Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me express my appreciation to Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Pallone and the Rules Committee for allowing this…”

“Let me express my appreciation to Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Pallone and the Rules Committee for allowing this amendment to come to the floor. Let me thank Chairman Sessions and Ranking Member Slaughter of the Rules Committee as well. As I begin, let me acknowledge that I think we have a collective commitment and need to continue to assess the electric grid. According to a Department of Energy report on the economic benefits of increasing the electric grid resilience, the electric grid in the State of Texas is highly vulnerable to severe weather, cyber attacks, vandalism, and terrorism. Mr. Chairman, Texas is only an example. I hold in my hand a letter from the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs & Military Installations that has come to my attention and the House Committee on Defense and Veterans' Affairs to take note of the vulnerability. I use this letter from the State to only say that other States are in the same category. That is why the Jackson Lee amendment is very relevant, because it requires a report to be promulgated upon our Nation's preparedness for challenges in energy as it pertains to cyber attacks, vandalism, terrorism, and severe weather. I sit on the Homeland Security Committee's Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies Subcommittee, and we see every day vulnerabilities to the cybersecurity or the infrastructure. The importance of this amendment was underscored, as I indicated, in a letter that I received.…”