Grid Security Research and Development Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, last week when the House considered the massive Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, I expressed my disappointment with the partisan policies in the bill, with the rushed and irresponsible process of writing it, and, most of all, with the sheer number of missed bipartisan legislative opportunities it represents.

This week, I am glad to see that my friends across the aisle have taken heed of those words.

The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has one of the best track records in Congress for passing productive, bipartisan legislation, and I am pleased to see us upholding that tradition once again.

H.R. 5760, the Grid Security Research and Development Act is a truly bipartisan Committee on Science, Space, and Technology product. It is sponsored by vice-chairman Ami Bera and Energy subcommittee Ranking Member Randy Weber. It has gone through regular order, and is the result of thoughtful consideration, careful analysis, and substantial debate. I support its passage today.

Currently, the U.S. energy sector and its aging electrical grid faces many critical challenges, like higher demand, vulnerability to cyberattacks, and increased integration of new energy sources. It is our job in Congress to set the priorities to meet these challenges and to focus our limited Federal funds where we can see the best return on investment.

To deliver effective solutions, we must take the long-term and big- picture approach. We must support early-stage research that will spur innovation over a broad range of energy applications and provide for R&D to mobilize and defend our critical energy infrastructure.

The bipartisan Grid Security Research and Development Act will strengthen our Nation's electric grid against rapidly changing technological challenges. It authorizes the Department of Energy's vital cybersecurity and emergency response R&D activities and directs DOE to work with relevant Federal agencies to develop cybersecurity best practices.

Through the committee markup process, we were able to improve this legislation by adding key research infrastructure provisions from my legislation, H.R. 5685, the Securing American Leadership in Science and Technology Act.

This provision requires the Secretary to carry out a program of research, development, and a demonstration of technologies and tools to help ensure the resilience and security of critical integrated grid infrastructures.

It also requires the Secretary to establish and operate a critical infrastructure test facility that allows for both physical and cyber performance testing to be conducted on large-scale infrastructure systems. This test facility will amplify and accelerate the high- priority research and development activities authorized in the original text and maximize the return on investment of taxpayers' dollars.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my good friends across the aisle for working with us to come to agreement on this provision and on this bill. I am glad to see we can come together to focus on our shared interest in improving U.S. national security and energy resilience for the next generation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we must invest in the long-term, early-stage research that will strengthen our energy infrastructure against a range of emerging threats.

The Department of Energy is uniquely qualified to lead this endeavor, and the partnerships that exist between its national laboratory systems, universities, and industry has the potential to modernize and transform U.S. energy delivery systems.

H.R. 5760 authorizes the advanced grid security R&D activities that will make the future U.S. electrical grid reliable, resilient, and secure for all Americans.

I, again, thank my friends across the aisle for working with us on this bill. We need to come together and have serious conversations about how to make real progress on next-generation energy issues. I am glad to see us doing that today.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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