Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act of 2023--a reintroduced version of this bill brought by myself along with Representative Carey. The House passed this bill overwhelmingly in a bipartisan fashion during the 117th Congress.

As all Members know, the United States has witnessed an alarming rise in cybersecurity threats and attacks against our energy infrastructure.

My home State of North Carolina is no exception. In May of 2021, a disastrous cyberattack on the Colonial pipeline caused the company to halt all pipeline operations, leading to panic buying of gasoline and diesel fuels across my home State. Roughly two-thirds of North Carolina's gas stations ran out of fuel, including 70 percent of gas stations in Raleigh, the largest city in my district.

Our constituents rely on dependable energy sources for their lives and their livelihoods, and we cannot afford continued exposure to these types of attacks. The Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act, a bipartisan bill I co-led with Congressman Carey--and I am pleased to do again--will help address this vulnerability.

Our bill will confront growing cyber threats against our country's critical energy infrastructure by making real investments in a strong and diverse workforce that is ready to meet the challenges we face. It will provide financial assistance to support graduate students studying the convergence of cybersecurity and energy infrastructure in addition to providing hands-on traineeship experience at our national laboratories and utilities. It will also expand the Department of Energy's outreach to HBCUs, minority-serving institutions, and Tribal colleges.

I represent much of the Research Triangle, home to institutions and universities that are propelling our Nation's innovation in cybersecurity and clean energy. From NC State to UNC-Charlotte to the west, to Shaw, St. Augustine's, and Wake Tech, this legislation will better equip our brilliant students and researchers in North Carolina and beyond to tackle the changing cybersecurity landscape.

I thank Ranking Member Lofgren and Chairman Lucas for their leadership in bringing forth this bill not just this session but the session before.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 302, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, I thank Chairman Lucas for his leadership and my colleague, Congressman Carey, for his support of this. We have worked very closely together, again in the last Congress and early in this Congress, on this priority issue. This is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that will address critical vulnerabilities in our national energy infrastructure.

We need a strong workforce that is ready to protect our existing energy infrastructure and build a safe, resilient energy infrastructure of the future.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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