Protecting Diplomats From Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 115) to require the Department of State to establish a policy regarding the use of location-tracking consumer devices by employees at diplomatic and consular facilities, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 115
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Mr. ENGEL. 115, currently under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, before I talk about the bill, I want to very briefly acknowledge the fact that this is the first debate we have had with bills in the Foreign Affairs Committee since the new Congress. I want to welcome Mr. McCaul to the very important position--which I had for the past 6 years--of ranking member. And I know that, as chairman, the Foreign Affairs Committee for the past 6 years has had a record of being the most bipartisan committee in the Congress. I hope and I know that that will continue with this Congress, and that the respect that all Members have shown each other will continue the tradition of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I look forward to working with Mr. McCaul in that regard.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 115, the Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act. I thank Mr. Castro for introducing this legislation.
Before I get into the merits of this particular bill, which is designed to protect diplomats from cyber snooping, I would be remiss if I failed to express my deep concern that thousands of Department of State employees and diplomats are furloughed without pay.
I am hearing stories of State Department officials struggling to make ends meet, taking up side jobs and having garage sales to stay afloat. By keeping America's diplomats away from their jobs, we are harming our national security. We need to end this shutdown, and we need to end it now.
Now, I will turn to the excellent bill before us today. This measure aims to ensure the Department of State has policies in place to help prevent our adversaries from tracking the locations of our foreign service officers through their electronic devices.
From Fitbits and smartwatches to phones and cars, most of us have at least one tracking device with us at all times. Many of us would literally be lost without these devices, but they pose security risks as well.
This commonsense measure would make sure the Secretary of State has a policy in place on using location tracking consumer devices at our diplomatic and consular facilities around the world.
This is a good bill that passed the House unanimously in the last Congress, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage again today.
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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me say that the Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act is a commonsense way to improve the safety of U.S. personnel overseas.
I urge my colleagues to support the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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