Garbarino Opening Statement in Federal Networks Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Ranking Member of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection & Innovation Subcommittee, delivered the following opening statement in a subcommittee hearing entitled, “Securing the DotGov: Examining Efforts to Strengthen Federal Network Cybersecurity.”

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

Thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this critical conversation regarding the security of federal agency networks. I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to a constructive dialogue.

The SolarWinds breach of December 2020 was a wakeup call to the vulnerabilities that exist within the federal enterprise. Since then, we’ve uncovered the impact it had on 9 or more federal agencies and hundreds of other companies.

We simply must do more to adapt government standards to not only meet, but exceed, adversarial capabilities like those of the Russian SolarWinds campaign. The federal government must also be a bold example for industry and set the bar high for enterprise network resilience.

In order to secure federal networks, we must continue the nonpartisan tradition of addressing cybersecurity risk. The Executive Order (EO) on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity provided timely guidance to federal entities on the diligence required to secure their networks. I was pleased to see the expertise of CISA fully leveraged throughout the EO as the lead federal civilian cyber agency.

CISA was importantly charged with developing a federal cloud security strategy, easing understanding of cyber incident reporting requirements, and working with federal partners like NIST to develop standards for critical software. I have long maintained that CISA is uniquely equipped to lead the federal government on cybersecurity measures, and I am pleased to see its potential recognized. The continued use of CISA’s national critical functions as a guide will assist agencies in prioritizing assets and meeting the new security standards they are entrusted to maintain.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on their continued efforts to execute on the EO. Further, I hope to hear more about what Congress can do to support efforts to secure the national’s critical infrastructure at the federal level and across the private sector.

I specifically look forward to hearing from the CIO of GSA, an agency that has done well in meeting the requirements of the EO. I hope Mr. Shive can provide a valuable perspective to assist other agencies in improving their own cyber posture.

I again thank the Chairwoman for holding this important hearing today.

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