Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I applaud the administration's leadership in looking for ways to save money and simplify our Federal IT infrastructure by moving data to storage in cloud computing, but the critical question is where will this data actually be stored? There is no reason for essential government data to be stored in offshore facilities, and the USDA has recognized that fact. In cloud computing contracts signed by the USDA, Secretary Vilsack and CIO Chris Smith have insisted that all data must be stored in the United States. This amendment seeks to reinforce and codify USDA contracts' terms specifically regarding where the data is stored. That is all that this speaks to. It says that this contract, in regards to where the data is stored, will be codified with this amendment. Now, why is this important? It's critical for security reasons. We shouldn't have to worry about another nation seizing the infrastructure where our data is stored. It's critical for reliability reasons. We don't want another country, either intentionally or accidentally, disconnecting us from the servers we need to run our government. {time} 1110 And it is critical because building, operating, and safeguarding this infrastructure here in the United States also means more American jobs. So what this amendment seeks to do, as I said, is just look at this one part of the contract and say this data must be stored here in the United States, that this cannot be changed.…”