Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, earlier this evening, the House passed H.R. 3359, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act, and I would like to commend Homeland Security Committee Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson for their efforts getting it through the House, along with my colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee. This bipartisan bill makes long overdue changes to the organization of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, or NPPD, to reflect its growing operational role in cybersecurity. Despite it being notionally a headquarters component, NPPD is home to the government's premier cyber incident response teams; the 24/7 watch floor and information sharing hub; and the Federal Network Resilience Division, tasked with supporting other agencies in defending their networks. NPPD is also charged with leading asset response activities under the National Cyber Incident Response Plan. H.R. 3359 recognizes that these activities go far beyond NPPD's original mission and raises the renamed component to an agency on par with Customs and Border Protection or the TSA. Mr. Speaker, I hope the bill makes crystal clear that DHS is the primary agency for domestic cybersecurity in peacetime, and I encourage young people looking at cybersecurity careers to consider joining the vanguard at this new agency. I look forward to its swift passage and consideration in the Senate. ____________________”