[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 22, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H2368-H2378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1560, PROTECTING CYBER NETWORKS
ACT, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1731, NATIONAL
CYBERSECURITY PROTECTION ADVANCEMENT ACT OF 2015
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 212 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 212
Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this
resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule
XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of
the bill (H.R. 1560) to improve cybersecurity in the United
States through enhanced sharing of information about
cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes. The first
reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of
order against consideration of the bill are waived. General
debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence. After general debate the bill shall be
considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. It shall
be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose
of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the
nature of a substitute recommended by the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence now printed in the bill. The
committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be
considered as read. All points of order against the committee
amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. No
amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a
substitute shall be in order except those printed in part A
of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this
resolution. Each such amendment may be offered only in the
order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall
be debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent,
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such
amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House
on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the
bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a
substitute. The previous question shall be considered as
ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage
without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with
or without instructions.
Sec. 2. At any time after adoption of this resolution the
Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R.
1731) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance
multi-directional sharing of information related to
cybersecurity risks and strengthen privacy and civil
liberties protections, and for other purposes. The first
reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of
order against consideration of the bill are waived. General
debate shall be confined to the bill and amendments specified
in this section and shall not exceed one hour equally divided
and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on Homeland Security. After general debate the
bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute
rule. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute
recommended by the Committee on Homeland Security now printed
in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an original
bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule
an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the
text of Rules Committee Print 114-12. That amendment in the
nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. All
points of order against that amendment in the nature of a
substitute are waived. No amendment to that amendment in the
nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed
in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules
accompanying this resolution. Each such amendment may be
offered only in the order printed in the report, may be
offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be
considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified
in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent
and an opponent,
[[Page H2369]]
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such
amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House
on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the
bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made
in order as original text. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions.
Sec. 3. (a) In the engrossment of H.R. 1560 the Clerk
shall--
(1) add the text of H.R. 1731, as passed by the House, as
new matter at the end of H.R. 1560;
(2) conform the title of H.R. 1560 to reflect the addition
of H.R. 1731, as passed by the House, to the engrossment;
(3) assign appropriate designations to provisions within
the engrossment; and
(4) conform cross-references and provisions for short
titles within the engrossment.
(b) Upon the addition of the text of H.R. 1731, as passed
by the House, to the engrossment of H.R. 1560, H.R. 1731
shall be laid on the table.
{time} 1230
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) is
recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only,
I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Polis), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose
of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
to include extraneous materials on H. Res. 212, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring this rule
forward on behalf of the Rules Committee. It is a rule that respects
the legislative process and reflects the responsibility of Congress to
address a critical deficit in the infrastructure of our Nation.
This rule provides for consideration of both cybersecurity measures
under a structured amendment process. As a result of a thorough and
deliberative committee hearing yesterday evening, there are five
amendments to H.R. 1560 and 11 amendments to H.R. 1731 that this body
will have the opportunity to debate and ultimately vote for or against.
The bipartisan nature of these bills speaks to the critical need for
this legislation. Both bills passed their respective committees with
bipartisan support, and I am hopeful this rule will enjoy similar
overwhelming support.
For each bill, amendments offered by Democrats exceeded those offered
by Republicans. I would like to thank Chairman Nunes and also Chairman
McCaul for their work, both within our conference and across the aisle,
to ultimately bring forward two bills that reflect compromise,
consistency, and a deep understanding of the dangers that cyber attacks
pose every day.
If both bills are adopted, this rule combines the bills and sends
them to the Senate as a package in an effort to work with the other
Chamber, go to conference, and to produce a product that will be signed
into law. This is a fair rule that respects this body, the importance
of this issue, and the legislative process as a whole.
The world has changed greatly since this body last discussed
cybersecurity. The ``Internet of Things'' has created unforeseen risks
and exposed vulnerabilities and defects in the ability of companies to
even simply talk to each other without fear of frivolous litigation.
Our enemy is adapting, growing bolder and more sophisticated. North
Korea, Iran, Russia, and China seek to exploit and devastate our
economic security as a nation and our data security as individuals
through cyber attacks that we cannot adequately anticipate, respond, or
even communicate about.
Foreign governments aren't the only ones who wish to do Americans
harm. Terrorists and criminal enterprises have also recognized that
American companies are crippled by the ambiguity in our law as it
relates to sharing cyber threat information.
The cyber attack surface has expanded. Wearables, connected vehicles,
and embedded devices have made it possible for cyber attacks to
literally be driven into the parking lot or walked through doors.
The traditional ways of responding to cyber threats and recovering
from them are not sufficient to safeguard the data privacy of Americans
and the economic security of our Nation. The scope of these attacks and
devastating damages are increasing as rapidly as the attackers are
themselves.
These bills are not a magic pill. They will not render inoperable the
scores of foreign countries and enterprises that want to see American
exceptionalism brought to its knees; but they do give clear, positive
legal authority to American companies to allow them to protect their
own and to appropriately share cyber threats with other countries and,
in certain cases, Federal agencies.
Let me be clear. These are not surveillance bills. These are not data
collection bills. This is not the PATRIOT Act or FISA. This body will
debate intelligence gathering, collecting, sharing, and using at some
point in the future, but today is not that day.
I know those rightly concerned with government surveillance, like
myself, would like to use this rule for that purpose and the underlying
measures as a platform to debate that, but I urge them to refrain. We
will have that debate.
Today's focus is on the perpetrating of the thousands of cyber
threats American businesses face every single day. Let the attention be
on North Korea. Let it be on Iran. Let it be on the countless enemies
of the United States who want to destroy this Nation. For today, we
speak with a united voice that they will fail.
We declare with one voice that American companies have the right to
protect their own, to protect and defend their own networks, to share
technical information with the appropriate agencies on a voluntary
basis if they so choose.
I thank the Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees and their
staff for their tireless work they have done to ensure that we can
protect our economy, our infrastructure, and our private information.
I know detractors of the legislation may attempt to paint this rule
and underlying measures in a different light, so let's allow the facts
to speak for themselves.
These bills have three key components. First, they provide for
completely voluntary participation by private companies in a program
with positive legal authority. This program allows three kinds of
sharing--private company to private company, government to private
company, and private company to government--but this sharing of
information is limited only to cyber threat indicators.
