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Energy and Commerce Committee Leaders Comment On Executive Action on Cybersecurity, Praise House Legislation to Improve Information Sharing
[February 14, 2013]

Energy and Commerce Committee Leaders Comment On Executive Action on Cybersecurity, Praise House Legislation to Improve Information Sharing


Feb 14, 2013 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) today responded to President Obama's executive order on cybersecurity and reiterated their support for legislation to improve information sharing to mitigate and respond to cyber threats. The Energy and Commerce Committee has been active on the cybersecurity front, holding over half a dozen hearings in the 112th Congress and meeting with dozens of industrial sectors and organizations working to combat online security threats.



The committee leaders underscored the importance of White House cooperation with ongoing congressional efforts to ensure the nation's communications networks, energy infrastructure, and other key systems are protected from online threats. The committee will be closely examining the executive order in the coming weeks and, if necessary, call administration witnesses to testify.

Chairman Upton and Vice Chairman Blackburn released the following statement: "Cybersecurity is a battle waged on many fronts, as exhibited by this new executive order and the reintroduction of important, bipartisan information sharing legislation. We appreciate the intent behind the executive order and there is no question that the federal government must do a much better job sharing crucial information and working with private industry to bolster defenses against escalating cyber threats.


"In meetings with affected parties whose interests fall across the spectrum - leaders in transportation, energy, communications, chemical facilities, water utilities, financial, and business - consistent themes have emerged. We know a one-size-fits-all approach is a dangerous proposition, and we must all be cognizant that the threats we face today might not be the threats of tomorrow, which is why we need to be agile in our efforts.

"Nobody appreciates or understands cybersecurity in Congress more than Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI), and we applaud today's reintroduction of his important bipartisan information sharing legislation to help American businesses better protect their networks and intellectual property from cyber attacks. Swift passage of the legislation will help make us safer from cyber threats.

"We also commend Chairman Rogers for his ongoing work to raise awareness of the real possibility of cyber espionage on a global scale enabling governments to steal sensitive national security information and private companies' trade secrets that has put stakeholders and policymakers alike on high alert, mindful that the best approaches need to be adaptable to changing threats and rely on the expertise of those responsible for the networks we seek to secure.

"In the coming weeks the Energy and Commerce Committee will be actively monitoring the implementation of the executive order. We will work to ensure that its implementation does not put in place burdensome and rigid procedures that would leave our nation more vulnerable to cyber attack. But to fully protect ourselves, we need White House collaboration, industry leadership, and congressional resolve." Read this original document at: http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/energy-and-commerce-committee-leaders-comment-executive-action-cybersecurity

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