Sba Cyber Awareness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Delgado) for yielding, and I want to thank Chairwoman Velazquez for prioritizing this critical issue and bringing our bill to the floor. I also want to thank my friend and colead on H.R. 2331, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson), for his leadership on cybersecurity and small business issues and this bill in particular. I value his input and expertise on all of these issues.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation I introduced with Ranking Member Balderson, the SBA Cyber Awareness Act.

The Small Business Administration houses vital information for small business owners and lenders. We must do everything we can to help the SBA protect its systems and the data of our Nation's small businesses.

Our bill would require the SBA to be more proactive in protecting its data and more transparent in the event of a cyber breach.

First, our bill requires the SBA to issue a report detailing its cybersecurity efforts within 6 months of enactment. This report must include an assessment of the SBA's existing IT and cybersecurity infrastructure and its strategy to address vulnerabilities.

Notably, this bill ensures we are protecting ourselves against China by requiring an audit of any SBA system or IT equipment manufactured by a company headquartered in China.

The report must detail every cybersecurity risk or incident in the last 2 years and the SBA's strategy to address them going forward.

Second, our bill provides a framework for the SBA to follow in the event of future breaches, requiring timely notifications to Congress as well as the people in the small businesses affected. The bill also requires the SBA to submit a full report to both committees on how the cybersecurity risk or incident occurred and how many parties were affected.

The goal of this bill is to put the SBA and the small businesses that it interacts with and that depend on it on the best footing possible to combat the rising threat of cyberattacks.

I am very excited that this bill is up for a vote in the House today and has such strong bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of our bipartisan legislation and thank everyone who had a hand in bringing it to the floor. It is an exciting day when we can focus on our Nation's small businesses and cyber infrastructure, and I am hopeful for this bill's quick consideration by the Senate.

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