Second, they require the removal of all unrelated personal
information. It is the technical cyber threat information that is being
shared, zeros and ones. In fact, there is a requirement that both the
government and the private entity remove personally identifiable
information when the information is shared and also when it is
received.
Third, the legislation expressly prohibits the cyber threat
indicators from being used for surveillance.
These bills will benefit all Americans by helping businesses better
protect sensitive information. Attacks against our network often seek
to steal Americans' personal information. This can include credit and
debit card information, medical records, or even Social Security
numbers.
Many of the recent attacks that we have all read about in the news
were specifically aimed at stealing the personal information of
Americans. Cyber attackers are also increasingly targeting small
businesses. In fact, in 2014, 60 percent of all targeted attacks struck
at small- and medium-sized businesses.
The underlying legislation will also help protect American jobs by
protecting the intellectual property of American businesses. It is
estimated that cyber attacks cost Americans roughly 500,000 jobs a
year. Foreign companies often use cyber attacks to target the trade
secrets of U.S. companies and then use the information to produce their
own competing product.
[[Page H2370]]
The threat is real, both to our economic security as a nation and our
personal information as individuals. If we fail to act and pass this
rule and the underlying bills, our Nation and our personal privacy is
more at risk than ever before.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for
yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying
legislation.
Today, the House is convening to debate a matter that we all agree is
critical for our national security, our economic competitiveness, our
prosperity, and the success of our private sector.
The recent cyber attacks on Sony and Anthem are but two prominent
examples of cases in which American businesses or government entities
have come under attack by hackers, among many other instances that
haven't even been reported.
I want to recognize the work that the House Intelligence and Homeland
Security Committees did on these pieces of legislation and their
attempts to address these issues. Unfortunately, in spite of their hard
work and the work of those that went into crafting these two bills, I
regret that they fall short of their goals and would likely do more
harm than good.
Not only do both bills, particularly the Protecting Cyber Networks
Act, raise enormous concerns about inappropriate sharing of personal
information and surveillance on Americans' private lives, but they are
built on the premise that many security experts have warned is
fundamentally flawed, that sharing information with the Federal
Government should be the central focus of our efforts to protect
American cyber networks, rather than simply one aspect to a
multipronged strategy to defeat hackers, foreign and domestic.
Now, before I address the substance of these two bills, I want to
discuss this unusual rule before us and how it treats two bills which
contradict each other in significant ways.
Ordinarily, when two committees share jurisdiction over a matter--in
this case, the Homeland Security Committee and the Intelligence
Committee--they collaborate. One committee handles one portion of the
bill, reports it out; the other committee handles the other portion,
reports it out, and they work together to bring a single piece of
legislation to the floor for Members to debate, amend, and vote for or
against.
This is what happened, for example, with the recent SGR repeal
legislation, which had components under the jurisdiction of no less
than six different committees in this body, but was presented before us
as a single bill.
In this case, however, because there seems to be some kind of turf
war between the Intelligence Committee and the Homeland Security
Committee, we are actually voting on two overlapping bills that, in
several respects, contradict one another.
For instance, the bills have drastically different determinations of
what kind of information may be shared, what purposes the government
may use the information for, and what hacking countermeasures companies
are allowed to take to protect their networks.
Instead of having a meaningful debate on the merits of each bill's
approach, this body, if this rule passes, would forego that, and we
would simply debate and vote on each bill separately, and if they both
pass, the rule directs the Clerk to mesh them together through
something called conforming amendments.
Not only would this leave businesses to wade their way through two
separate, contradictory regulatory schemes, but it leaves it unclear
which bill's provisions would actually prevail in practice and under
which circumstances. It actually would create more uncertainty in the
marketplace, rather than less.
I don't think anybody could reasonably call this an open process. We
shouldn't be depriving our constituents of an open debate on important
issues. The major amendments of this bill that would have restored
privacy, many of which I was a cosponsor, are not even allowed to be
debated on the floor of the House, not for 10 minutes, not for 5
minutes, not even for 1 minute.
My colleagues and I on both sides of the aisle are being denied a
vote on the very amendments that we feel could address the concerns we
have with the cybersecurity legislation and make sure that we keep
American networks safe.
Mr. Speaker, in the 2 years since the NSA's shockingly broad data
collection program PRISM came to light, we have heard from many of our
constituents. The American people want an end to unwarranted
surveillance. They want Congress to restore desperately needed
accountability and transparency to our Nation's often out-of-control
intelligence-gathering apparatus.
It is bewildering to many people that, at the very time the American
people have spoken out that we want more safeguards, instead, we are
bringing forward two bills whose central objective is to facilitate the
flow of more personal information to the Federal Government, when we
continue to put off the question of surveillance reform and bringing an
end to the NSA's bulk data collection without warrants.
It is especially disappointing in light of the fact that several
PATRIOT Act provisions will sunset at the end of next month, giving
Congress a crucial opportunity to reexamine and rein in Federal
surveillance programs.
By putting off that issue and bringing mass information sharing to
the floor, Congress is asking the American people for a blank check.
Congress is saying: Trust the President. No President would allow this
information sharing to infringe on your civil liberties, even though we
have utterly failed to pass a single piece of legislation to end the
privacy abuses that we know have occurred under this administration and
the prior administration.
The problem with these bills is that they go far beyond, and they
open up additional loopholes and potential abuses with regard to
privacy abuses, particularly H.R. 1560, the so-called Protecting Cyber
Networks Act. Both bills open up Americans' private information to
inappropriate scrutiny by the Federal Government.
Now, I expect we will hear proponents of both bills argue at length
that the protections against sharing personal information are
sufficiently robust.
For instance, under both bills, they will cite that cyber threat data
is scrubbed twice for personal information, once by private entities
before they transmit it to the government and once by government
entities before they store the information or share it with anybody
else.
Now, that sounds good, but, unfortunately, the devil is in the
details, and a close reading of the bill shows that there is an
enormous loophole in the information-scrubbing component and that it
fails to offer Americans safeguards for the personal information.
