John Ratcliffe: “I thank the chairman for his leadership on these issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3490, the…”

“I thank the chairman for his leadership on these issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3490, the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act. This bill will authorize the National Computer Forensics Institute, or NCFI, which is located in Hoover, Alabama. Mr. Speaker, when FBI Director Jim Comey recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee, he told us that ``an element of virtually every national security threat and crime problem the FBI faces is cyber-based or facilitated.'' I want to pause and let that sink in for a minute because it makes a perfect case for this bill. The fact that our Federal law enforcement is seeing a cyber element to almost every national security threat and crime problem is incredibly compelling because you can be certain that our State and local law enforcement are seeing the same trend, but with a lot fewer opportunities to learn how to address it. Now, we have all seen the crime shows on TV where pieces of DNA evidence--a strand of hair or a drop of blood--are used to solve a case. But in today's world, we have to rely upon digital evidence, an email that was sent or an online purchase that was made or geolocation technology that places an individual at the scene of the crime. Mr. Speaker, today's cybercriminals present new challenges to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges. It no longer takes a sophisticated cybercriminal to compromise personal and sensitive information of U.S.…”