Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation. Madam Speaker, I rise to support the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act. I particularly emphasize the fact that we are the United States of America, but the cyberattacks occur in our neighborhoods, our hamlets, our cities, our counties, and our States. They occur right under our noses, and they impact our constituents by taking their personal records from the Texas Medical Center, for example, impacting the medical care of people, interfering with various diagnostic machines, and dealing with the energy infrastructure, such as the Colonial Pipeline incident. These are happening in our neighborhoods. The State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act will make $500 million available in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to State, local, and Tribal entities over the next 4 years as they address critical cybersecurity risks facing information systems. I will soon rise to the floor on legislation that I have authored, and I will make this point, Madam Speaker: It is crucial that the other body begins to address the legislation that this House is able to pass because we are passing innovative, corrective, and needed legislation. Cyber is not a joke, if I can say that. Neither are the attacks on our cyber infrastructure.…”