Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “Mr. Speaker, the attacks of September 11 have forced the American people and this Congress to recognize that the threat…”

“Mr. Speaker, the attacks of September 11 have forced the American people and this Congress to recognize that the threat of terror is present on many fronts. To adequately protect the United States, we must address all of our security vulnerabilities. This enormous task includes securing our Nation's computer and communications infrastructure. The urgency with which we must proceed with regard to this infrastructure has already been demonstrated. In 1997, the Pentagon conducted an information warfare exercise to test the vulnerability of the U.S. information infrastructure. The exercise consisted of 35 National Security Agency computer specialists using off-the-shelf technology to attack U.S. information systems. The group of NSA specialists were able to attack and penetrate government and commercial sites. The next year, failure of the Galaxy 4 communications satellite further demonstrated the effects that a cyberattack could have on our information systems.”