Reporting Attacks From Nations Selected for Oversight and Monitoring Web Attacks and Ransomware From Enemies Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter) for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4551, the RANSOMWARE Act. This important legislation will help protect consumers and businesses from ransomware and cyberattacks.

Almost every day, there are reports of foreign bad actors using ransomware to attack companies, hospital systems, law enforcement agencies, schools, and municipalities.

Last year, the largest meat processing company in the world, JBS, which has a meat processing plant in my district, was hacked by a Russian-led cybercriminal organization. These hackers threatened to delete the company's internal files unless a ransom was paid. JBS was forced to halt processing operations at over a dozen plants, causing the price of meat to rise and impacting economies across the globe.

We have also seen this in our municipalities and schools in Iowa, prompting us in the State legislature to enact legislation addressing ransomware attacks.

This particular legislation will help avoid attacks like these by focusing resources to better understand the threat posed by attacks from our foreign adversaries in China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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