National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, first, I would like to thank my colleague and fellow Texan, Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson of the House Homeland Security Committee for bringing up my amendment for consideration to H.R. 1731.

This amendment supports small businesses across the Nation at no cost to taxpayers. My amendment would make self-assessment tools available to small- and medium-sized businesses so they can determine their level of cybersecurity readiness. Oftentimes, medium-sized and small businesses don't have the framework or capability in place to protect against cybersecurity threats. In 2014, for example, 31 percent of all cyber attacks were directed not at large businesses but at businesses with less than 250 employees. This is a 4 percent increase from 2013.

As the chairman knows, Texas is home to many small companies in so many critical industries: biomed and pharmaceuticals, energy, manufacturing, and many more. Some of these businesses employ as few as 5 to 10 people, and their technology is unprotected, vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Today most small businesses use the Internet, collect customers' information, and store sensitive information on business computers. Yet many of these same companies don't have the readily available information to self-assess their ability to defend their digital assets. They lack the tools necessary for determining cybersecurity readiness.

This pro-small business amendment fills that void and provides the information and tools needed to secure and empower small businesses across the country.

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My amendment would give the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to establish the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium, or NCPC, within the Department of Homeland Security. Doing so would formally allow this consortium, which already exists outside of the government, to assist State and local entities in developing their own viable and sustainable cybersecurity programs, and it would be at no cost to taxpayers.

The NCPC consists of five university partners. The University of Texas at San Antonio leads the effort, along with Texas A&M University in College Station, the University of Arkansas, the University of Memphis, and Norwich University in Vermont.

These schools proactively came together to coordinate their work, helping State and local officials prepare for cyber attacks. The consortium also develops and carries out trainings and exercises to increase cybersecurity knowledge.

Additionally, the NCPC uses competitions and workshops to encourage more people to pursue careers in cybersecurity and grow the industry's workforce.

States and communities need the ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber events as they would any other disaster or emergency situation, and they need to be aware of the fact that cyber events could impede emergency responders' ability to do their jobs.

This amendment helps address those State and local needs by codifying this valuable consortium.

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