[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 60 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2077-H2078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE CYBER INTELLIGENCE SHARING AND PROTECTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the Government Accountability Office 
says that cyberattacks have grown by 650 percent in 5 years and that 
the annual cost of these attacks is estimated to be $388 billion. 
Allowing these trends to proliferate is bad for job creation, consumer 
protection, and the future of the Internet, whose future success will 
greatly depend on improving user trust and security online.
  The U.S.-driven digital revolution has created countless 
opportunities, freedoms, and economies of scale. We're the envy of the 
world in that regard. This revolution is continuing to be driven by 
information and data. Data is really the natural resource that will 
power our Nation's future, but only if we safeguard it appropriately.
  Your online presence and digital diaries are what I like to refer to 
as the ``virtual you.'' It's consistently growing and expanding as 
individuals and businesses operate online. We need to have the 
certainty that we can freely continue our business online without 
virtual Peeping Toms and digital thieves enjoying total, uncontrolled 
access on the online ecosystem. That's why I was troubled to read an 
article in

[[Page H2078]]

Politico yesterday titled ``White House Avoids Specific Positions on 
Cybersecurity Bills.''
  We're being attacked by cybersnoopers and state sponsors of 
cyberespionage like China, Russia, and Iran. But the White House is 
throwing its hands up in the air, unwilling to lead. The President 
refused to take a position because advisers in the White House wanted 
to go farther in ceding authority to the Department of Homeland 
Security, which can't even manage the dysfunctional Transportation 
Security Administration. Washington always wants more power and more 
control.
  My colleagues, Congressmen Rogers and Ruppersberger, have worked 
together in a very diligent and bipartisan manner to educate and 
articulate the need for cyberintelligence sharing and protections. The 
Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act will help us defend 
against advanced cyberattackers and hackers that want to steal our 
private or our government information. It also maintains protections 
for individuals' privacy. The bill's language is specific. It doesn't 
allow the government to use shared information for non-cybersecurity 
purposes. It requires an independent inspector general to audit 
voluntary information shared with the government, and it legally 
enforces restrictions on government uses of this information.
  The voluntary information-sharing framework is preferable because 
incentive-based security works better than heavy-handed mandates, but 
the White House and the Senate Democrats disagree with the technology 
experts. They think there's a cookie-cutter way to address evolving 
cybersecurity challenges. But we shouldn't pretend to have all of the 
answers, and we shouldn't let DHS play Whac-A-Mole. We should not and 
cannot allow the government's massive bureaucracy to expand. It's 
constantly suffocating innovation and entrepreneurship in this country.
  This legislation presents a framework that is flexible and dynamic, 
not one that is static and top-down. This approach is narrow, not 
presumptive. The tech industry wants to focus its energy resources and 
attention on real-time, dynamic threats, and responses.
  Moreover, government shouldn't be telling anyone how to regulate 
critical infrastructure when it hasn't been able to get its own 
networks and systems secure. The Office of Budget and Management 
reported almost 42,000 attacks on Federal networks in 2010, an increase 
of almost 40 percent over the previous year. That's why I'm happy to 
see Congressman Darrell Issa's bill coming to the floor. Without a 
doubt, we need better oversight on our Federal information-technology 
systems.
  Each day brings new challenges in the fight to protect our Nation's 
virtual space and technology innovation, but the cybersecurity bills 
before the floor this week are unlike the pro-regulatory frameworks 
that typically characterize Washington's policymaking. Let's move 
forward with the commonsense voluntary tools we need to strengthen our 
cyberdefenses, the Internet economy, and the ``virtual you.'' Let's 
show some leadership.

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