Katko, Thompson Press Administration on Continuity of Economy Plans

WASHINGTON, DC – Following the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company, Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, are encouraging the Biden Administration to swiftly develop and maintain a plan to restore the U.S. economy in the event of a significant incident, such as a cyber disruption, as required by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In a letter to the President, Katko and Thompson wrote, “Last week, we witnessed the exact reason this provision was enacted into law and why we supported it. The question now becomes one of implementation. In the wake of the Colonial ransomware attack and its cascading effects along a large portion of the United States, we believe the Administration should act expeditiously to use this authority to ensure the resiliency of the economy.”

Katko and Thompson encouraged the Administration to take advantage of CISA’s existing efforts to build more secure and resilient infrastructure through collaboration with industry stakeholders.

“We urge you to jumpstart implementation of these authorities and appropriately leverage existing work underway in the process. As recent events have shown, it is vital that we have a more holistic understanding of the dependencies across connected systems that underpin our way of life and allow our economy to function,” Katko and Thompson continued. 

Katko and Thompson concluded by requesting that the President direct the appropriate official to brief the Committee on how the Administration intends to meet the requirements outlined in Section 9603 of the FY21 NDAA, including a discussion of how CISA and other Sector Risk Management Agencies will be involved.

Read the full letter here.