ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Mr. Vargas and Chairwoman Waters, for leading on these important issues.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and my amendment that we will be considering later today.

My colleague from Florida just accused us of being out of touch. I wonder if he remembers that 2 weeks ago the Nation was out of gas. We were out of gas because of a successful cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. And it is a daily thing, JBS Foods, ferry services, metropolitan transit authority, and the list goes on and on and on and on. So we were out of gas, not out of touch.

And my amendment is simple, it just requires a straightforward, relatively moderate, disclosure of corporations. Do you have a board member that understands cybersecurity? And if you don't, tell us how you are thinking about it. Tell us what your plan is.

I am hearing a lot about pecuniary interest. Let's ask Colonial Pipeline whether there was a pecuniary interest in not having what happened to them happen. If you care about addressing this problem, we are giving companies a choice, either tell us where your expertise lies or how you are going to deal with it.

Mr. Speaker, if you care about it, vote in favor of this amendment and vote in favor of this legislation.

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