Hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. McCaul, Markup of H.R. 3359

Hearing

H.R. 3359, the bipartisan legislation I introduced with the Ranking Member and several Committee
members, for the first time authorizes and re-designates the existing National Protection and
Programs Directorate (NPPD) as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within
the Department of Homeland Security.
This new operational agency will be led by a Director and will be comprised of three divisions:
Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security, and Emergency Communications. The legislation ensures that
these three divisions will collaborate on a regular basis to further operational coordination across
the new Agency.
This realignment of NPPD's structure will allow it to become more streamlined and effective in
carrying out existing authorities while achieving the Department's goal of creating a stand-alone
operational organization focusing on and elevating the vital cybersecurity and infrastructure
security missions.
In recent years we have seen hackers attack private companies like Sony, Target, and Yahoo, as well
as government institutions which include our Office of Personnel Management and Great Britain's
National Health Service.
With each passing day nation states and cyber criminals are continually looking to expose new
vulnerabilities and because America has become so dependent on computer networks and
information technology, everyone is a potential victim.
Today the Committee takes a major step forward with this legislation. We worked closely with the
Department of Homeland Security and my colleagues across the aisle to ensure our homeland
remains ready to protect Americans from dangerous cyber-attacks.
We expect a strong bipartisan vote today and I look forward to working with the other Committees
on the way to the floor.
I thank the Ranking Member for working with me and my staff on this endeavor and yield back the
balance of my time.

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