Sba Cyber Awareness Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. KIM of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Ranking Member Luetkemeyer and Chairwoman Velazquez for their leadership in bringing these bipartisan pieces of legislation to the House floor for votes today.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3462, the SBA Cyber Awareness Act. This is a bill I have had the pleasure to co-lead with my colleague, Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, to improve the Small Business Administration's transparency and alert mechanisms when a cyberattack or intrusion takes place.

Under the legislation, the SBA will be required to conduct an annual assessment of IT equipment and cybersecurity capabilities and provide Congress with a detailed account of any cybersecurity risk of SBA equipment that was primarily manufactured in the People's Republic of China. Additionally, under this bill, the legislation directs the SBA Administrator to notify Congress and small businesses of a cyberattack within 30 days after the SBA decides that it was subject to a cyber hack.

Fifty percent of small businesses with 500 or less employees say it is very likely that they will experience a cyberattack in the next 12 months, and 1 in 4 are experiencing more cyberattacks compared to a year ago. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA handled a record number of loans and services to help small businesses in need. With that came a higher number of sensitive personal and business information that was handled by the Federal Government.

We must ensure entrepreneurs and small business owners have the confidence that the SBA has the IT capabilities and tools to keep their information safe from cyberattacks. This bill, H.R. 3462, is an important step in doing just that.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support H.R. 3462.

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