Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment today to support the DOD Cyber Scholarship Program with strong bipartisan support from my good friends, Mr. Ratcliffe, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Correa, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Lieu, and Ms. Shea-Porter. Mr. Chairman, since 2001, DOD has run the Information Assurance Scholarship Program in order to boost the Nation's cyber workforce through scholarship and capacity-building grants. Scholarship recipients are required to fulfill a service obligation by working in a cybersecurity position at DOD upon graduation. Mr. Chairman, this program had been extremely successful, bringing nearly 600 students into the DOD workforce. However, due to budget constraints, the Department has reduced funding and stopped recruiting new students. This year we seek to reinvigorate the program, calling it the DOD Cyber Scholarship Program. As the ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, I fully understand the budget pressure the Department has been facing. However, cutting the pipeline of cyber talent into the Department is incredibly shortsighted. We face a critical workforce shortage right now, as we speak, when it comes to cybersecurity across all sectors of the economy and in government. The challenges of building up our cyber talent is something that keeps me up at night.…”