Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join my friend and colleague, Mr. Yoho, on the floor today with others to speak in support of this bipartisan bill, H.R. 5576, the Cyber Deterrence and Response Act. I would also like to give a special thanks to Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their support of the bill and moving it through the committee process. Mr. Speaker, more than 30 nations are currently developing offensive cyber attack capabilities. Earlier this year, the Director of National Intelligence testified before Congress that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea posed the greatest cyber threats to the United States. He continued and said work to use cyber operations to achieve strategic objectives will continue ``unless they face clear repercussions for their cyber operations.'' This bill puts in place those clear repercussions for nations that have and seek to continue to use cyber attacks against the U.S. Specifically, the legislation authorizes the President, acting through the Secretary of State, to designate, where appropriate, foreign persons or agencies as critical cyber threats. The bill also authorizes both travel and financial sanctions of individuals and agencies designated as critical cyber threats, and the legislation requires Congress to be briefed periodically on state- sponsored cyber activities against the United States.…”