Jim Langevin

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his comments and the exceptional work that he does and that we do collaboratively with respect to career and technical education, and I appreciate his cosponsorship of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, again, in closing, this amendment would help to give situational awareness to students, to educators, and to all those who want to understand, is the time and effort, the investment that people are making worth that investment, and is it a clear path forward, particularly for those who are looking for a new career or who are looking to, as we do right now, trying to close the skills gap that we have not only in my home State of Rhode Island, but across the country, as people are trying to get the right skills for the right jobs that are good paying going forward. This will give them the data to understand the best career paths to follow, where it would be best to invest their time and their energy, as well as their resources. So with that, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would like to, first of all, thank the gentleman from Arizona, Congressman Salmon, as well as Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller for their work in bringing this very important bill to the floor. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would allow entities receiving funds under this bill to report the number and percentage of students who are able to find employment in a field relating to their program or course of study and would allow the director of IES to provide technical assistance to such entities upon request. Basically, my intent is to give situational awareness to both educators and students and also an understanding of how well our dollars being spent in terms of educating both our young people and people who are looking for a second career, looking for other job opportunities, so that they know that their time and effort will be well spent. I am proud to be joined in offering this amendment by my good friend and colleague, Congressman G.T. Thompson from Pennsylvania, as cochairs of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education Caucus. Representative Thompson and I are committed to providing all students with the information necessary to make informed career decisions. Many of the students who will be served by this bill are nontraditional students, working parents, students with full-time jobs, and many others who are seeking a different education than what a traditional 4-year curriculum affords, so these are the very people who would benefit the most from clear and accessible career market information. It has become obvious that high school diplomas are really no longer sufficient training for the modern job market, and while not every job will require a college degree, some sort of postsecondary education will be necessary, and students, Mr. Chairman, deserve accurate information to help them find the career pathway that best fits their goals and abilities. My amendment will help these students by encouraging schools to report on the number of students who are able to use their education to find a relevant career, data that students will be able to use in the coming years to inform their own decisions and choose an academic path that will lead to a well-paying job. This amendment has been scored by the CBO as budget-neutral and will not result in any additional spending. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, for a decade, the United States, the international community, and the Iraqi people sacrificed immeasurably in support of the Iraqi people and their future. Generations of Americans and Iraqis bear the indelible marks of this conflict. Unfortunately, the gains wrought at such cost are now jeopardized by the shortsightedness and malfeasance of Iraq's political leaders. To survive, Iraq needs a government that is inclusive and representative. And if we are to support Iraq militarily or in any other way, our Nation must know that we are supporting such a government, a condition that I do not believe the Maliki regime meets. Moreover, if the U.S. is to assist Iraq beyond current efforts, the President must seek a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force from Congress. I believe that authorization and that debate is absolutely essential, and I am concerned about the slippery slope we are going down. We must not become further embroiled in another Iraq conflict without both a thorough debate and a legitimate partner in the Iraqi Government.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. I firmly believe that we need to do more as a country to secure our Nation against the threat of cyber penetrations and attacks, and we must do more so that investors can have the very best information available when making their investment decisions. I yield to the gentleman from New York for any comments he would have.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chair, I want to thank Ranking Serrano for providing me the opportunity to enter into a colloquy on the topic of cybersecurity, specifically, SEC disclosure guidance relating to cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents. This is an issue that is of critical importance not only to our national security, but also to our economic security, affecting every American consumer and investor. It is no secret to anyone here that the challenges we face in the cyber realm are immense. Certainly, the news is rife with attacks, be it the massive Target breach of personal information by cyber criminals, Iran's reported denial-of-service attacks on U.S. banks, or the recently disclosed ongoing attacks on the hedge fund industry. