House Moves on Cyber Threats

Press Release

The House of Representatives this week approved two landmark cybersecurity bills that improve cyber information sharing between the private sector and the federal government. The National Cybersecurity Advancement Act of 2015 (H.R. 1731) and the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560) both passed the House this week with significant bipartisan support. The legislation, particularly H.R. 1731, builds legislation signed into law at the end of 2014 that authorizes the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

The 2014 legislation was coauthored by Congressman Patrick Meehan, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's cybersecurity subcommittee in the 113th Congress, and committee Chairman Michael McCaul (TX-10).

"Major cyber breaches at companies like Sony, Target, Home Depot, health insurer Anthem and others last year shocked the nation and illustrated the danger the cyber threat poses to American consumers," Meehan said. "But the danger doesn't stop there. Our financial, transportation, power and air travel networks are all vulnerable to catastrophic attack. The cyber bills approved at the end of the last Congress were an important foundation for modernizing our ability to identify and defeat threats. The legislation passed this week will enable the private sector and the federal government to share information in real time about cyber intrusions and work together to combat them."

"These bills give our cyber warfighters the tools and flexibility they need to protect our networks and infrastructure while putting the necessary protections in place to assure the privacy of our citizens. I'm pleased the House has taken action to further address the cyber threat and I'm hopeful the Senate will act quickly to approve them."

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