[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 30, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1240-E1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE CYBER DEFENSE COMPETITION

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 28, 2010

  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H. Res. 1244, ``Recognizing the National Collegiate Cyber Defense 
Competition for its now five-year effort to promote cyber security 
curriculum in institutions of higher learning,'' as introduced by my 
fellow member of the Texas delegation, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.
  Our nation's critical infrastructure is composed of public and 
private institutions in the sectors of agriculture, food, water, public 
health, emergency services, government, defense industrial base, 
information and telecommunications, energy, transportation, banking and 
finance, chemicals and hazardous materials, and postal and shipping. 
Cyberspace is their nervous system--the control system of our country. 
Cyberspace is composed of hundreds of thousands of interconnected 
computers, servers, routers, switches, and fiber optic cables that 
allow our critical infrastructures to work. Thus, the healthy, secure, 
and efficient functioning of cyberspace is essential to both our 
economy and our national security.
  One of the most significant security challenges that our Federal 
government faces today is ensuring that we have an abundance of 
adequately trained individuals defending our information 
infrastructure. In the past, I have been proud to sponsor bills that 
would increase funding for cybersecurity education programs, to ensure 
that we have a properly trained workforce to protect this vital 
infrastructure. The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition 
(CCDC) is an important piece of the cybersecurity education puzzle.
  Since 2005, the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition has 
given students in the field of cybersecurity the opportunity to 
showcase their abilities. Rather than having students design an 
``ideal'' network, the CCDC requires participants to assume the 
administrative and protective duties for an existing ``commercial'' 
network. This allows participants to show their skill at ``real world'' 
situations, as very few cybersecurity workers will have the luxury of 
building a perfect system from the ground up. While we obviously want 
to build the most secure networks possible, our experts must be able to 
work with the infrastructure that exists, finding and eliminating 
weaknesses that may already exist, and making imperfect systems secure.
  Over the last few years, the contest has grown to include regional 
competitions in Texas, Maine, Washington, California, and Minnesota, 
among other locations. This year, there were more than eighty schools 
that participated, from all parts of the country. The students 
participating in this contest have not only demonstrated their 
knowledge and understanding of this important function, but they have 
also had the opportunity to hone their skills by dealing with actual, 
real time issues. The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition 
plays an important role in the development of our next generation of 
cybersecurity professionals, and I am proud to join Mr. Rodriguez in 
recognizing it.

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