Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOREN. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. I'm proud to have been a part of this bipartisan effort, led by Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger, to bring this bill to the floor today.

There is one fact on which everyone can agree: our country must strengthen its cybersecurity capabilities. To achieve this, we need the cooperation of industry, government, and our citizens, and we need to protect the unique interests of each of these groups.

Some may be asking the question, how does this bill protect American industry? It gives private companies the ability to receive classified information from the government to protect their networks. The bill also gives them flexibility to share information with the government without compromising their business equities or harming their customers. This information-sharing partnership will enhance government efforts to analyze and understand malicious codes and other cyberthreats.

I think companies that have publicly supported this legislation have gotten a bad rap in the press. I think we all need to remember that these American companies are not the enemy. They employ thousands of Americans and provide essential cyberservices to millions of people. They are profit-making entities that want to satisfy their customers and grow their businesses. These American companies have absolutely no motivation to send private customer information to the government or anyone else. In fact, they have every reason to protect it.

Under this legislation, American companies will enhance their capability to protect the private information of their customers by receiving classified assistance from the government. Moreover, they will help their customers and the country by voluntarily informing the government of malware and other malicious conduct and threats that emerge from their networks. But that is not the only way that this bill protects our citizens' privacy. It restricts the government's use and retention of any personal information that companies may choose to share. In addition, it directs the intelligence community inspector general to monitor and report any abuse of users' privacy.

Finally, we must also remember that the government is not the enemy. The intelligence community does not want to squander this opportunity to improve our Nation's cybersecurity by abusing the civil liberties or privacy of American citizens. To this end, the bill specifies that the government can only use the information it receives from the private sector for purposes directly related to addressing cyberthreats, national security, and threats to life and limb.

In closing, this legislation strikes the appropriate balance between the interests of the private sector industry, the Federal Government, and private citizens.

The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. BOREN. It will help our country avoid a potential cybercatastrophe that could threaten our national security and endanger our economic prosperity.

With that, I urge my fellow Members to join me and support this important bill.

Again, I want to say specifically to our ranking member and our chairman, thank you for putting the country's interests ahead of partisan gain. We're working together in this committee, both Democrats and Republicans, to do what is in the best interest of our intelligence community and the United States of America.

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