Cyber Deterrence and Response Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5576, the Cyber Deterrence and Response Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, our adversaries continually engage in sophisticated cyber attacks designed to disrupt our critical infrastructure, harm our economy, and undermine our elections. As has been said time and time again, our Nation's electoral process is sacred, and it must be protected at all costs from interference from all hostile foreign actors.

In February, the Director of National Intelligence stated that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea will pose the greatest cyber threats to the United States during the course of the next year.

We have seen continued hostility from state actors like Russia to undermine our democratic institutions and trigger instability in Europe by weakening key partners like Ukraine and Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, I saw this firsthand during my time as an FBI agent working both here domestically and overseas. We must make it clear to these hostile states that they will face harsh consequences for their cyber attacks.

That is exactly what this bipartisan bill accomplishes. The Cyber Deterrence and Response Act establishes a clear framework to deter and respond to state-sponsored cyber threats. It provides harsh sanctions through suspension of developmental assistance and credit allotment to nations engaged in malicious state-sponsored cyber activities against our United States.

We must hold these foreign actors accountable while strengthening the integrity of our intelligence community. I commend my colleague from Florida (Mr. Yoho) for introducing this bill, along with Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for bringing this vital matter to the floor. I urge my colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, to support this critical legislation that is necessary to protect our national security.

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