorable or a general discharge are eligible for benefits, so that is what we used. Dishonorable discharges are not included.

I will just say this: These are discretionary matters. If you have multiple DUIs--let's say you have three DUIs, but they are 25 years ago, and you have a completely clean record. You might be able to seek administrative review of that matter. That is all this does.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee who has played such a key role in this, noting also that the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are supporting this bill and supporting Mr. Takano.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I would just note, once again, that those with dishonorable discharges are not eligible under the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a member of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), who has served on the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee. He served in this Congress. He is the author of one of the bills that was included in this bill and has visited with deported veterans across the border.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro), who has played such a useful role in the crafting of these measures.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), who is a proud member of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee and a long-serving member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

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

This bill is an important step forward to making sure that those who served our country in the military are given every consideration. We know from the reports we receive from our vets how tough it can be.

I think it is important to note that Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are supporting this bill. They know better than I do the kind of trauma that can be experienced in these theaters and have been experienced by our brave men and women in the military. They also know that sometimes those traumatic experiences can lead to a path that is destructive for the veteran, a veteran who is suffering from PTSD.

Now, if a military member, a vet, was born in California and they use drugs because of PTSD, they might spend some time in jail, but then they would have paid their debt to society.

If, instead, their fellow soldier was a legal permanent resident of the United States, born in another country, but volunteered to fight for our country, after they pay their debt to society for the exact same circumstances, then they are booted out of the country.

That is why The American Legion is saying they support this bill, because we owe some kind of honor and stature to those who step forward to volunteer to fight for our country. That is what we owe them.

I will just close with this. I am going to represent a town called Salinas, California. I was there last month, and they have put up on every light pole on the downtown street pictures of people from Salinas who served in the military. It is so inspiring.

They had a little ceremony to unveil these photographs of the Salinas heroes. After that, one of the veterans organizers said to me, the worst experience of his life was driving his sergeant to the border to be kicked out of the country he fought for. It is not right.

This bill will change that, and I hope that we will all vote in favor.

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

Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor and proponents of this legislation. It is so startling, stunning, shocking, absurd to even be standing here discussing the deportation of men and women who have worn the uniform and have offered to sacrifice their lives for the oldest democracy in the world.

Mr. Speaker, it is clearly an effort that is long overdue, and I am stunned by my friends on the other side of the aisle--I have said that word, stunned and shocked, that there would be any opposition to this. We know that immigrants have served in the United States Armed Forces in every major conflict, and there are now 45,000 immigrants serving in the armed forces in this country.

It is important that we fix the gap, the loophole, the calls that are gotten when immigrants are deported. This legislation, I am very grateful to say, is about fixing this problem.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 7946, that would require or would have DHS create and enforce a system for identifying noncitizen veterans and require their status as a veteran to be brought into consideration in the case of removal proceedings. Their service record will also be brought into it. Any of us can believe it, they could be heroic, and that doesn't even count in today's scheme.

It would also require DHS to provide the opportunity for eligible noncitizen veterans to be granted lawful permanent residence. Identification of their veteran status would halt any removal proceedings, and there would be a final administrative decision on the veterans' eligibility.

What I like also about it is that when you come into basic training, we can then naturalize these individuals, these servants who have offered themselves for training and to be part of this government by fighting, by wearing the uniform, by fighting for democracy to become citizens.

The Veteran Service Recognition Act is offered in response to DHS' and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's failure to consistently follow its own policies regarding deportation of those.

That means that we say on the floor of the House with great embarrassment that we have deported men and women who have served in uniform; and, yes, we have had challenges with the same kind of--how should I say it--detoured roads that our own veterans have had to fall to, substance abuse, or other incidences; but they have still worn the uniform.

Our veterans can get into the Veterans Court or get into services; but the other veterans, who have the same defaults, if you will, because of the conditions of war, have to be deported. That doesn't make sense.

More than 760,000 noncitizens have enlisted over the past century, with peaks in world wars and 9/11. There are approximately 45,000 immigrants, as I said, in active service.

Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that my county knows that there are 179,000 veterans who live in Harris County, and 1,567,000 veterans who live in Texas. Some of those are our immigrant veterans, and some are not citizens.

So my point is, here today, that we must find every available way to treat them as they treated this Nation: I am willing to die for America and America's values.

Mr. Speaker, I must raise this. Languishing in a Russian prison is a veteran, Paul Whelan, with bogus charges, a hostage. Alongside of him is Brittney Griner, and it has been determined that the conditions she is living in are just atrocious.

My point is, that any time an American needs America to fix the problem, as a democratic nation, we must stand with those who have stood with us; those who are citizens and those who are immigrants who fought for us.

I ask my friends and colleagues to support H.R. 7946.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7946, the Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022 that would address immigration-related issues pertaining to noncitizen military veterans.

By enacting H.R. 7946, the Department of Homeland Security would be required to create and enforce a system for identifying noncitizen veterans and require their status as a veteran to be brought into consideration in the case of removal proceedings.

H.R. 7946 will also require the DHS to provide the opportunity for eligible noncitizen veterans to be granted lawful permanent resident status.

Identification of their veteran status would halt any removal proceedings until there is a final administrative decision on the veteran's eligibility.

The Veteran Service Recognition Act is offered in response to the DHS's and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's failure to consistently follow its own policies regarding deportation of those who served in our armed forces.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has policies that provides special consideration to veterans in light of their service, but has recklessly failed to follow them.

