Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Bureau of Land Management Relating to ``North Dakota Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan''

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Extension Act, bipartisan legislation led by my colleagues Senator Peters and Senator Rounds.

For nearly a decade, this law has been one of our most effective tools to protect Americans from cyber attacks. It allows the Department of Homeland Security and its Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, to share real-time threat information with the private sector, State and local governments, and critical infrastructure.

When a hospital or water system is hit with ransomware or when a foreign adversary targets one of our Agencies, this law lets CISA warn others before they become the next victims. It is how we connect dots, stop attacks from spreading, and protect Americans in real life.

Just last year, we saw what happens when a single cyber attack can ripple through an entire sector. The ransomware attack on Change Healthcare shut down hospital billing systems across the country, delaying prescriptions and paychecks and patient care for weeks. Imagine if we didn't have the ability to share those threat indicators quickly enough to change that.

But, unfortunately, the law expired on September 30. Right now CISA is operating without its core legal framework for threat sharing, and every day that passes without reauthorization means slower alerts, weaker defenses, and more Americans put in harm's way.

We can't afford for our cyber defenses to be further degraded.

This bill is a simple, bipartisan, 10-year extension of a proven law that protects every American. We should reauthorize it today.

1377 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. President, the authority already is expired. Every day we delay, our cyber defenders have less information to work with, and Americans are less safe. This isn't a partisan issue. It is about whether the United States can see and stop cyber threats before they are hit.

The experts all agree the program is needed. The only people that benefit from inaction are the hackers who try to exploit our systems.

I urge my colleagues to drop the politics and restore this critical act before any more American businesses or hospitals pay the price for our delay.

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