[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING MIKE ASSANTE

  (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise with deep sadness to remember a 
luminary in the field of cybersecurity.
  Michael Assante passed away last Friday. The many tributes that have 
poured in from people in the ICS security community are a testament to 
his pioneering work and his kind soul.
  I, too, have been touched by Mike's work. Mike and his colleagues at 
Idaho National Laboratory first briefed me many years ago on the Aurora 
vulnerability that showed how a bad actor could use malware to cause 
physical damage to the electric grid and potentially knock out power to 
millions.
  That brief first piqued my interest in cybersecurity and led to my 
cofounding the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus with Congressman 
McCaul.
  Mike was many things--a brilliant researcher, a loving husband, a 
ferocious fighter of the cancer that eventually claimed his life--but I 
will always remember him, as will so many who went through his SANS 
Institute courses, as an educator.
  I cherished my time with Mike because I knew he would help me 
understand how Congress could better secure the operational technology 
underlying our daily lives.
  Michael Assante made a difference. He can never be replaced, but I 
will continue to honor his legacy by fighting to improve our Nation's 
cybersecurity.

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