Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, in closing, I urge all Members to support the passage of this bill, H.R. 4257, as amended. I want to make one closing statement. Often we talk about cybersecurity, and people think just about the Internet. We sit here in a room that is essentially windowless. I've been in this room when the lights are out. It is very, very dark. We would have a hard time finding our way out. Yet the very essence of keeping the grid up requires computers to talk to each other. Our phone systems, our lights, our power, our sewage, our water all depend today on interoperable computer systems that span the entire country and, in many cases, the entire world. So, as people realize the government-to-government relationship and, particularly, the public-private partnerships that this bill encourages and asks the Office of Management and Budget to assure occur, we are doing so, of course, in order to maintain a reliable Internet; but much more importantly, the fundamentals of the very electricity that powers the Internet must be maintained and protected. I believe we've gone a long way today in the passage of this bill. I urge its passage. I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his leadership on this important matter. I yield back the balance of my time.”