State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUEST. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3138, the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2021.

I thank Chairwoman Clarke, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Garbarino, and my other committee colleagues for their leadership on H.R. 3138.

Over the past year, we have seen the devastating impact a ransomware attack can have on our Nation's most critical infrastructure. But we must not forget that no one is immune from cyber criminals, including our State and local governments.

I am pleased today that the House is taking action to give our State and local partners, and CISA, a leg up against these cyber criminals.

This bill will have a tremendous impact on the cybersecurity posture of State and local governments by focusing important funding and expertise on the front lines, the State and local levels.

I urge all Members to join me in supporting H.R. 3138, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CLARKE of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act.

I particularly emphasize the fact that we are the United States of America, but the cyberattacks occur in our neighborhoods, our hamlets, our cities, our counties, and our States. They occur right under our noses, and they impact our constituents by taking their personal records from the Texas Medical Center, for example, impacting the medical care of people, interfering with various diagnostic machines, and dealing with the energy infrastructure, such as the Colonial Pipeline incident. These are happening in our neighborhoods.

The State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act will make $500 million available in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to State, local, and Tribal entities over the next 4 years as they address critical cybersecurity risks facing information systems.

I will soon rise to the floor on legislation that I have authored, and I will make this point, Madam Speaker: It is crucial that the other body begins to address the legislation that this House is able to pass because we are passing innovative, corrective, and needed legislation.

Cyber is not a joke, if I can say that. Neither are the attacks on our cyber infrastructure.

However, the Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002 to bring together the expertise of several different government entities to protect against foreign threats. At that time, the Nation's main concern was protecting our citizens and residents from another large- scale terrorist attack, one that we had never seen before: attacking tall buildings with airplanes. We had never seen it.

But, today, 2021, is not 2001. It is not 20 years ago, and the landscape of terrorism has changed enormously. With rapid advancement in technology and malign foreign cyber aggression in nation-states that are not engaged, this bill is important.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3138, that will provide us a way to address this issue.

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Mr. GUEST. Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. CLARKE of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, while cybersecurity threats are not new, this year has highlighted the serious impact cyber incidents can have on our national security.

The United States has as much cybersecurity expertise as any country. But without adequate resources, State and local governments cannot implement the policies and practices we know will make their digital infrastructure more secure.

Enactment of the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act will ensure that they have the funding, planning, and support to adequately invest in securing government networks and reducing risk.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3138, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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