Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am pleased to be introducing the Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2015 with Senator Collins. In response to data breaches by various companies, which exposed the personal information of millions of customers, this bill asks each publicly traded company to include, in Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, disclosures to investors, information on whether any member of the Board of Directors is a cybersecurity expert, and if not, why having this expertise on the Board of Directors is not necessary because of other cybersecurity steps taken by the publicly traded company. The legislation does not require companies to take any actions other than to provide this disclosure to its investors.

Many investors may be surprised to learn that board directors who participated in National Association of Corporate Directors roundtable discussions on cybersecurity late in 2013 admitted that ``the lack of adequate knowledge of information technology risk has made it challenging for them to `effectively oversee management's cybersecurity activities.' Participating board members also suggested that `without sound knowledge of--or adequate sensitivity to--the topic, directors cannot easily draw the line between oversight and management,' and that once in the technical `weeds,' directors `find it difficult to assess the appropriate level of [the board's] involvement in risk management.' ''

Investors and customers deserve a clear understanding of whether publicly traded companies are not only prioritizing cybersecurity, but also have the capacity to protect investors and customers from cyber related attacks. This bill aims to provide a better understanding of these issues through improved SEC disclosure.

While this legislation is a matter for consideration by the Banking Committee, of which I am a member, this bill is also informed by my service on the Armed Services Committee. It is through this dual Banking-Armed Services perspective that I see that our economic security is indeed a matter of our national security, and this is particularly the case as our economy becomes increasingly reliant on technology and the Internet.

For example, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, recently appeared before the Armed Services Committee on September 29, 2015, and testified that ``cyber threats to the U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and severity of impact.'' He further said that ``[b]ecause of our heavy dependence on the Internet, nearly all information communication technologies and I.T. networks and systems will be perpetually at risk.''

With mounting cyber threats and concerns over the capabilities of corporate directors, we all need to be more proactive in ensuring our Nation's cybersecurity before there are additional serious breaches. This legislation seeks to take one step towards that goal by encouraging publicly traded companies to be more transparent to its investors and customers on whether and how their Boards of Directors are prioritizing cybersecurity.

I thank Harvard Law School Professor John Coates, MIT Professor Simon Johnson, Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee, and the Consumer Federation of America for their support, and I urge my colleagues to join Senator Collins and me in supporting this legislation. ______

By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Casey):

S. 2419. A bill to improve quality and accountability for educator preparation programs; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, we know that the quality of teachers and principals are two of the most important in-school factors related to student achievement. If we want to improve our schools, it is essential that teachers, principals, and other educators have a comprehensive system that supports their professional growth and development, starting on day one and continuing throughout their careers. Senator Casey and I introduced the Better Education Support and Training Act to create such a system, and many key provisions of this legislation were included in the Every Student Succeeds Act that passed the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote and was signed into law last week.

However, our work is not done. We need to make sure that educator preparation programs help teachers, principals, librarians, and other school leaders develop the skills and knowledge to be profession-ready. There is a looming shortage of fully-prepared teachers. Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that many high poverty schools struggle to fill their teaching positions and rely on a ``rotating cast of substitutes.'' We must do better by our students and our schools.

Today, I am reintroducing the Educator Preparation Reform Act and am pleased to be joined by Senator Casey in offering this approach to improving how we prepare teachers, principals, and other educators so that they can be effective right from the start.

The Educator Preparation Reform Act builds on the success of the Teacher Quality Partnership Program, which I helped author in the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Among the key changes this new bill makes is specific attention and emphasis on principals, with the addition of a residency program for new principals. Improving instruction is a team effort, with principals at the helm. This bill better connects teacher preparation with principal preparation. The Educator Preparation Reform Act will also allow partnerships to develop preparation programs for other areas of instructional need, such as for school librarians, counselors, or other academic support professionals.

The bill streamlines the accountability and reporting requirements for teacher preparation programs to provide greater transparency on key quality measures such as admissions standards, requirements for clinical practice, placement of graduates, retention in the field of teaching, and teacher performance, including student learning outcomes. All programs--whether traditional or alternative routes to certification--will be asked to report on the same measures.

Under our legislation, states will be required to identify at-risk and low-performing programs and provide them with technical assistance and a timeline for improvement. States would be encouraged to close programs that do not improve.

We have been fortunate to work with many stakeholders on this legislation. Organizations that have endorsed the Educator Preparation Reform Act include: the Alliance for Excellent Education, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, Association of American Universities, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, First Focus Campaign for Children, Higher Education Consortium for Special Education, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Education Association, National Disabilities Rights Network, Public Advocacy for Kids, Rural School and Community Trust, and the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children.

I look forward to working to incorporate this legislation into the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. I urge my colleagues to join us in this effort and support this legislation.

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