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently estimated that almost 1 percent of global income, or $445 billion, is lost each year to cyber crime and economic espionage. That is a stunning tally, yet such costs are rarely, if ever, reflected in financial statements. Protecting intellectual property, trade secrets, and custom information must be a priority for government, corporations, and consumers. I know this is a concern of yours, and I hope it is of equal concern to the committee. Institutional investors, consumers, private investors, and public pension funds need sufficient information to make informed decisions concerning a firm's cyber controls, just as Members of Congress and our staffs must have access to the best information possible to conduct proper oversight and make the best public policy decisions. The committee rightfully points out that ``corporate disclosures are at the core of investor protection''; however, there are real questions about the disclosures that companies are making to their boards and shareholders regarding their vulnerabilities in cyberspace. While the SEC made some limited efforts in 2011 with cybersecurity, there is no finish line. So it is incumbent on all of us to continue evolving as the threat evolves. In my current positions on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, I devote a significant amount of time to tackling this continuing problem. I remain extraordinarily concerned about the systematic and wholesale theft of corporate property for economic advantage.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I thank you, Ranking Serrano, for your continued interest in this issue. I look forward to working with you as we move to conference to ensure that the SEC has the tools necessary to update their cybersecurity disclosure guidance and that the SEC includes an update on cybersecurity disclosure guidance in the report to the committee.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Chair, on rollcall 393 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment Offered by Mr. LaMalfa

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my strong support for H.R. 803, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). This bill passed the Senate by a vote of 95-3, and I hope it will clear the House with similar support so it can be quickly signed into law by the President. It is expected that by 2022, the United States will face a shortage of 11 million workers with the necessary level of postsecondary education, including 6.8 million workers with bachelor's degrees, and 4.3 million workers with a postsecondary vocational certificate, some college credits or an associate's degree. As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus, reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act has been one of my longstanding priorities. The Workforce Investment Act was originally passed in 1998 in an effort to improve federal job training programs. Since the law expired in 2003, it has been supported by annual appropriations, but funding levels have not been adjusted to reflect the many economic changes that have taken place over the past 16 years. One of the biggest challenges confronting our economy is the skills gap. In conversations with businesses across my home state of Rhode Island, I constantly hear that they are unable to find workers with the skills necessary to succeed. WIOA modernizes and improves existing federal workforce development programs and helps workers attain skills for 21st century jobs, while helping businesses find the skilled employees they need to compete. Among its many provisions, the agreement also reauthorizes and amends the Rehabilitation Amendments of 1973 to improve disability-related workforce training, employment, independent living, and research programs. Under this bill, workers, employers, and educators will be able to better coordinate on workforce development programs and skills training, and ensure that individuals with disabilities have the skills necessary to be successful in businesses that provide competitive, integrated employment. Meanwhile, local workforce investment boards will be able to tailor services to their region's employment and workforce needs. WIOA also makes significant improvements to Job Corps. In Exeter, RI, we are fortunate to have one of the nation's top-performing Job Corps centers. Now we can build on our past successes through increased data collection and greater technical assistance from the Department of Labor, while allowing operators of high-performing facilities to compete for contract renewal. The bill before us today is the product of bipartisan negotiations between the House and Senate. Both parties and both chambers have worked hard on this, and I am pleased that we are now taking action. Every community across the country benefits from workforce training programs to provide the skills necessary to drive job creation and economic growth. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, this Fourth of July will mark the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's historic farewell address at Yankee Stadium, where he brought national attention to the disease that bears his name today. Sadly, so many decades later, we are still struggling to understand the cause of ALS, and there is still no known cure. On June 13, I was proud to join the Rhode Island ALS chapter to reaffirm our commitment to the families affected by this disease. Hearing their stories emboldened me to fight harder than ever for additional research funding that will lead to more effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure. Lou Gehrig famously said in his farewell speech: I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. So, too, do the millions of people in the fight against ALS--I recognize them and the caregivers that take care of them. They are unsung heroes as well. Together, I know this is a fight that we can win.