{time} 1245
Under both bills, any Federal entity in receipt of cyber data threat
information may store and share personal information it receives--
unscrubbed information--if they believe that it is related to a
cybersecurity threat.
Now, this standard isn't too vague, considering that information
``related'' to a cybersecurity threat could be interpreted to mean just
about anything, but it is also incredibly broad. It includes an
implicit assumption that Americans' personal information should be
shared, unless Federal officials have information that it is not
related to a cybersecurity threat. In many cases, the burden is to show
that the personal information is not related to a cybersecurity threat
for it to be scrubbed, rather than the other way around.
So, yes, companies and Federal entities are required to scrub the
data for information that can be used to identify a specific person.
But the loophole then calls on them not to remove any personally
identifiable information unless they can show that it is not related to
cybersecurity. Even if there is an off chance that something at some
point might be pertinent to some kind of investigation, it puts
Americans' personal information--without warrants, without due process,
including information about patterns of Internet use, location, content
of online communications--at great risk.
We have seen before that the Federal Government has a poor track
record of
[[Page H2371]]
safeguarding our personal information when they are entrusted with it.
The last thing we should be doing is empowering Federal agencies even
more with a broad discretion to look at personal information unless
there is clear evidence that doing so would combat a cybersecurity
threat.
I introduced, along with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, a
number of amendments to both bills--one with the gentlewoman from
California, Representative Zoe Lofgren, and one with Representative Zoe
Lofgren and the gentleman from Michigan, Representative Justin Amash--
to impose a higher standard on Federal entities who are entrusted with
this personal information. Our proposal would simply require the
Federal Government to remove personally identifiable information unless
it is directly necessary to identify or mitigate a cybersecurity
threat--the purported purpose of this bill.
These amendments would have imposed no additional burdens on private
companies, but they would have given our Nation's technology companies
and the customers who keep them globally competitive more confidence
that private information shared under these bills would not be
subjected to inappropriate mass scrutiny by the government.
Sadly, our amendments met the same fate as nearly two dozen others
put forth to add in important privacy safeguards.
The potential for abuse of private information under H.R. 1560 is
even more far-reaching. The Homeland Security bill at least makes clear
that the information companies transmit to DHS should be shared
specifically with other agencies that need it to protect critical
infrastructure. But the circumstances under which information can be
shared under the Intelligence bill--and who it can be shared with--are
fuzzier and broader.
Under the approach taken by H.R. 1560, every cyber threat indicator
shared with a civilian agency of the Federal Government is immediately
shared with a host of other government agencies, including the NSA.
This increases the threat to cybersecurity by having repositories of
information replicated across numerous government agencies, creating
additional avenues for attack by malicious hackers. That means that
private sector companies will not be able to participate in the program
and promise their users they will not share information with NSA or
other government agencies unless required by law.
Furthermore, it is true that the Homeland Security bill includes some
troubling provisions that allow the government to use cybersecurity
threat information for criminal investigations unrelated to
cybersecurity. Fortunately, the Rules Committee made in order an
amendment by Representatives John Katko, Zoe Lofgren, and Anna Eshoo
that would address this problem in the Homeland Security bill. I hope
that my colleagues adopt this amendment.
Unfortunately, no such amendment is being considered to address this
issue within the Intelligence bill, H.R. 1560, where the problem
actually runs much deeper. H.R. 1560 permits cyber threat data,
including Americans' private information, that is shared with the
Federal Government to be stored and used for a raft of unrelated
purposes, unconstrained by congressional directive, including
investigations and potential prosecution of crimes completely unrelated
to cybersecurity.
Obviously, all of us want law enforcement agencies to be equipped to
prevent and prosecute violent crime, but the inclusion of these matters
completely unrelated to cybersecurity broadens the scope of the measure
far beyond what it is purported to be: a cybersecurity bill. In fact,
it reduces the focus of our efforts on combating cybersecurity when you
open it up to everything under the sun.
By including a vast array of other reasons the government can invoke
to store and share personal information, the authors of the bill
essentially transformed the information-sharing initiative into a broad
new surveillance program.
Yes. Rather than a cybersecurity measure, effectively, these bills
are a stalking horse for broad new surveillance authority by multiple
agencies of the Federal Government without warrants, without oversight.
H.R. 1560 empowers Federal entities to hold onto any information
about an individual that may be ``related to'' any of the many law
enforcement purposes lumped into the bill. That gives the Federal
Government enormous incentive to retain and scrutinize personal
information, even if it is unrelated to a cybersecurity threat.
The scope of the use authorizations also undermines due process
protections that exist to protect Americans against unwarranted search
and seizure. Private information about a person that was transmitted
warrantlessly to the NSA under a program that was purportedly designed
to combat hackers should not be admissible or used in court against
them on an unrelated offense--not related to cybersecurity, not related
to hacking. It would render all of our due process protections invalid
simply because of the medium of the information that is used with
regard to these matters in this case: Internet and cyber-related
mediums and communications through them.
I joined Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Darrell Issa, and Blake
Farenthold on an amendment to make clear that information sharing may
only be used for the purpose of mitigating cybersecurity threats,
again, the purported purpose of this bill. If the proponents of this
bill are serious about combating cybersecurity, why did the Rules
Committee deny Members the opportunity to limit the provisions of this
bill to cybersecurity rather than a whole host of unrelated offenses?
I also joined the gentleman from Kansas, Representative Kevin Yoder,
to sponsor an amendment to address a longstanding due process issue
that has plagued our Nation's legal system and our privacy rights.
While the government is required to get a warrant if it wants to
search through a person's physical mail, it is not required to get a
warrant to search through somebody's old emails, provided the emails
are older than 6 months. That contradiction and loophole was based on a
1986 law that was written before most people knew what email was.
Representative Yoder and I sponsor a bipartisan bill that has 261
cosponsors, and yet when we offered a provision on this bill, we were
not given a chance to vote on it and pass it in spite of the grave due
process implications that the underlying legislation has.
In addition to these privacy and due process concerns, I am alarmed
by the prospect that H.R. 1560 will actually invite attempts by both
private and public entities to deliberately weaken the integrity of
software systems in the name of cybersecurity.
