OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

Date: June 2, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

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Ms. LOFGREN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

As Mr. Poe recognized, this is a very diverse group of authors who don't agree on everything, but this is very important for a reason.

First, it is fundamental that our privacy be protected; that the Fourth Amendment be adhered to. Secondly, we all know--and if you ask any computer scientist, they will tell you--that once the vulnerability is introduced for a good reason, it is available for hacking for very bad reasons. Finally, for competitiveness. Think how competitive it is to sell an American product around the world when everyone knows that it is compromised. Not a really good marketing tool.

Last year, as Mr. Poe mentioned, we had almost precisely this amendment on the floor as an amendment to the DOD appropriations. What was the vote on that amendment? It was 293-123; overwhelming.

So I am hoping that Members will not flip-flop, that they will, in fact, vote the way they did last year.

And I will just go a little trip down memory road. When I was first elected to the Congress, I took my oath of office January 4, 1995, and I met Bob Goodlatte for the very first time. And he and I went all over this Congress to try and work on decontrol of encryption.

Although a lot of people we talked to in 1995 had no idea what we were talking about when we talked about encryption, ultimately that bipartisan effort was successful. We must not let that successful effort to protect privacy, to protect technology, be eroded at this point.

So I look forward to a very strong vote on this. I think it is important that we have a vote, even though there is agreement, just to send the message to the other body how serious that we are.

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Ms. LOFGREN. We might not agree on everything, but I think we agree on the Fourth Amendment. So this is a great day for this body to come together across the aisle for that purpose. And I thank the gentleman for yielding

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