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. I thank the ranking member. I thank both the gentlemen for their comments, their support of this research. When I was injured 34 years ago, I was told that I would never walk again, that spinal cord injury repair was just too difficult, it would never happen. We know now, because of research that is happening over the years by dedicated researchers and where we are right now, that it is no longer a question of if but when people with spinal cord injuries will walk again, be able to breathe on their own again, and be able to move again. The support you have given to this amendment is going to help millions of people. I thank both the chairman and, again, the ranking member as well as the members of the committee. Mr. Chair, with that, I again just want to express my deep appreciation for the hard work that went into this bill. Of course maintaining the current funding level at $30 million in this program and the support of both Jim Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Visclosky encouraging larger grant awards, I know that this will make a difference. Just hearing from the researchers in the field explaining why and how the larger awards would make this difference, I know that we will be seeing results very soon. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I rise to offer a very simple amendment to direct the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to increase individual grant amounts issued through the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program. I would like to begin, of course, by thanking Chairman Frelinghuysen as well as Ranking Member Visclosky for their work on the underlying bill and for their continued commitment to funding the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program. As someone who has suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 16, I am acutely aware of how important this research is to the millions of servicemembers and civilians who suffer from various forms of paralysis and other conditions related to spinal cord injury. They simply want to know whether they will ever again be able to move, be able to walk, or even be able to breathe on their own. I am thrilled to say that we are beginning to see meaningful answers in a positive way to these questions. Research into spinal cord injuries is producing, right now, a wealth of groundbreaking discoveries that are making treatment protocols never before envisioned an actual achievable goal. However, if we want these advancements to continue, particularly in the areas of translational research, then we must make sure that we are providing higher grant award levels to the researchers funded by the Spinal Cord Injury Program. I say this because we have heard from researchers in the field of spinal cord injury research that the current grant awards, though meaningful, the ones that are issued to the program are not yet really large enough to make an appreciable difference, given the promise that the research shows right now. So in the fiscal year 2013 appropriations measure, I was proud to work with the Defense Appropriations Committee to double the funding for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program from $15 to $30 million; and thanks to the hard work of Chairman Frelinghuysen as well as Ranking Member Visclosky, we have been able to maintain that funding level in this bill. I am incredibly grateful. With twice the amount of funding allocated since 2013, it is time to increase the amount of individual grants provided to the program's recipients. Remarkable advancements are now ripe for further development, but these next steps will only be achieved if the grant awards keep pace with the growing complexities and costs of this research. With that, I thank, again, Chairman Frelinghuysen as well as Ranking Member Visclosky. I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chair, the amendment I authored with my good friends Congressman Price, Congressman Quigley and Congressman Butterfield will increase funding for FTA Technical Assistance and Training, returning them to their 2014 levels. The technical assistance and training dollars made available by this amendment will help increase mobility for people with disabilities and older adults. By providing this assistance to our transit systems and services, we can ensure they become more accessible for those who rely on them the most. Easter Seals, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and others have a long history of working with the FTA to provide training, technical assistance and support services to the transit industry, the elderly and peole with disabilities. It is critical for this work to continue, especially as more people age and more of those with disabilities seek to live as independently as possible. For FTA to do this effectively, it must have adequate resources to support these technical assitance activities. Accordingly, our amendment will increase funding by $2 million for FTA Technical Assistance and Training, restoring it to $5 million, which equals last year's levels. Individuals with disabilities and older adults disproportionately rely on public transit to work, live, learn, and access recreation in their communities. I ask that my colleagues support this amendment, which will provide immeasurable benefits to all those it serves.