H.R. 1560, for instance, authorizes companies to deploy
countermeasures that are called defensive measures in the form of hack
backs that would otherwise be illegal. A countermeasure operated on one
network should never cause harm to another that is prohibited by the
Federal antihacking statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But that
is precisely what can happen when a company places malware on its own
network, because if that data gets stolen along with other valuable
data, it can harm or lead to unauthorized or backdoor access of other
proprietary networks or information.
The gentleman from Virginia, Representative Gerry Connolly, put
forward two amendments to address this issue in a very thoughtful
manner. Regrettably, neither one will be allowed to be debated or
receive a vote on the floor of the House unless we can defeat this
rule.
Furthermore, both bills present the risk that Federal entities will
use the threat information they receive from private companies to
circumvent the security protections safeguarding those same private
companies' information systems, effectively creating their own back
doors which could later be exploited by malicious hackers.
As a matter of routine, our intelligence apparatus already demands
that private companies include defects in their encryption system for
the purported purpose of conducting backdoor surveillance. Today's
legislation only makes it easier for the NSA to find and exploit more
of these back doors and, therefore, easier--not harder--for hackers to
find and exploit these very same security weaknesses.
[[Page H2372]]
Once again, Representative Lofgren put forward an amendment that
would actually improve cybersecurity by making it clear that Federal
entities could not use data obtained through information sharing to
demand that private entities create new encryption weaknesses to enable
backdoor hacking. Sadly, once again, her amendment will not be heard on
the floor of the House, and this bill will encourage and allow
additional venues for the illicit hacking it purports to combat.
Mr. Speaker, I don't doubt the intentions and the goals of my
colleagues on the Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees, but
these bills simply represent a step backwards rather than a step
forward, present risks on too many fronts, from privacy, to due
process, to the threats that they add to the integrity of the very
networks that these bills are designed to safeguard.
In addition, the bills' focus on information sharing negates an
important conversation about more important mechanisms Congress should
be looking at to protect cyber systems, mechanisms that are not as
fraught with risks to our civil liberties and are more effective at
protecting our networks. We should be doing more, for instance, to
educate businesses and governments about basic network security.
Even here in Congress, we have seen evidence of how woefully lacking
even elementary knowledge about cyber threats is. Helping businesses
prevent cyber attacks doesn't have to mean that the government vacuums
up endless amounts of personal data about how individual Americans are
using the Internet and their personal communications.
In fact, if we stop allowing the NSA to demand that U.S. businesses
deliberately weaken their own networks for the purpose of government
surveillance, that, in itself, would be a big step forward to
strengthening our national cybersecurity.
Sadly, today's rule doesn't even allow for a debate or for a vote on
the most significant concerns surrounding this legislation and denies
Members the opportunity to consider changes that would address the
issues that we have raised and improve cybersecurity under this bill.
For these reasons, I hope my colleagues join me in opposing the rule
and the underlying legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, again, I want to focus this
debate. There are many things my friend from Colorado brought up that
will be debated, that are coming up, I think, as early, frankly, as
tomorrow in some committees and will be debated on this floor. This is
about sharing. This is about information protection.
And with that, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from New York (Mr. King), who is a member of both the
Homeland Security and the Intelligence Committees. He is the chairman
of the Homeland Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, and he is also the
former chairman of the full committee.
Mr. KING of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule and also of the
underlying bills, H.R. 1731 and H.R. 1560.
As was pointed out, I am the only Member of Congress who is on the
Homeland Security Committee and the Intelligence Committee; and I was
able to both take part and also to observe closely the extent to which
the gentleman from Texas, Chairman McCaul, and the gentleman from
California, Chairman Nunes, worked with Members on both sides of the
aisle, worked with privacy groups, worked with Federal officials,
government officials, and administration officials to try to make this
as bipartisan a bill as possible, to ensure that privacy would be
protected, but also to ensure that everything possible can be done to
protect our Nation against cyber intrusions.
Now, every day there are attacks upon our infrastructure. The
critical infrastructure--mostly in private hands--is being targeted;
and Federal networks, databases that are vital to our national
security, are under assault every second of every day.
Cyberterrorism, whether it is carried out by a nation-state, such as
Iran or Russia or China, or carried out by terrorist organizations,
such as ISIS or al Qaeda, is extremely damaging and threatening to our
national security; and it is essential that we, especially since so
much of our critical infrastructure is in the hands of the private
sector, allow for sharing, that we allow companies to share information
with the government, that there is mutual sharing with the government,
with the private sector, so that these companies can do it without fear
of being sued, without fear of liability--they act in good faith; they
do what has to be done.
Every measure that was put in there--I know the gentleman from
Colorado disagrees, but every measure is in there to ensure that
individual rights will not be violated, that privacy will not be
violated. And again, we have to look at, for instance, if the gentleman
from Colorado is wrong, what this could mean to our country, how this
could devastate--devastate--our infrastructure, devastate our national
security, devastate our financial system.
So again, this was not something that was rushed into. And when you
have both bills passing out of committee with, as far as I recall, not
one dissenting vote--not that everyone was in full agreement with the
bills. But the fact is this is probably as close to a consensus as you
can come in the Halls of Congress on such a critical and, in some ways,
such a controversial issue, to find that type of unanimity on the two
committees that deal with this most significantly.
{time} 1300
H.R. 1731 is the Homeland Security Committee bill that allows this
information to be shared. The port will be the Department of Homeland
Security, and that was done, again, working with privacy groups and
working with those who are concerned with civil liberties, at the same
time working with those who realize how absolutely essential to our
security passage of this legislation is and how we have to have this
type of cooperation, this type of sharing, this information sharing,
and being done with the government and with the private sector working
together to combat these enemies which can come at us from all
directions. Again, every second of every day these attacks are being
attempted and carried out.
That is the crisis that faces us as a nation. It is not as obvious as
a bomb going off in Times Square, and it is not as obvious as a bomb
going off at the Boston Marathon, but it is just as critical.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an
additional 1 minute.
Mr. KING of New York. It is just as critical and just as vital, in
some ways more so, in that the ultimate result could be so devastating
to our Nation.
