Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise today in favor of my amendment No. 64. This amendment would increase funding at the Department of Energy to enhance the security of existing electrical transformers from both physical and cyber threats. Few parts of our Nation's infrastructure are more critical to everyday life and national security than our electrical grid, and it is under an alarming increase in threats over the past several years, as we all know. In 2022 alone, a decade-high surge in attacks occurred with 101 incidents being reported in August alone. While some of these instances amounted to petty vandalism, some of the threats were serious. They were real. They were coordinated efforts to cause widespread power outages to all of our American citizens. One such effort in Moore County, North Carolina, left nearly 50,000 people without power after two Duke Energy substations were shot at. In 2023, extremists plotted to attack multiple energy substations in Maryland with the goal of literally destroying Baltimore. In Michigan, this year alone, 14 different incidents of gunshot damage to transformers, regulators, and other electrical equipment have occurred. These are clearly not isolated incidents, Mr. Chair, but rather a concerning and growing trend across the United States of America.…”