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 4681, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015. I am going to keep my remarks brief, but I first wanted to thank Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger for bringing this bill to the floor in a bipartisan way. The bill before us really is indicative of how the committee is run in a bipartisan way under Chairman Rogers' leadership. In particular, I do want to commend Chairman Rogers for his years of service on the Intelligence Committee and wish him the best in his retirement at the end of this year. He clearly made a difference. Mr. Chairman, this is a balanced measure and really critical to protecting our Nation's security. I have been pleased to work with the chairman and ranking member on several provisions included in the bill. This bill makes critical investments in technical and tactical intelligence, as well as in our human capabilities. In particular, in order to support and develop the long-term health of our most important intelligence resource--human talent--this bill requires the Director of National Intelligence to create a plan to promote cybersecurity and computer literacy among high school and university students. As cyber threats grow in quantity and sophistication, we must do more to train and recruit into the noble calling of government service young people with the interest and aptitude for cybersecurity. The bill authorizes provisions to reduce the risk of information leaks, as well, and unauthorized disclosures of classified information by insiders, while maintaining appropriate levels of trust in our personnel. We cannot afford a repeat of last year's breach of classified information. Mr. Chairman, continued focus is needed to ensure that we, of course, are supporting the efforts of those patriotic Americans who proudly serve our Nation in the intelligence community, while properly safeguarding the privacy and civil liberties that our citizens hold dear. To that end, we must fully absorb the lessons learned over the past decade after passage of the landmark Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act and the changes it brought to the IC.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I certainly look forward to working with my committee colleagues to continue this tradition of rigorous, responsible, and bipartisan oversight. The work that we do is critical to our national security. Again, I thank Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger, as well as my colleagues on the committee; and in particular, I want to thank the staff for the hard work that they have done in bringing this bill to the floor on both sides of the aisle. Their work is critical as well. I thank my colleagues.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Chair, the amendment that I offer today addresses a topic that is of the utmost importance to our national defense, that is, cybersecurity. Before I go into the particulars, I would like to first acknowledge the important work of my colleague, Chairman Wolf, on this vital issue. Although he is retiring at the end of the year, he has certainly left a legacy of support for cybersecurity funding which he and Ranking Member Fattah have continued in this bill. I thank them both for their important work. Madam Chair, bad actors in cyberspace are growing in number and in sophistication, and as policymakers we have an imperative to act in the public interest. When Congress came up short in its efforts to enact comprehensive cybersecurity legislation in the 112th Congress, the administration rightly acted as best it could to advance the ball on cybersecurity. The President issued an executive order on this topic, and among the many things it did, it charged the National Institute for Standards and Technology with the creation of a framework for cybersecurity, and it ensured an open process, engaging all parties from across the spectrum of industry, government, and academia. Madam Chair, my simple amendment endorses the use of routine Department of Commerce surveys in order to measure the extent to which businesses have adopted the NIST voluntary cybersecurity framework. In fact, my amendment will ensure that the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Technology Evaluation uses its Defense Production Act authority to conduct a survey about use of the NIST framework. While I applaud the President's focus on cybersecurity, and the NIST process has been widely regarded as a laudable example of public- private partnership, much more needs to be done, and the administration cannot go it alone. It will take congressional action to address issues such as incentives, liability protections, information sharing, and breach notification. However, while we continue to work toward passage of bipartisan cybersecurity legislation, it is important that we measure how well the NIST framework is faring. Our routine Commerce Department survey, using existing authority under the Defense Production Act, will enable an assessment of the NIST framework's adoption rate, a key component of its effectiveness. Information sharing is also an important part of the framework, so the survey will also allow BIS to ask companies what, if any, information from the government they have used and how they have used it. This brief survey should be designed in a way to minimize the burden on companies: determining if their using the framework or information shared from the government does not require an exhaustive survey of their cybersecurity practices. The NIST framework is a model for cybersecurity. It doesn't demand adherence to a particular set of standards, nor does it proscribe certain activities. Instead, it describes processes that entities can adopt to help them decide which standards and risk levels are appropriate for their own situations. I believe that this framework is a useful tool for companies to help them navigate new threats in the information age. I know that some of my colleagues believe otherwise, but without hard data, these sentiments would be just that: beliefs. Measuring adoption of the framework is a concrete step in the right direction that we can take to help develop our own best practices for what works in the realm of cyber policy. So with that, Madam Chair, we have all heard about major cyber attacks in the news, including the Target breach and the Heartbleed security vulnerability. Just this month alone we have seen the Department of Justice indict Chinese soldiers for hacks of American companies. We have seen the breach of up to 145 million emails, birth dates, and passwords from a major Internet commerce site. We have even seen the Department of Homeland Security warned about a successful attack on a public utility that compromised the utility's control system network. My amendment will not solve all of these problems at once, but it will help policymakers here and in the administration take effective and informed steps to protect our networks from cyber attacks. So with that, let me again congratulate Chairman Wolf and thank him for his distinguished service to this body. