Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1997--the Ukraine Cybersecurity Cooperation Act--offered by our Foreign Affairs Committee colleague from Pennsylvania, Brenden Boyle. This bill focuses on how the U.S. and Ukraine can work together to address cyber threats and how the U.S. can help improve Ukraine's domestic cybersecurity capabilities. But it also serves as a reminder to this body, and especially to this administration, that we need to work to improve our own cybersecurity defenses and we need to hold those who target us accountable. Mr. Speaker, the events in Ukraine that spurred the necessity for Mr. Boyle's bill were a harbinger of things to come for the United States. Ahead of the 2014 Presidential elections in Ukraine, Russian or pro- Russian elements hacked into Ukraine's Central Election Commission in a series of attacks in an attempt to undermine the results and stir up unrest throughout the country. Then in December 2015, Putin-backed hackers attacked Ukraine's infrastructure, compromising three energy distribution companies, leaving nearly a quarter of a million people without electricity for several hours. Imagine being without electricity during this period, when the daily average high temperature in Ukraine in December is below freezing. Those were not the last of the attacks against Ukraine orchestrated by Putin. But they were, perhaps, practice runs for what Putin had planned for the U.S. and others. Because true to form, Putin then targeted the U.S.…”