Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3119, the Energy Emergency Leadership Act. This legislation and the two other energy bills that will follow it are bipartisan bills that will protect our energy grid from cyberattacks. All three of these bills passed the House last Congress but were never taken up in the Senate. That must change this year as the need for this legislation becomes more important by the day. We have heard repeatedly from security experts and regulators over the last few years that our energy infrastructure and grid are being attacked by state actors or other entities. Indeed, just 2 months ago, large parts of this country suffered from gas shortages after a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline. Former Energy Secretary Perry took the first step toward addressing the increasing risk of cyberattacks on our energy infrastructure by creating the Cybersecurity and Energy Security Emergency Response office, or CESER, as it is pronounced. He then enhanced its stature by making its leader an assistant secretary. So H.R. 3119 would amend section 203(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act by establishing in statute the new assistant secretary position responsible for cybersecurity and emergency response issues. This bill also makes clear that this assistant secretary would have jurisdiction over all energy emergency and security functions related to energy supply, infrastructure, and cybersecurity. It also vests the assistant secretary with the authority to provide DOE technical assistance and support to State, local, or Tribal governments upon request. And it requires the assistant secretary and the Department of Energy to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant Federal agencies in carrying out the bill's provisions. CESER performed this role admirably in May when it coordinated the whole-of- government response to the Colonial Pipeline attack. By codifying an assistant secretary for cybersecurity and emergency response issues, this bill would go a long way in helping to protect the Nation's electric infrastructure from hackers and other bad actors who would attempt to disrupt our energy grid and harm our economy, our daily lives, and our overall national security. It would also appropriately raise the stature of the CESER office and provide more accountability over the vital functions with a lead person tasked with carrying them out. I commend Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush and Representative Walberg for their bipartisan effort to protect our energy infrastructure. This bipartisan cooperation is essential as we continue to work to defend our country from the threat of cyberattacks. I also thank Ranking Member Rodgers and Energy Subcommittee Ranking Member Upton for working with us to move this bill and the other two cybersecurity bills that will follow. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank both sides of the aisle, Mr. Latta and others, for their help in getting this bill moved. Mr. Speaker, again, I would ask support for the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2931) to provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and physical threats to, the electric grid, and for other purposes.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I begin by thanking my colleagues on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Representative McNerney of California and Representative Latta of Ohio, for their continued work and cooperation on energy security issues and for introducing H.R. 2931, the Enhancing Grid Security Through Public-Private Partnerships Act. This legislation could not be more necessary. Our Nation is facing an increasing number of physical and cyber threats to its electric grid and infrastructure. This bill addresses those threats by directing the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Electric Reliability Organization, States, other Federal agencies, and industry stakeholders, to create and implement a program to enhance the physical and cybersecurity of electric utilities. It calls for cybersecurity training to mitigate supply chain risks and improving the cybersecurity of third-party utility vendors. It also encourages utilities to share best practices and data within the electric sector. The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to deliver a report to Congress on general cybersecurity concerns and to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant agencies to ensure good communications and smooth implementation of this program across the government. Finally, the bill instructs the Secretary of Energy to update the Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator, which is an electric reliability planning tool for estimating electricity interruption costs and the benefits associated with reliability benefits. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2931 is an important bipartisan bill that will help address the security of our Nation's electric utilities, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would also ask that all our colleagues would support this on a bipartisan basis, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2928) to require the Secretary of Energy to establish a voluntary Cyber Sense program to test the cybersecurity of products and technologies intended for use in the bulk-power system, and for other purposes.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2928.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2928, the Cyber Sense Act of 2021. Grid security is a national security issue. Fortunately, there has not yet been a broad cyberattack that has taken down large parts of the electric grid in the United States. But as we learned from the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline earlier this year, we must not let our guard down. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 2928, which gives the electric sector critical tools and technologies necessary to protect our grid from malicious harm. This legislation gives the Department of Energy an important new authority to facilitate the adoption of more secure technologies and equipment in our Nation's grid. It does this by requiring the Department of Energy to set up a voluntary ``Cyber Sense'' program to identify cyber-secure products for use in the bulk-power system. The bill also requires the Secretary of Energy to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant Federal agencies in order to ensure smooth and seamless implementation across the Federal Government. This program would also provide technical assistance to electric utilities and product manufacturers to assist them in developing solutions to mitigate cyber vulnerabilities in the grid. I want to again thank my colleagues, Representatives McNerney and Latta, for their hard work on this critical issue and for their persistence in pursuing this bill for the last several years. Their partnership and bipartisan leadership on cybersecurity issues continues to benefit us all. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this important bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1250) to direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting.

Mr. PALLONE. I have no speakers, so the gentleman from Ohio may proceed. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 277.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 277, reaffirming the commitment to media diversity and pledging to work with media entities and diverse stakeholders to develop common ground solutions to eliminate barriers to media diversity. This resolution promotes much-needed diversity in the communications marketplace where we continue to see vast inequities. For example, the owners of broadcast and cable media outlets do not reflect our diverse population. Owners of these media outlets make critical decisions about the educational, political, entertainment, and news programming Americans watch. These decisions can influence people's opinions and perceptions. Mr. Speaker, diversity in viewpoints and diverse ownership of media outlets promotes programming that offers different perspectives and enables viewers to access programming that is relevant to them. A diverse media marketplace is also central to an informed and engaged electorate which is essential to a vibrant democracy. Committing to a diverse media marketplace--one that reflects our Nation--is a worthy goal, and this resolution reaffirms that goal. Today's resolution is a good step forward, but there is much more we need to do. The numbers and statistics are clear: our media marketplace does not resemble the people we serve. I want to commend Representative Demings for her work on this resolution and for continuing to bring attention to not only the lack of diversity in our media outlets, but also the impact that it has on our communities and on our Nation. I hope we can come together to do the additional work that is needed to improve the state of diversity today. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Demings), who is the sponsor of the resolution.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I also urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1754, the Measuring the Economics Driving Investments and Access for Diversity Act of 2021, or the MEDIA Diversity Act of 2021. This bill promotes much-needed diversity in the communications marketplace. It does this by requiring the Federal Communications Commission, with the input of its Office of Communications Business Opportunities, to consider market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals in the communications marketplace. Currently, there are vast inequities in the communications marketplace. While women and people of color make up over 50 percent of our population, broadcast ownership by them is only about 10 percent. That is extremely concerning, Mr. Speaker, when you think that media outlets can influence people's opinions and perceptions through the programming decisions that are made. Diversity in ownership of media outlets helps to ensure that programming offers different perspectives and that viewers have access to programming that is relevant to them. Experts have also found that ownership diversity can provide financial and competitive benefits. But in a concentrated communications marketplace, barriers for entry still exist, and the Federal Communications Commission is already tasked with studying what those barriers are. This bill asks the FCC to also consider market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals. Creating ownership parity to reflect this country's diversity is a worthy goal, and this bipartisan effort is a step in identifying market entry barriers. To be clear, there is so much more that we need to do, Mr. Speaker. While incremental steps are critical, we must do more. I look forward to working with my colleagues to take additional steps to diversify our media market. I commend Representatives Long and Veasey for their bipartisan work on this legislation. I hope we can now come together in a bipartisan fashion to do the additional work that is needed to finally eliminate the barriers so that the owners of our media outlets begin to look more like the communities that they serve. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support the MEDIA Diversity Act of 2021, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 678) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for a moratorium on number reassignment after a disaster declaration, and for other purposes.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on H.R. 678.