Political Quotes

“Mr. Presidents, a skilled workforce is essential to addressing the growing cyber security challenges in the United States. The Department of Defense, DOD, Cyber Strategy, issued in April 2015, cites building the cyber workforce among its objective's for achieving the essential strategic goal of maintaining ready forces and capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations. In Virginia, it is estimated that 36,000 cybersecurity jobs remain unfilled. Beginning in 2001, DOD funded the Information Assurance Scholarship Program, IASP, vhich boosts the Nation's cyber workforce through scholarship and capacity-building grants to colleges and universities designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as Centers of Academic Excellence, CAE. Scholarship recipients are required to fulfill a service obligation by working in a cyber security position at DOD upon graduation. According to a DOD report from February 2015, the IASP Program had employed 593 students and awarded 180 capacity-building grants to CAEs. However, due to budget constraints, DOD reduced funding for the IASP beginning in 2013 and stopped recruiting new students. The IASP received its peak funding level of $7.5 million in 2005--for fiscal year 2017, it received $500,000. Today, I am pleased to introduce with my colleague Senator Rounds, the DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017.…”