On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was named as the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate’s Armed Service Committee’s new Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, the ranking Democrat on it, announced Nelson’s new assignment on Wednesday. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD, will chair the new subcommittee.
Nelson stressed the importance of his new task, with his office pointing towards “Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election” and insisting “the new subcommittee will hold the administration accountable if they fail to adequately respond to a future attack.”
Florida’s senior also played up his new assignment.
“You can’t just sit on your hands and do nothing,” Nelson said. “If we’re going to deter our enemies from attacking us, we have to make it painfully obvious that the consequences are going to be so severe that they won’t want to do it in the first place.”
Nelson wasn’t the only new member of the committee to cite reports that Russia attempted to influence the presidential election. Rounds sounded a similar theme on Wednesday.
“It is an honor to be chosen to chair this important subcommittee, which will be tasked with oversight and legislation for policies and programs relating to the Defense Department’s cyber forces and capabilities,” said Rounds. “Of particular concern to me is the Defense Department’s role in responding to an attack on our nation’s civilian critical infrastructure and in deterring bad actors from conducting such an attack in the first place.
“As recent events have shown, the U.S. is not immune to a cyber-attack from hostile foreign actors,” Rounds added. “Even more alarming, our adversaries have determined that the reward outweighs the risk of launching a cyber-attack against our nation. It is the newest, most sophisticated form of attack threatening our national security today. A cyber-attack on our critical infrastructure, including electric grids, transportation systems and water supplies, could cause significant destruction, or worse, lead to loss of life. I look forward to working closely with SASC Chairman John McCain in the coming weeks to outline an agenda for the committee that will tackle the most pressing national security matters with regard to cybersecurity.”
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