[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21161]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF THE INFORMATION SECURITY ACT

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                         HON. CHRISTOPHER JOHN

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. JOHN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce today a bill that 
will promote the secure sharing of information and communications 
within the proposed Department of Homeland Security--the Information 
Security Act. This Act authorizes funding to implement and maintain the 
enhanced security infrastructure necessary for sensitive information to 
be securely stored, transmitted, and disseminated within a new 
Department of Homeland Security.
  Although we have had a lot of debate about policies, procedures and 
the organization of a Department of Homeland Security, I believe we 
have not given enough attention to the need to put into place 
information technology systems that will allow different parts of the 
U.S. government to communicate and collaborate securely with each 
other. We will not win the war on terror if we simply put various 
federal agencies under the umbrella of a Department of Homeland 
Security without the secure infrastructure to make it into a cohesive 
organization.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to ignore the threats posed by cyber 
attacks and the urgent need to invest in secure information systems. 
The Information Security Act is a small, but important step toward 
meeting our security needs and I urge my colleagues to support this 
very important bill.

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