OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 8, 2016
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication Criminal Justice

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, my distinguished colleague from Oregon commented about how technology companies are concerned about what is going on. I spent over a decade in the private sector--in fact, 12 years with a cloud computing company. We had 17 offices around the world and a product in 33 different languages. I saw firsthand what it means to be engaged in the high-tech business and the challenges related to hacking. I also know firsthand the challenge our country does face when it comes to cyber criminals. We were attacked routinely in our company and had to defend those attacks off and build rock- solid, hardened firewalls to protect our customers.

Technology has made it easier for bad actors to steal our identities, to distribute malware, and to commit a whole host of other crimes, all from behind a computer screen anywhere in the world. Our law enforcement faces tremendous challenges in tracking and stopping these criminals. The fact is, our law enforcement policies need to be updated to reflect the 21st-century realities, but these policy changes need to be made through a process that is transparent and that is effective and, importantly, protects our civil liberties.

The changes to rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would allow the government to hack an unlimited number of Americans' computers, including innocent victims, with a single warrant. This rule change was approved behind the closed doors of a little-known judicial conference.

Fundamental changes to the way we allow law enforcement to execute searches need to be made, there is no doubt about that. We are in agreement that changes need to be made; however, it must be through a process that is fully transparent to the American people. We cannot give the Federal Government a blank check to infringe upon our civil liberties.

If Congress does not act, this rule change will automatically go into effect on December 1. S. 2952, the Stopping Mass Hacking Act, stops the rule change and will allow Congress to consider new law enforcement tools through--and this is very important--the full, open, transparent process they deserve.

I urge my colleagues to support this not only bipartisan but also bicameral piece of legislation.

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