So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask, again, passage of the rule, which I
believe is obviously essential, but also passage of the underlying
bills because, again, our Congress has been criticized, with some
validity, for not being able to work together and for not being able to
get things done. But to have such a vital, controversial issue as this,
to have both committees who deal with it most closely, to have them
come together, all the effort and work that went into it, to have them
come together to come up with this package of legislation, this shows
Congress works. It shows we take this issue seriously, and it means we
are going to go forward in all we can to combat terrorism in all its
forms. Right now, probably the most lethal are the cybersecurity
attacks being made on us.
Mr. Speaker, I urge strong support of the rule and the underlying
bill.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would just add that demanding that private
companies deliberately include defects in their own encryption systems
for the purpose of allowing the NSA to conduct backdoor surveillance
only increases the risk of our cybersecurity networks rather than
decreases it, which is exactly what the bill does.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the ranking member of the Committee on
Homeland Security.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Colorado for yielding the time.
Mr. Speaker, though I support H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity
Protection Advancement Act, as approved by voice vote in my committee,
I rise to express my disappointment with the rule.
[[Page H2373]]
Yesterday the White House announced support for House passage of H.R.
1731 but said that ``improvements to the bill are needed to ensure that
its liability protections are appropriately targeted to encourage
responsible cybersecurity practices.'' The White House was referring to
the language that was inserted at the direction of the Judiciary
majority.
Instead of providing a targeted safe harbor for companies to share
timely cyber threat information, it establishes an unduly complicated
legal framework that runs the risk of providing liability relief to
companies that act negligently. Moreover, it explicitly immunizes
companies from not acting on timely cyber information. This language
runs counter to the fundamental goal of the legislation: to get
companies timely, actionable information to use to protect their
networks.
Yet when H.R. 1731 is considered tomorrow, Members will not be
allowed to vote on a single amendment to fix the liability provision
that the White House has called ``sweeping'' and said may weaken
cybersecurity overall. Remarkably, none of the seven amendments that
were filed to fix it are being allowed.
I would also like to register my disappointment that the rule calls
for H.R. 1731, upon passage, to be attached to the Intelligence
Committee bill. From my conversation with Members, I know that there is
a great deal of support for authorizing cyber information sharing with
the Federal civilian lead, the Department of Homeland Security. As
such, I would argue that the rule should have called for H.R. 1560 to
be folded into our bill.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. At this point, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to
yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr.
Issa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on
Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting the rule, but not without
trepidation. I will be opposing the underlying bill, but not without
regret. The underlying bill could have done what we wanted it to do. It
could have allowed for the exchange of information while protecting
individuals' privacy. It could have limited that information to
preventing a cyberterrorist attack. But, in fact, amendments that were
offered on a bipartisan basis, a number of them, that could have
limited this would have, in fact, allowed us to have the confidence
that this information would be used only for what it was intended.
Mr. Speaker, since 9/11, the government has begun to know more and
more about what we are doing, who we are, where we live, where we
sleep, whom we love, whom we do business with, and where we travel. And
we have known less and less. Just a few days ago, the Ninth Circuit in
northern California had to rule that the government had to turn over
information in a usable format. It took a Federal court order to do so.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an
additional 1 minute.
Mr. ISSA. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, this bill should mandate our knowing more and the
government not knowing. It should have ensured that the government only
had what it needed. It should have protected private companies who
wanted to exchange appropriate information between each other. It
should not have created a vast treasure trove here in Washington or
somewhere in the hinterland where the government now and in the future
can dig in for any purpose--criminal background investigations or
perhaps simply checking to see if you paid your taxes. The fact is,
this is a data vault that is not narrowly construed, and, therefore,
sadly, without the amendments that were not allowed, I am not in a
position to vote for this bill. I thank the chairman, and I thank Mr.
Polis for his kind remarks also.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, we will
offer an amendment to the rule that will allow the House to consider
the Department of Veterans Affairs Cybersecurity Protection Act.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs.
Kirkpatrick) to discuss our proposal.
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me a
couple of minutes to talk about the importance of protecting our
veterans from cyber attack.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1128, the Department of
Veterans Affairs Cyber Security Protection Act. My bill will protect
veterans' personal and sensitive information from cyber attacks without
compromising the VA's ability to provide the health care, benefits, and
services our veterans have earned.
This legislation will do primarily three things. First, it will
require the VA to develop an information security strategic plan that
protects current veterans' information and anticipates future
cybersecurity threats. Second, it mandates a report on VA actions to
hold employees accountable for data breaches. Third, it requires the VA
to propose a reorganization of the VA's information-security
infrastructure to protect veterans and provide greater levels of
accountability and responsibility in the VA.
My bill will also require the VA to report employee violations of its
policy and report any incidents involving the compromise of veterans'
personal information by the VA or from outside cyber attacks.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is one commonsense way that we can hold the VA
accountable and protect veterans' private and personal information from
cyber threats, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1128.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to
yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), a member of
the Homeland Security Committee and a colleague of mine from Georgia.
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, national cybersecurity will be an issue this House will
have to constantly address for the foreseeable future. To achieve a
system that will protect our Nation's citizens and its infrastructure,
we must create a public-private partnership between Federal agencies
and American businesses. This partnership will allow Federal agencies
and American businesses to share cyber threat information,
vulnerabilities within our cyber network, and the creation of new
systems to protect consumer information. However, private businesses
need to be provided protections and incentives to ensure they are
protected from government abuse and private legal proceedings meant to
gain access to private security information.
Mr. Speaker, one of our top priorities with these two bills should be
to clearly acknowledge protections given to companies that engage in
penetration testing and clearly state that company proprietary
information is protected from nefarious legal proceedings and exempted
from Freedom of Information Act requests. It is reasonable to think
that individuals would actively pursue this sort of proprietary
information for the sole purpose of accessing the vulnerabilities of
private cyber networks if we do not clearly state that this information
is protected and exempt from those actions.
I believe we should consider these possibilities and ensure that
protections are provided so our country and its citizens can fully
benefit from these laws.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I want to thank my colleague from Georgia who
sits on the Homeland Security Committee for his passion and his
commitment to addressing these critical defects in the laws governing
this voluntary sharing of cyber threat information. The legislation
before us today is good policy reflective of the hard work of the
committees on which you sit, Homeland Security and the Intelligence
Committee, as well as input from a vast array of stakeholders. It is
important to know that the legislation is supported by every sector of
the economy.
