Steve Lynch: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. As chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, I rise in strong support of…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. As chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1065, the Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act, bipartisan legislation that I introduced earlier this month. It had passed this House previously, last session, with no opposition. I commend our full committee chairman, Mr. Cummings of Maryland, for his continued leadership on this issue of security clearance reform and for his work to advance H.R. 1065 to the floor today. I also thank the new ranking member of our subcommittee, Mr. Hice of Georgia, for his support as well. In order to enhance the Federal security clearance process, H.R. 1065 will require the Office of Management and Budget to examine the extent to which Federal agencies are reviewing publicly available social media profiles as they conduct background investigations for security clearance applicants. This bill will also require OMB to submit recommendations to Congress on how we can implement this examination of social media activity in clearance investigations across the Federal Government while also safeguarding individual privacy rights. Our bipartisan oversight of the security clearance process has already revealed that Federal agencies have too often missed red flags in determining an individual's eligibility to access classified information and facilities.…”