John Larson: “I rise today to support this bill, the Earthquake Hazard Reduction Act. This bill would reauthorize nearly $40 million…”

“I rise today to support this bill, the Earthquake Hazard Reduction Act. This bill would reauthorize nearly $40 million in funding over the next 2 years for earthquake preparedness and programs. My amendments were aimed at making sure information generated under the program is localized and available on the Internet, and specifically that the backbone of the Internet communication system be considered part of the Nation's critical infrastructure. The original law cites communication facilities as lifeline, but not communications infrastructure. Today, as we all know, there are fiber-optic links dedicated solely to the transfer of information over the Internet. Data traffic is currently increasing about 10 times the rate of phone traffic, therefore creating this need.”