Angus King

We need to develop a deterrence 2.0 to deal with the nature of the threats.

We need to have a doctrine and our adversaries need to know what it is.

This country has no strategy or doctrine around cyber attacks; isn't that correct?

I think this is something that our committee in its report is going to have to look at.

They tried this time.

I think it's very important, though, that we realize that he is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, because it means that everybody on this dais and everybody in political life in America regardless of their party is at risk.

I think, yes. I think as much as we can do in public is important for two fundamental reasons.

I think that's why the chairman and Mark Warner today said we're going to take our time and be sure we understand exactly what people know and what the right questions are.

The idea of an outside commission, a lot of people talk about that, but the mechanics of that, there would have to be a statute or resolution.

That has to be part of what this committee conveys to the American people, because, otherwise, you know, we're going to be struggling in the dark.

We can't go behind closed doors for six months and then come out and say, 'Here's what happened.' I don't think that's going to have credibility.

I think as much as we can do in public is important for two fundamental reasons.

Putin isn't a Democrat. He's not a Republican. He is an opportunist and he's going to come after whoever he thinks is standing in his way.

They're going to be back in 2018 and 2020.

This was an attack on our democracy.

I'm not going to participate in whitewash and I'm not going to participate in a witch-hunt.

I do, Anderson. That's exactly what we're trying to do. That's the goal. We're all working on keeping it together, on making it bipartisan.

I think that is a very good point because if there is going to be an attack it probably will not be just one sector, it could be electricity, gas, financial and coordinating across sectors, I think, would be very important.

Is there a central clearinghouse of hacks where there is one place where a grid operator can look...

I think that is an important idea.

I like the idea of the Select Committee on Cybersecurity.

We know that this is a part of their foreign policy strategy in terms of elections.

The Russians, particularly, are playing a weak hand, very effectively, and it is on the cheap.

But what we are seeing here is the nature of warfare changing before our eyes.

I do not want to go home to my constituents in the middle of a blackout and say well, we might have gotten to this...