Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise once again in support of Jen Easterly's nomination to be Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, commonly referred to as CISA.

Yesterday, I came to the floor to urge my colleagues to swiftly confirm Ms. Easterly to lead CISA so she can get to work in strengthening our Nation's response to the recent onslaught of online attacks that have literally wrought havoc to our critical infrastructure, businesses, and even government.

With her more than three decades of service in the public and private sectors and her critical role in crafting vital cyber security recommendations as a member of the Cyber Solarium Commission, Ms. Easterly is more than qualified to lead this critical Agency. Her leadership is needed now more than ever, after the damage and the chaos that recent cyber attacks have caused. We urgently need a qualified and Senate-confirmed leader in place before the next major breach, which could be even worse.

Yesterday, when I called on the Senate to immediately confirm this critical nominee, the Senator from Florida objected, not because he opposes Ms. Easterly's confirmation, and, in fact, he actually helped advance her nomination out of my committee just last week. Instead, he blocked the swift confirmation of this critical cyber security leader because he wants to extract a completely unrelated political concession from the Biden administration.

As we now know, Vice President Harris has announced that she will travel to El Paso tomorrow, along with Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, to assess the situation on the southern border. The Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas have worked hard to address our border challenges, and, as a result, we have seen a reduction in the number of unaccompanied children who are in DHS custody.

But this nomination is not about the border, as much as my Republican colleagues try to conflate these issues. This nomination is about cyber security. This nomination is keeping American families safe and our economy secure. That is what this nomination is all about. My Republican colleagues are continuing to stall the confirmation of Ms. Easterly at a time when we desperately need strong cyber security leadership.

The Senate is preparing to adjourn for Independence Day, which is a major travel weekend. As we have seen from recent cyber attacks, our transportation networks are vulnerable. Criminal organizations and foreign adversaries will continue their efforts to compromise our networks. We must be prepared for attacks that could disrupt trains or flights over the holiday weekend.

We must confirm Ms. Easterly as the CISA Director now, not in 2 weeks and not in 2 months. We must have a qualified Senate-confirmed leader in place to help us address these attacks.

If our Republican colleagues won't consent, they risk weakening and slowing our cyber defenses at a time when attacks could cause serious disruptions. These attacks risk the lives and livelihoods of countless Americans. Safeguarding against them should not be a partisan issue. Putting in place highly qualified cyber leadership should not hinge on whether Republicans in the Senate approve of the Vice President's travel schedule.

I urge the Senator from Florida to withdraw his objections so that we can do our job, confirm Ms. Easterly today, and help protect the American people from this grave national security threat.

176, Jen Easterly, of New York, to be the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate.

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