As my friend so eloquently noted, the legislative process will
rightly continue after these bills are considered by the full House
this week and for years to come as we revisit and reassess the needs of
Americans' privacy and also the laws governing cybersecurity.
[[Page H2374]]
Mr. Speaker, I agree with my friend that if there is a conference
committee on this bill, we should encourage them to seek additional
clarification language as needed to ensure that companies are
appropriately incentivized to share cyber threat information.
I just want to say personally that I appreciate all the hard work
that you have done on this issue bringing this forward and continuing
to work for not only the companies in Georgia but across this Nation
who depend on a safe and secure cyber network.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that on this very day, leaders on the
Judiciary Committee will introduce legislation designed to reform and
rein in the Federal Government's surveillance programs. I haven't had
the opportunity to review those bills yet, so I can't speak to their
merits. But I hope that if it is a strong bill, it will make its way
through both Chambers and become law.
But, today, this body is considering a rule that would take us in the
wrong direction. Recent history has shown that this body shares the
American people's concerns that we don't take the threat of unwarranted
surveillance seriously enough and that Congress needs to pass
meaningful reforms that balance our liberties, our freedoms, and our
privacy with the need to keep America safe.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation
yesterday that would extend the NSA's surveillance program without any
of the reforms that many of us on both sides of the aisle have
advocated to rein them in. This is despite the national outcry and,
indeed, international embarrassment that has been counterproductive to
the very American security goals that these provisions are designed to
advance.
This makes me fear that Congress is not learning from the mistakes of
the past, mistakes of overly broad surveillance authorities, but
instead is about to repeat them. So before we approve faster, broader,
and easier sharing of vast amounts of personal information from
innocent Americans with the Federal Government, Congress should be
taking up legislation to prove that we have the ability to curb abuse
and the Federal Government's penchant for abusing its access to this
kind of data.
So far Congress has not shown its aptitude for preventing this kind
of abuse. Yet today we ask the American people to trust us, to trust
the President, yet again, by opening up even more information to the
NSA and other surveillance agencies.
Our experience with the NSA has shown us that to protect American
civil liberties from an overzealous surveillance apparatus, the
authorities to review and share Americans' personal information need to
be construed as narrowly, as unambiguously, and as specifically as
possible by the United States Congress. We need to limit very
specifically to a specific set of circumstances under which sharing
data and information is necessary for mitigating a security threat.
We offered to do that through bipartisan amendments, working with
Representative Lofgren, Representative Issa, and others, but none of
those amendments are allowed to be discussed or debated under this
rule.
Both the Protecting Cyber Networks Act and the National Cybersecurity
Protection Advancement Act fall well short of the standard--and in the
case of the Protecting Cyber Networks Act can even be counterproductive
and falls woefully short.
{time} 1315
These pieces of legislation would enable Federal agencies to store
and share Americans' private information, such as Internet usage
patterns, even the content of online communications, based on a vague
or broad standard that doing so is not unrelated to a cybersecurity
threat.
Again, not affirmatively, they don't have to prove that it is related
to a cybersecurity threat; the burden of proof is to show that it is
not unrelated to a cybersecurity threat. How can you demonstrably show
that about anything?
It would make it easier for government agencies to deliberately
weaken software systems for the purpose of creating new surveillance
back doors that foreign nation-states and hackers can presumably also
exploit.
It would leave the door wide open to more NSA surveillance by
allowing the sharing of personal information for a raft of purposes
unrelated to cybersecurity. We can do better.
By rejecting this rule, Members of Congress will show that, yes, we
take cybersecurity seriously, so seriously that we want to take the
time to get it right. Whether that takes another week or 2 weeks or 3
weeks, getting it right means allowing Members of this body input into
the formulation of the final bill meaningfully through the kinds of
amendments that have been rejected outright under this rule without
discussion, without debate, without a vote.
Unfortunately, the rule before us today denies us the ability to
consider amendments that would have addressed many of the concerns with
the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the
amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately
prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to vote ``no'' and defeat the previous question.
I urge a ``no'' vote on this bizarre rule that combines two, at
times, contradictory bills and rejects bipartisan amendments that would
have addressed the concerns that many of us have with the underlying
legislation.
I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question and the rule.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
As we move forward, I think one of the things--and there are many
things that are going to be discussed, and I encourage all Members to
vote for this rule. As we move into general debate, there will be a lot
of discussion that talks about what we are moving forward; but, also, I
want to bring forward that we are--as is seemingly not discussed
bringing forth, there are amendments being brought forth on both of
these bills.
There also were 20-something amendments in Homeland Security; there
was also an amendment in Intelligence. These are vetted bills. This is
a proper role with what we are doing in Congress in bringing these to
the floor.
Are there times that someone may want others? Yes; but, at this
point, we are going to have that debate here on the floor. That is why
voting for this rule and moving this forward is the proper thing to do.
Before we also move back from this, I want to talk about this need
and why we are here even to start with. Most Americans recognize and
understand that the growing attacks against our cyber networks and
critical infrastructure and our laws fail to provide proper legal
authority for information regarding cyber threats to be shared.
In fact, when I am back home in the Ninth District of Georgia
discussing this, most people don't realize there is this barrier, and
especially everything that is going on, they don't understand why some
of these impediments were put into place that keeps companies from
protecting their own, but also protecting their own personal
information.
One of the things that is missing in this debate is the discussion of
what has actually happened and the personal information that is shared
by these hackers who are getting into our system.
Some of the latest attacks perpetrated by North Korea and other
criminal enterprises on Sony Pictures and health insurance providers
Anthem and Blue Cross Blue Shield speak to the type of attacks that
occur on a daily basis that target the backbone of American business
and the privacy of America's most sensitive data.
As we look to constrain this, as we look to put in proper safeguards,
we have to realize that doing nothing exposes more and more of our
American citizens to personal information being shared. If we don't
believe it, just read the headlines from Sony, Anthem, and these others
that have come out recently.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, in 2014 alone, they
[[Page H2375]]
received almost 100,000 cyber incident reports and detected 64,000
cyber vulnerabilities, and these numbers are just based on information
given to DHS and does not reflect the full scope of the attacks on our
Nation.
