[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60531-60532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24113]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 210 / Wednesday, November 3, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 60531]]

                Proclamation 10295 of October 29, 2021

                
Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience 
                Month, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For generations, American infrastructure--from the Erie 
                Canal and the Transcontinental Railroad to the Hoover 
                Dam--has been a cornerstone of our economic power, 
                providing jobs, facilitating transportation, bolstering 
                security, and overcoming barriers posed by distance and 
                geography. During Critical Infrastructure Security and 
                Resilience Month, we renew our commitment to securing 
                and enhancing the resilience of our Nation's critical 
                infrastructure.

                Threats to the critical infrastructure that we all 
                depend on, which underpins our economic and national 
                security, are among the most significant and growing 
                concerns for our Nation, including cyber threats, 
                physical threats, and climate threats. Our country has 
                seen how the technologies we rely on can be targeted by 
                criminal activity and how extreme weather exposes the 
                weaknesses in our power, water, communication, and 
                transportation networks. We must do everything we can 
                to safeguard and strengthen the systems that protect 
                us; provide energy to power our homes, schools, 
                hospitals, businesses, and vehicles; maintain our 
                ability to connect; and ensure that we have reliable 
                access to safe drinking water. While our Nation has 
                been resilient as we have navigated this pandemic, we 
                must continue investing in our workforce to keep pace 
                with the threats we face and ensure we are building 
                back better.

                I am committed to protecting our critical 
                infrastructure and improving security and resilience 
                efforts across the Nation. Most of our Nation's 
                critical infrastructure--from communication lines to 
                transportation networks--depends on coordination and 
                cooperation among Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
                governments, along with industry partners. That is why, 
                earlier this year, my Administration launched an 
                Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative to 
                strengthen the security of our country's critical 
                infrastructure, which has already created 100-day 
                action plans for the electricity and natural gas 
                pipeline sectors, with more to come, and we 
                institutionalized that Initiative with a National 
                Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for 
                Critical Infrastructure Control Systems. The voluntary 
                initiative is a collaborative effort between the 
                Federal Government and our private sector partners to 
                significantly improve the cybersecurity of our critical 
                systems by providing technologies that detect threats 
                and can respond in essential control system and 
                operational technology networks. The Department of 
                Homeland Security and the National Institute of 
                Standards and Technology are also partnering with the 
                private sector to develop `performance goals'--
                cybersecurity baselines that will improve our Nation's 
                security if critical infrastructure sectors adopt them. 
                Finally, critical infrastructure resilience greatly 
                benefits from close partnerships at home and abroad, 
                and this October, my Administration launched a Counter 
                Ransomware Initiative with more than 30 partners and 
                allies.

                At home, my Administration is committed to making a 
                once-in-a-generation investment to prioritize secure, 
                sustainable, and resilient infrastructure. Streamlining 
                access to Federal programs and grants to help States 
                and local government build capacity helps ensure we are 
                modernizing our infrastructure to be more climate-
                resilient and building a clean energy future that

[[Page 60532]]

                will create millions of jobs. The Bipartisan 
                Infrastructure Deal includes $550 billion for our 
                Nation's roads and bridges, water infrastructure, 
                internet, and more. Our agenda also contains the 
                largest Federal investment in power transmission in our 
                Nation's history, ensuring a more reliable grid that 
                has the capability to carry more renewable energy. 
                These investments will strengthen our Nation and 
                bolster our ability to lead, and they will help 
                mitigate socio-economic disparities, advance racial 
                equity, facilitate equitable recovery, and promote 
                affordable access to opportunities for every American. 
                Protecting our critical transportation infrastructure--
                including our bridges and roads--takes all of us 
                working together.

                A key dimension of the Nation's resilience is 
                safeguarding our democracy, which requires securing our 
                election infrastructure. We have made tremendous 
                progress working with State and local election 
                officials over the past several years, but there is 
                more to be done. We are particularly focused on 
                improving the physical security of election officials 
                as they face increasing threats of violence, securing 
                election systems from cyber attacks, and confronting 
                one of the most significant threats we see today: 
                disinformation campaigns designed to undermine 
                confidence in our elections, and ultimately, confidence 
                in our democracy and our democratic institutions.

                The threats against our critical infrastructure are 
                increasingly complex and nuanced, and we all must be 
                prepared to better protect ourselves from malicious 
                actors threatening our cyber and physical security. 
                That means staying vigilant, investing in new security 
                measures, being prepared to respond to threats, and 
                collaborating more with our partners. During Critical 
                Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, we 
                reaffirm our commitment to protecting our 
                infrastructure today and securing it for tomorrow.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2021 
                as Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience 
                Month. I call upon the people of the United States to 
                recognize the importance of protecting our Nation's 
                infrastructure and to observe this month with 
                appropriate measures to enhance our national security 
                and resilience.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-24113
Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P