Yvette Clarke: “I want to thank the distinguished ranking member from the District of Columbia, Ms. Holmes Norton, for yielding me this…”

“I want to thank the distinguished ranking member from the District of Columbia, Ms. Holmes Norton, for yielding me this time, and I want to thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) for his leadership on these very important matters of homeland security. I rise today in support of S. 1691, and I am pleased that today we are considering legislation containing language I introduced earlier this year to address fundamental cyber workforce challenges at the Department of Homeland Security. Important parts of my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3107, the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act, are included in the measure we are considering today. The cyber workforce language included in S. 1691 generally does two important things. First, it grants special hiring authority to DHS to bring on board topnotch cyber recruits. The Department desperately needs a more flexible hiring process with incentives to secure talent in today's highly competitive cyber skills market. Second, it requires the Secretary of the Department to assess its cyber workforce to give Congress and the Office of Personnel Management a clearer picture of the needs and challenges that DHS faces in carrying out its important cyber mission in helping protect both the dot-gov and dot-com arenas. Importantly, the bill also directs the Comptroller General to analyze, monitor, and report on the implementation of DHS cybersecurity workforce measures.…”