From his perch on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., has introduced a proposal that he says will protect the nation from cyberattacks.
Yoho, the chairman of the U.S. House Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, brought out the “Cyber Deterrence and Response Act” on Wednesday. The proposal sets up a three-step process for the federal government to identify, deter and respond to state-sponsored cyberattacks.
The legislation has support from both sides of the aisle as U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, the ranking Democrat on the committee, are cosponsoring the bill. So are Republican U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Ted Poe of Texas and Democrats U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas, Jim Langevin of Rhode Island and Brad Sherman of California.
“Today we have taken a positive step forward in strengthening our national security and combating the state-sponsored cyber threats we face,” Yoho said on Wednesday. “With a keystroke, countries can disrupt our networks, endanger our critical infrastructure, harm our economy, and undermine our elections. State-sponsored cyberattacks are increasing exponentially from China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia and it is vital that we take the necessary steps to thwart these potentially devastating attacks. I want to thank my colleagues, Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Reps, Chabot, Poe, Fitzpatrick, Meadows, Sherman, Langevin, and Castro for putting country above politics and supporting this important bill.”
The bill was sent to the House Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and the Oversight and Government Reform Committees.
Yoho has grown increasingly active on cybersecurity issues in recent weeks. Last month, the North Central Florida Republican unveiled a proposal to allow “ethical hackers” to test the U.S. State Department’s cyber defenses. Yoho paired up with U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., to unveil the “Hack Your State Department Act.” Yoho’s proposal would have “ethical hackers” attempt to hack the State Department’s cyber defenses and identify any vulnerabilities and compensate them for their efforts. Last year, the Trump administration proposed setting up bug bounty programs in the “Report to the President on Federal IT Modernization.”