When we look at this and we talk about the personal information, the
FBI Director James Comey said:
There are two kinds of big companies in the United States.
There are those who have been hacked . . . and those who
don't know they have been hacked.
A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute showed an average cost of a
cyber crime for U.S. retail stores more than doubled from 2013 to an
annual average of 8.6 million per company in 2014.
The annual average cost for a company of a successful cyber attack in
2014 increased to 20.8 million in financial services, 14.5 million in
the technology sector, and 12.7 million in the communications industry.
The scope of many attacks are not fully known. For example, in July
of 2014, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued an advisory
that more than 1,000 U.S. businesses have been affected by the Backoff
malware, which targets point-of-sale systems used by most retail
industries. These attacks targeted administrative and customer data
and, in many cases, financial data. Most companies encounter multiple
cyber attacks every day, many unknown to the public and many unknown to
the companies themselves even.
Again, as we look back over the attacks of just the past year, Target
announced an additional 70 million individual contact information was
taken during the December 2013 breach in which 40 million customers'
credit and debit information was stolen.
Between May 2013 and January 2014, the payment cards of 2.6 million
Michaels customers were affected. Attackers targeted the Michaels POS
system to gain access to their systems.
The email service Yahoo! Mail was reportedly hacked in for 273
million users, although the specific number of accounts affected was
not released.
For 2 weeks, AT&T was hacked from the inside by personnel who
accessed user information, including Social Security information.
Foreign nationals from China have been indicted for computer hacking
and economic espionage. We have seen these attacks all over the board.
Looking at this, the real issue that comes to mind is if we sit back
and are not productive and not proactive as the Intelligence Committee
and the Homeland Security Committee have been here, we are putting in
danger more personal information being exposed in ways that no American
needs to have their personal information exposed and are being targeted
in the process.
This is good legislation that needs to stay on the floor, and that is
why we are here today to support this rule and to look forward to that
debate that has already happened and will continue to happen.
I appreciate the discussion we have had over the past hour. Although
we may have some differences, our unity should be clear against the
cyber attacks and our resolve to prevent them and show their success is
strong.
This rule provides for ample debate on the floor, the opportunity to
debate and to vote on 16 amendments, and a smooth and deliberative
process for sending one bill to the Senate. These bills will help
protect American consumers, jobs, and small businesses.
Allowing companies, again, to voluntarily share cyber threat
indicators with other companies and government agencies will help bring
awareness to new threats and vulnerabilities.
If businesses can learn about a new threat from another business or
from the government before they are targeted themselves, they can
better act to protect their customers' personal information from a
similar attack.
I would like to thank Intel, Homeland Security, Judiciary, and Rules
Committee members and staff for the thoughtful and involved processes
that have brought us to this point.
I urge my colleagues to support the rule and these two cybersecurity
bills.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the Rule governing
debate on H.R. 1731 and H.R. 1560.
I support the Rule for H.R. 1731 and H.R. 1569 because it: 1.
provides for consideration of important improvements to both bills; 2.
makes clear the role of the Department of Homeland Security in securing
civil government networks; and 3. the responsibilities of DHS in assist
private sector entities in improving overall cybersecurity for
themselves and their customers.
The bipartisan process that the Homeland Security Committee followed
through the leadership of Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson
is an example of what can be accomplished when partisanship is removed
from the policymaking equation.
I would also like to thank Chairman Sessions and Ranking Member
Slaughter as well as members of the Rules Committee for making 4 of my
amendments in order.
I join my colleagues in the work to secure our nation's
cybersecurity, while preserving the privacy and civil liberties of our
citizens.
The road to today began in 2011, when President Obama took several
steps to move the issue of cybersecurity to the forefront by: 1.
releasing a cybersecurity legislative proposal; 2. calling on Congress
to take urgent action to give the private sector and government the
tools needed to combat cyber threats at home and abroad; and 3. issuing
the International Strategy for Cyberspace to make clear to nations
abroad that the United States was firmly committed to improving
cybersecurity and combating cyber terrorism.
I will be offering several amendments as the two bills are
considered.
The Jackson Lee amendments are simple and will improve the privacy
protections already in the bills and allow the Department of Homeland
Security to become a better partner with the private sector in its work
to improve domestic cybersecurity.
One of the Jackson Lee amendments that will be offered to the both
bills will improve privacy and civil liberties by providing the public
with a report from the Government Accountability Office that their
privacy and civil liberties are not being compromised by the programs
established by this bill.
Other Jackson Lee Amendments to H.R. 1731 will include an assurance
that DHS's remains current on innovations: 1. on data security that can
improve privacy and civil liberties protections; 2. in industrial
control systems to keep pace with industry adoption of new
technologies; and industry best practices; and 3. that can aid DHS in
aligning federally funded cybersecurity research and development with
private sector efforts to protect privacy and civil liberties.
These amendments will make sure that technology and equipment
purchased with taxpayer dollars provided to ensure cybersecurity will
remain current and focused on real-world applications that reflect
constitutional values and how businesses and industry function.
An important building block for improving the Nation's cybersecurity
is ensuring that private entities can collaborate to share timely cyber
threat information with each other and the Federal Government.
The Administration is expressing concerns with H.R. 1560's broad
liability protections offered to companies that sharing information
with federal government programs established under this bill.
Appropriate liability protections should be established that
incentivize good cybersecurity practices and would not grant immunity
to a private company for failing to act on information it receives
about the security of its networks.
The important component of cybersecurity is that computer network
owners and managers will act to improve cyber defense of their systems
when provided with information that vulnerabilities in their computer
networks exist.
Legislation should not provide incentives for companies not to act
when presented with evidence of network cyber security vulnerabilities.
Electronic data breaches involving Sony, Target, Home Depot, Neiman
Marcus, JPMorgan Chase, and Athem are only a few of the cyber incidents
that have plagued private sector networks.
These data breaches also are a reminder that the Internet is not yet
what it must become to continue to meet the remote communication needs
of a global marketplace.
As with other threats this nation has faced in the past and overcome
we must create the resources and the institutional responses to protect
our nation while preserving our liberties and freedoms.
