Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLAKE. This amendment is straightforward. It would require the inspector general of the intelligence community to include a list of federal agencies and departments receiving information shared with the government in the report already required by the underlying legislation.

This act is an important piece of legislation that will help private entities and utilities protect themselves from catastrophic attacks to their networks by creating the authority for private entities and utilities to voluntarily share information pertaining to cyberattacks with the Federal Government and vice versa.

H.R. 3523 avoids placing costly mandates on private industry and the creation of a new regulatory structure. That's what I really appreciate about this legislation, as I'm sure everyone does--it's voluntary.

As with any new intelligence program, however, it's incumbent on us to make sure robust protections exist to safeguard privacy rights. The inspector general report required under H.R. 3523 will provide a thorough review of the information shared under these new authorities and will address any impacts such sharing has on privacy and civil liberties. Adding the list of the departments and agencies that were recipients of this shared information, as my amendment would do, would add information on which government agencies exactly are receiving shared information. Such information will further mitigate the risk of abuse to privacy rights and increase the effectiveness of the inspector general's report.

I commend my colleagues from Michigan and Maryland. They've been working hard to put together this bipartisan measure, working up until the very last minute to ensure that Members' concerns are addressed, and I believe that this is an important piece of legislation.

I'd like to yield to the gentleman from Michigan such time as he may consume.

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