Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 3599, the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act. It is a long title, but it is a very good bill. I thank my colleague, Ro Khanna, for his leadership.

Cybersecurity is national security, and this is one area where it is not Democrat or Republican. When 11 Federal agencies were hacked last year by an organization affiliated with Russia, they didn't care if you had an R or a D by your name.

Imagine if, in the Federal Government, or at least a portion of the Federal Government, we could work and operate more like a business than a bureaucracy. Well, we can do that right here today with H.R. 3599.

I thank, again, Ro Khanna for his leadership and for allowing me the opportunity to work together with him on this. This is the third bill I have worked on that I hope will pass on the floor of the House tonight.

We have an opportunity to show tremendous leadership here today. I have heard a number of my colleagues here this afternoon, Republicans and Democrats, working together for the American people, putting the American people first, and that is what we are doing.

Every day, criminal elements are attempting to steal our secrets, disrupt our infrastructure, and damage our economy by extorting money from businesses and organizations across the United States.

Most recently, in the State of South Carolina, we saw the high- profile Colonial Pipeline hacking and attack. It is a reminder that America's adversaries are creative and cunning and that our government must be the same to combat this growing threat.

It is imperative that our government be able to obtain, train, and retain the cyber and technology talent needed to counter these sophisticated hackers across the globe. The Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act will allow Federal employees to collaborate and broaden their work experiences, their knowledge, and their skill sets across Federal agencies, much in the same way their counterparts do in the private sector.

I thank my colleagues today, Republicans and Democrats, and I urge each and every one of them to vote in favor of this legislation this evening.

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