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the USA FREEDOM Act. I want to thank and congratulate all those who had a hand in crafting the legislation before us, particularly Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger. Changes to our national security program should not be taken lightly, and this compromise legislation is the result of vigorous debate and careful consideration. As Chairman Rogers pointed out, with all the reviews and investigations that have taken place with respect to the bulk collection program, no violations of law were found. But there was concern that there could be abuses in the future, and the American people wanted a better balance to be struck between national security and protecting privacy and civil liberties and more accountability. Many of my constituents have expressed concerns about the sanctity of their civil liberties, and I share their concern. I firmly believe that this legislation protects that privacy by ending bulk metadata collection while still safeguarding our national security. I am particularly pleased that this legislation includes provisions very similar to those that I championed in the Intelligence Committee which allow the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to appoint an independent advocate with legal or technical expertise in the field, such as privacy and civil liberties, intelligence collection, telecommunication, cyber, or any other area of law necessary in order to ensure independent checks on government surveillance within the court's process. With that, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 4435, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. I would like to begin by thanking Chairman McKeon for his leadership of the committee and for all of his years of dedication to national security. It is appropriate that this act is named after him. I want to thank and recognize the ranking member, Adam Smith, for his leadership on the committee as well. He deeply cares about national security, and I appreciate the work that he has done on this mark. I also want to thank Congressman Mac Thornberry, the chair of the Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities Subcommittee. It has been a privilege working with him. As the ranking member of the IETC Subcommittee, I do appreciate his bipartisan work, and I am pleased with the bill that we have produced this year. Mr. Chairman, the IETC portion of the bill authorizes approximately $7.6 billion for the U.S. Special Operations Command. Authorities necessary for Special Operations Forces to combat terrorism are extended in the bill, which also provides an additional $20 million for the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, which gives our Special Operations Forces the cutting-edge capabilities and technologies that they need. The IETC Subcommittee also made investments in emerging technologies like electrical weapons, and I want to commend especially the Navy's efforts to move technologies like directed energy and railguns, in particular, out of the labs and into the field. Getting this game-changing technology into the hands of the Nation's sailors and into the hands of all of our warfighters will ultimately serve to realize the promise of research investment. In addition to our focus on research and development efforts, we must also put investments into education programs, so that there is a qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--or STEM-- talent pool to benefit the DOD. I am particularly pleased that the bill provides a total of $55.5 million for the National Defense Education Program. Additionally, the IETC portion of the bill includes provisions to strengthen the oversight of the intelligence community while ensuring that combat and commander intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance requirements are met.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, last but certainly not least, the bill also supports cyber operations and U.S. Cyber Command, while reducing redundant programs and increasing transparency and oversight. As recent revelations of cyber incidents demonstrate, a trained and ready cyber force and robust defensive capabilities have never been more integral to our national security. These are just but a few of the highlights in the bill. In the interest of time, I will end there. But I do want to again thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership, all the members of the Armed Services Committee, as well as the staff of the committee, for all the work that they have put into this mark. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague for his kind words in support of the amendment. With that, I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment. Again, it will give school counselors the most up-to-date information and training that they need as they are advising their young students about their career path forward. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.