Reps. John Katko (R-NY), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, are encouraging the Biden administration to develop and maintain an economic restoration plan under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The legislators recently forwarded correspondence to Biden – outlining the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) efforts to build more secure and resilient infrastructure through collaboration with industry stakeholders.
“Last week, we witnessed the exact reason this provision was enacted into law and why we supported it,” Katko and Thompson wrote with regard to the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company. “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 requested Biden direct the appropriate official to brief the Committee on how the Administration plans to address how CISA and other Sector Risk Management Agencies will be involved in the restorative planning process.
“We urge you to jumpstart implementation of these authorities and appropriately leverage existing work underway in the process,” the legislators concluded. “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.”