Norman D. Dicks: “Regarding this cybersecurity vulnerability, I think our financial institutions make a major effort at trying to protect…”

“Regarding this cybersecurity vulnerability, I think our financial institutions make a major effort at trying to protect themselves. But I have been told that our corporate intellectual property, over the last few years, $1 trillion has been stolen through these cyber attacks from the free world to others. Some of these people are simply criminals. Some of them are acting under state authority. This is one of those issues that we are still vulnerable to. I just hope that these dramatic cuts in science and technology won't undermine our ability to come up with solutions on this cyber issue. I also believe the administration, the President, his people and the Department of Homeland Security have a responsibility to make certain that we have a plan and we have an approach and we work with the private sector in a way that will make sure that we are protecting our critical infrastructure. So I just urge you, Mr. Price, as the ranking member, and the chairman, Mr. Aderholt, to see if we can't make certain that, in conference, we keep some of this money in there for the cybersecurity programs that I know Dr. O'Toole is concerned about. And I appreciate the gentleman yielding.”