The publication is reproduced in full below:
HAITI DEVELOPMENT, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND INSTITUTIONAL TRANSPARENCY
INITIATIVE ACT
______
speech of
HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the gravity of the cyber threat to our national security and critical infrastructure, especially as we face potential cyber threats from Russia following its horrific invasion of Ukraine. The Federal Government must know when vital sectors of our Nation are affected by cyber attacks, so that we may deploy the full resources of the Federal Government to respond to and mitigate these attacks.
Division Y of the bipartisan ``Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022'' will take significant steps to strengthen cybersecurity protections and ensure that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, is at the forefront of our Nation's response to serious cyber attacks by requiring timely reporting of these attacks to the Federal Government so that we can better prevent future incidents and hold attackers accountable.
To be clear, Division Y of the Act, which is based on Rep. Yvette D. Clarke's H.R. 5440, the ``Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2021,'' and its Senate companion legislation (S. 2875) sponsored by Senator Gary C. Peters, does not impede the FBI or other law enforcement investigations against perpetrators of attacks.
The plain text of Division Y makes Congress's intent clear. Although the reports themselves--and any ``communication[s], document[s], or material[s], or other record[s] created for the sole purpose of preparing, drafting or submitting'' those reports--may not be received in evidence, the FBI and other law enforcement entities nevertheless may make full use of the information contained in such materials in their investigations of a cyber incident or for other purposes authorized by the statute. Likewise, additional facts developed in those investigations may be used to further those investigations or activities, including in ex parte or other proceedings. In other words, although the FBI cannot attach the report filed with CISA in a warrant application or submit it in evidence in a trial, it may, as appropriate, use information contained in the reports and derived from them for a range of purposes, including obtaining a warrant and prosecuting bad actors. Further, the legislative language also is not intended to prohibit or discourage entities from reporting to CISA and law enforcement concurrently.
The language of this division makes clear that the information may be used for cybersecurity or investigative purposes. In the new section 2245 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 created by this division, it clearly states that reports submitted to CISA under this provision can be used for ``the purpose of preventing, investigating, disrupting, or prosecuting an offense arising out of a cyber incident reported pursuant to'' the statute's requirements or through voluntary reporting provisions.
Moreover, facts developed during an FBI investigation of a relevant cyber incident using other authorities are not subject to the evidentiary restrictions found in section 2245(c)(3) of the statute, including similar facts that may also have been disclosed to the Federal Government in the report to CISA.
The FBI's efforts to hold accountable, disrupt, or deter perpetrators of cyber attacks are fully consistent with the goal of encouraging entities to disclose cyber incidents. As stakeholders work through the rulemaking process, the committees of jurisdiction in both the House and the Senate look forward to working with them to ensure that congressional intent is not misinterpreted, and that this legislation is implemented as intended.
Mr. Speaker, the hard work of many of my colleagues went into the inclusion of this important legislation in the ``Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022.'' I want to thank especially Representatives Clarke, John Katko, and Andrew R. Garbarino; and Senators Peters, Rob Portman, Mark R. Warner, and Susan M. Collins.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 47
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