The Government Accountability Office reported that between 2013 and 2018, ICE did not consistently follow its own policies or maintain electronic data on the number of veterans placed in removal proceedings.

Investigators also found that a staggering 70 percent of cases involving the deportation of noncitizen veterans did not receive a review as required.

This means that veterans were not granted their right to due process. As a result, we do not even have an accurate measure of the number of veterans who have been unjustly deported.

As a nation, we should be ashamed and alarmed by this lack of information which reflects a lack of concern for treating them fairly.

More than 760,000 noncitizens have enlisted over the past century, with peaks during the World Wars and 9/11 attacks. Today, there are approximately 45,000 immigrants in active service.

This issue is important to me because many of our nation's veterans who are not US citizens are among the 29,000 veterans who live in my district, the 179,000 who live in Harris County, and the 1,567,000 who live in Texas, the second most of any state.

The promise of naturalization is sometimes a military recruitment strategy that targets immigrant communities. Military service is supposed to qualify veterans for naturalization as U.S. citizens because honorable service satisfies the ``good moral character'' requirements, according to the 1940 Nationality Act.

But then, in 2017, a Trump administration policy restricted access to the expedited citizenship that was promised to veterans after 9/11.

This policy exacerbated the persistent problem of immigrant veterans not being given the proper guidance on how to complete the naturalization process.

In turn, this systemic failure leads to more than half of the eligible noncitizen veterans not completing their naturalization process, leaving them in a permanent limbo.

When we needed them the most, hundreds of thousands of noncitizens stepped up to fight for our wars.

And now when they needed us, our nation failed to even recognize them, let alone protect them.

``Leave no one behind'' is a common mantra followed by the United States Armed Forces. We must abide by that principle in support of our noncitizen veterans who served our country honorably, and make sure that they, too, are never left behind again.

We must do more to help our foreign-born veterans navigate the naturalization process. It is up to Congress to act.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Veteran's Recognition Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 5796) to amend title 35, United States Code, to establish a competition to award certificates that can be redeemed to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the Senate amendment to H.R. 5796.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 5796 which codifies a competition at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office called Patents for Humanity. The Patents for Humanity program highlights the ways that innovation and intellectual property help solve global humanitarian challenges. I applaud Representatives Jeffries and Spartz for spearheading this bill in order to ensure that special recognition permanently extends to inventors who turn their genius toward allaying or helping the world's most needy and vulnerable.

The Senate amendment does away with the need for extra rulemaking before the competition can continue its operation, and, as such, is a welcome addition to help streamline the bill.

The operative provisions of the bill will make permanent the Patents for Humanity awards program which encourages the development and use of inventions that address humanitarian needs in the fields of medicine, nutrition, sanitation, household energy, and living standards for impoverished people. Winning inventors are recognized in a public awards ceremony and receive a certificate that can be used to accelerate certain examination proceedings at the USPTO.

Since 2012, the USPTO has recognized numerous award recipients across a wide range of technologies. The recipients have invented groundbreaking technologies that greatly improve the standard of living for so many people in need in the United States and around the world.

The bill also builds on the work of Representative McBath who successfully led a bipartisan effort to pass legislation in the last Congress strengthening the program. That law allowed the awards certificate to be transferrable if the award recipient would prefer to seek its free-market value rather than accelerate a different patent application.

Today, we are going a step further by ensuring that this program is a permanent feature of our innovation ecosystem.

In Congress, we strive to make sure that our intellectual property laws incentivize innovation to the greatest extent possible, but this category of humanitarian inventions will always deserve special recognition. H.R. 5796, as amended in the Senate, will make sure that it will.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5796 is a straightforward but important bill that will encourage additional innovations that address humanitarian needs both in the U.S. and abroad.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 5796, which codifies a competition at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office called ``Patents for Humanity.'' The Patents for Humanity program highlights the ways that innovation and intellectual property help solve global humanitarian challenges.

I applaud Representatives Jeffries and Spartz for spearheading this bill in order to ensure that special recognition permanently extends to inventors who turn their genius towards helping the world's most needy and vulnerable.

The Senate amendment does away with the need for extra rulemaking before the competition can continue its operation, and as such, is a welcome addition to help streamline this bill. The operative provisions of the bill will make permanent the Patents for Humanity awards program, which encourages the development and use of inventions that address humanitarian needs in the fields of medicine, nutrition, sanitation, household energy, and living standards for impoverished people. Winning inventors are recognized in a public awards ceremony and receive a certificate that can be used to accelerate certain examination proceedings at the USPTO.

Since 2012, the USPTO has recognized numerous award recipients across a wide range of technologies. The recipients have invented ground- breaking technologies that greatly improve the standard of living for so many people in need in the United States and around the world.

This bill also builds on the work of Representative McBath, who successfully led a bipartisan effort to pass legislation in the last Congress strengthening the program. That law allowed the awards certificate to be transferable if the award recipient would prefer to seek its free market value rather than accelerate a different patent application.

Today, we are going a step further by ensuring that this program is a permanent feature of our innovation ecosystem.

In Congress, we strive to make sure that our intellectual property laws incentivize innovation to the greatest extent possible, but this

category of humanitarian inventions will always deserve special recognition. H.R. 5796, as amended in the Senate, makes sure that it will, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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