On March 21, 2013 Rep. Bennie Thompson, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Rep. Cedric Richmond, along with 133 other Members of Congress sent Administrator Pistole a letter expressing concern about the changes in the PIL.

Just last week, President Obama raised the issue of cyber attacks with the Chinese president.

Our top Government officials are going on the record about state sponsors of aggressive cyber activities.

That is why it is so important for this committee to pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.

It would be prudent to expect the future to bring new, more sophisticated attacks.

The list of significant cyber intrusions against our critical infrastructure keeps growing.

It is a little bit of both, in all honesty. For the most part, we want certainty.

Communities across the country are proud of the preparedness capabilities that they have worked to develop over the past 10 years.

I would like to thank you for holding this hearing, as well as our Ranking Member, Mr. Payne, also.

The preparedness grant programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency help build critical disaster response capability in every Congressional district.

With less Federal support available, State and local governments are struggling to maintain the capabilities achieved over the past decade.

Getting a document out there in final form will relieve a lot of the uncertainty.

I guess I am not trying to do semantics, Mr. Pistole. Right now, some of us see that as a problem, that we can still train people to fly who are on the no-fly list.

This legislation requires TSA to formally engage key stakeholders through the Aviation Security Advisory Committee when developing policies that impact millions of passengers and stakeholders.

But right now, we can train a person to fly who is on the no-fly list. There is nothing to prevent us from training.

Do you train people to fly who are on the no-fly list? The answer I would assume is yes.

So, are you prepared to tell the committee that since we can train somebody to fly who is on the no-fly list, it is your recommendation that that person not be allowed to fly unless they are first pre-cleared to not be on the no-fly list?

If anyone doubts the potential danger of small knives, I hope that Tuesday's tragic event at Lone Star Community College will serve as a wake-up call.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to have the clerk put on the screen a situation that occurred in 2010 in Austin, Texas, what happened when a plane hit buildings like that.

It will take legislative action to fully address cyber threats and vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure.

the funding of the Homeland Security Grant Program has been reduced significantly under Republican leadership of the House, from $2.75 billion to $1.5 billion.

Hopefully the testimony we receive today will help this committee make the case for moving cybersecurity legislation to the House floor.

While the issuance of the Executive Order is a welcome development, it will take legislative action to fully address cyber threats and vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure.

the Government shut-down may seriously damage our ability to protect the safety and security of this Nation and its citizens because 70 percent of the intelligence community staff has been furloughed.