We cannot accomplish the task of better cybersecurity without the
cooperation and full support of citizens; the private sector; local
state and federal government; computing research community; and
academia.
This level of cooperation requires the trust and confidence of the
American people that the actions taken by government to combat cyber
threats will not threaten our way of life nor our hard fought
Constitutional rights.
H.R. 1731 makes clear that the Department of Homeland Security will
be the federal government agency responsible for securing civilian
government networks and supporting voluntary efforts by private sector
companies and institutions to improve coordination and response to
cyber security threats.
[[Page H2376]]
The issues regarding liability protection related to cybersecurity
must be addressed in order for H.R. 1560 and H.R. 1731 to have any
chance of succeeding.
It is my understanding that Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member
Thompson have reached agreement on language that addresses concerns
that have been raised regarding liability.
There are talented and resourceful people outside and inside of
government who can inform Congress on approaches to information sharing
that will yield the desired results without compromising privacy or
civil liberties.
Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Rule for H.R.
1560 and H.R. 1731. Members from both parties have a shared goal of
bolstering cybersecurity and improving the quality of information that
the private sector receives about timely cyber threats so that they can
protect their systems. I am greatly disappointed that the Rules
Committee failed to make in order any of the several amendments
submitted by both Democrats and Republicans to refine what the White
House has called ``sweeping'' liability protections, as they appear in
both cyber information sharing bills to be considered this week.
Extending liability protection to a company that ``fails to act'' on
timely threat information could encourage companies to simply do
nothing despite receiving information critical to the security of its
systems. Appropriate liability protection does not grant immunity to
companies for failing to act on such cybersecurity threat information,
but rather incentivizes sound cybersecurity practices. The provision
also effectively preempts state laws--including those in California,
Massachusetts, and Maryland--that hold businesses liable for failing to
maintain reasonable security of their systems, thereby undermining
important protections for consumers and their sensitive data.
Instead, my Democratic colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee
and I support President Obama's straightforward, tailored approach to
addressing what some in industry have identified as a major barrier to
the sharing of cyber threat information--the risk that sharing such
information would expose companies to legal liability. Unfortunately,
the liability protection provision included in the bill puts in place
an unduly complicated structure that runs the risk of providing
liability relief to companies that fail to act on timely cyber
information. I submitted two amendments to address the liability
protection problems that exist in both information sharing bills to be
considered this week. The first would have struck the provision
immunizing companies that fail to act on timely threat information and
clarified that the Act has no impact on a duty to act on shared
cybersecurity threat information. The second would have removed all
potential liability exemptions for willful misconduct by government
actors.
These provisions would have improved both bills greatly, and at a
minimum they deserved to be debated on the House floor today. The
effectiveness of information sharing legislation and efforts to improve
the security of companies' systems depends on getting liability
protection right. I look forward to continuing the discussion on
liability protection with Members from both sides of the aisle as the
bill moves forward.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, House Report 114-88, the report
to accompany H. Res. 212, the special rule governing consideration of
H.R. 1731, does not reflect a request by Mr. Mulvaney of South Carolina
to add Mr. Thompson of Mississippi as a cosponsor of his amendment,
number 8 printed in part B of the report.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Polis is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 212 Offered by Mr. Polis of Colorado
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
sections:
Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution the
Speaker shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R.
1128) to amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain
improvements in the information security of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. General debate
shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. After
general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the five-minute rule. All points of order against
provisions in the bill are waived. At the conclusion of
consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall
rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as
may have been adopted. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions. If the Committee of
the Whole rises and reports that it has come to no resolution
on the bill, then on the next legislative day the House
shall, immediately after the third daily order of business
under clause 1 of rule XIV, resolve into the Committee of the
Whole for further consideration of the bill.
Sec. 5. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the
consideration of H.R. 1128.
____
The Vote on the Previous Question: What It Really Means
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the Democratic minority to offer an alternative plan. It is a
vote about what the House should be debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
The Republican majority may say ``the vote on the previous
question is simply a vote on whether to proceed to an
immediate vote on adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no
substantive legislative or policy implications whatsoever.''
But that is not what they have always said. Listen to the
Republican Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in
the United States House of Representatives, (6th edition,
page 135). Here's how the Republicans describe the previous
question vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally
not possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule. . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee on
Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Marchant). The question is on ordering
the previous question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of adoption of the resolution.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 237,
nays 179, not voting 15, as follows:
[Roll No. 163]
YEAS--237
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Boustany
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
[[Page H2377]]
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett
Gibbs
Gibson
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jolly
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Katko
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Pitts
Poliquin
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zeldin
Zinke
NAYS--179
Adams
Aguilar
Ashford
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSaulnier
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Graham
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Honda
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Nadler
Napolitano
Nolan
Norcross
O'Rourke
Pallone
Pascrell
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rangel
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--15
Brady (TX)
Costa
Curbelo (FL)
DesJarlais
Deutch
Graves (MO)
Hastings
Murphy (FL)
Neal
Olson
Payne
Poe (TX)
Schrader
Smith (WA)
Wasserman Schultz
{time} 1349
Messrs. CLEAVER and GENE GREEN of Texas changed their vote from
``yea'' to ``nay.''
Messrs. NEUGEBAUER, HUDSON, and STIVERS changed their vote from
``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the previous question was ordered.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 163, had I been present, I
would have voted ``no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 238,
noes 182, not voting 11, as follows:
[Roll No. 164]
AYES--238
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Ashford
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Boustany
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costa
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Duckworth
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett
Gibbs
Gibson
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Hudson
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jolly
Jordan
Joyce
Katko
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sinema
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zeldin
Zinke
NOES--182
Adams
Aguilar
Amash
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Graham
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Honda
Hoyer
Huelskamp
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Massie
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Nadler
[[Page H2378]]
Napolitano
Nolan
Norcross
O'Rourke
Pallone
Pascrell
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rangel
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--11
Brady (TX)
Curbelo (FL)
DesJarlais
Graves (MO)
Hastings
Murphy (FL)
Neal
Olson
Payne
Smith (WA)
Wasserman Schultz
{time} 1356
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________