WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Ranking Member of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, delivered the following opening statements in a subcommittee hearing entitled, “Stakeholder Perspectives on the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2021.”

Ranking Member Katko’s Opening Statement (as prepared for delivery)

I would like to thank Chairwoman Clarke for convening this important hearing today.

This legislative hearing is a fantastic opportunity for our members to learn directly from industry how they are impacted by specific provisions in the bill, as well as any changes they suggest ahead of introduction.

Everyone in this hearing should recognize the urgency and precision with which we need to act.

Every single day, entities large and small are affected by the scourge of ransomware and cybercrime.

From street-level criminal gangs to nation-state actors like Russia and China, nefarious actors target our private sector businesses, state and local governments, and federal agencies millions of times per day. Unfortunately, many of those attempts are ultimately successful.

In order to bolster our nation’s collective defense, we must enhance our visibility across both federal and private networks.

I have been pleased with the response we’ve seen from industry so far, and I want to thank our witnesses, not just for being here today, but for their diligent work in thinking through this legislative effort.

I hope that everyone here today recognizes that our nation’s cybersecurity cannot simply be a federal effort, or a private effort, but that it must be joint effort.

Without enhanced collaboration and visibility, we will continue to fall victim to the cowardly actors that target our nation – our constituents – on a daily basis.

I have been pleased to work with Chairwoman Clarke, Chairman Thompson, and all our critical industry partners on this bill. I look forward to continue prioritizing major cybersecurity reforms through this committee on a bipartisan basis, including my SICI bill in the coming days.

Thank you again to our witnesses for being here today, and thank you Chairwoman Clarke for holding this important hearing.

Ranking Member Garbarino’s Opening Statement (as prepared for delivery)

I would like to thank Chairwoman Clarke for calling this important hearing today. We have a large panel before us, so in the interest of time, I will keep my remarks brief.

There should be no question why we are here today: over the past year, our nation has been subject to the devastating SolarWinds cyber espionage campaign, as well as the Microsoft Exchange and Pulse Secure vulnerabilities, and that’s just against the federal government.

Our nation’s critical infrastructure has also been under attack and the American people have begun to feel the impact. Everyone here remembers the ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS Meats, both of which had real world impacts.

The fact of the matter is that something here must change, we cannot allow these devastating attacks against our nation to continue.

We must ensure that CISA has the visibility it needs to help defend our federal networks, and to help our critical infrastructure owners and operators protect themselves. I’m hopeful that this bill will help create a two-way street of information sharing between government and industry.

I’ve been pleased to see our majority counterparts engage our members in productive conversations on this topic and I hope we can continue the constructive dialogue here today.

I’m particularly interested in learning from our witnesses about how they view some of the key provisions in this bill, and what, if any, suggestions they have for edits.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here today and again, thank you Chairwoman Clarke for your leadership on this incredibly important topic.

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