John Ratcliffe

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Dent and the ranking member for their hard work on behalf of the 63,000 veterans in my district, as well as servicemembers and veterans from all across the country. I am also grateful for the support of Congressman Shuster in offering this amendment, an amendment which would simply prohibit any funds made available in this division from being used to propose, plan for, or execute a new or additional round of base realignment and closure, or BRAC. Mr. Chairman, I am honored to represent the Fourth Congressional District of Texas, which is home to the Red River Army Depot. The Depot has supported the warfighter since 1941. Although the Depot community has weathered a lot of changes over the years, their commitment to mission has always remained the same. On the placards inside each vehicle there are the words: ``We build it as if our lives depend on it. Theirs do.'' The Red River Army Depot is a vital job creator for northeast Texas and my district, and it is a critical component to our national defense. And as we continue our constitutional obligation to appropriate money, we have to be careful stewards of taxpayer dollars, and focus our limited resources on addressing the critical national security objectives and military readiness. Having another round of BRAC, Mr. Chairman, won't help us achieve this goal. According to the Government Accountability Office, the last round of BRAC in 2005 actually cost the American taxpayers $35.1 billion, which is 67 percent more than the original cost estimate. At the same time, the expected savings from the last round of BRAC have been reduced by 73 percent. Starting another BRAC would weaken our capabilities, and it would increase our vulnerability in the face of critical threats that face this Nation right now. I thank my colleagues who have supported this important amendment for the past 2 years, and I look forward to having this amendment included in this year's Military Construction and VA Appropriations bill.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for accepting the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. I would like to thank my colleague and friend from North Carolina, the gentleman, Congressman Walker, for yielding to me and for hosting this Special Order tonight, which is fittingly titled, ``The People's Night.'' After all, there is a reason that the United States House of Representatives is often called the people's House. It is because our job is to fight for the priorities of the people that we are privileged to represent here. Over the past 6 months, Republicans have been fighting for the people, fighting to fundamentally change Washington and to return power to the American people where it really belongs. We have been doing this against a strong headwind of obstructionists, sometimes from colleagues across the aisle, sometimes from certain in the media more interested in a liberal agenda than in accurate reporting, and sometimes from embedded bureaucrats and special interests within the government industrial complex who really don't want to see the Washington swamp drained. But in spite of that, we are succeeding. And while many of these conservative winds have gone unreported and, therefore, flown under the radar, the truth is that we are indeed steering the ship in the right direction, we are steadily undoing the damage done by out-of-touch policies by the Obama administration. Case in point is a fact that has not garnered a lot of headlines, but should have, something that Congressman Walker pointed out earlier: the fact that in the first 100 days of this 115th Congress, we have passed more bills--158 to be exact--than were passed during the first 100 days of any and all of the four prior administrations: the Obama, Bush, Clinton, and H.W. Bush administrations. And as proof of our productivity, we have signed more of those bills into law than in any of the other administrations' first 100 days as well. But it is not just the quantity of the bills that we are turning into laws. It is about the quality and the substance. We are passing legislation that is making government smaller. We are passing legislation that is making government less costly. We are passing legislation that is making the government finally more accountable to the people. We are dismantling the enormous bureaucratic overgrowth and underbrush that spun out of control under former President Obama. As a former prosecutor, I believe you have got to win your case with verifiable facts and evidence, so let me give you some. In the last 20 years, prior Congresses have successfully used the Congressional Review Act one time. Just once in the prior 20 years has Congress used the CRA to undo midnight regulations passed at the 12th hour in the dead of night as administrations were walking out the door. But in the first 4 months of this Congress, Republicans have united to use the CRA 14 times to overturn 14 of President Obama's most harmful midnight regulations, and in so doing, we have saved the American people, the United States taxpayers, billions of dollars in the process. Now we are in the process of finally saving America from arguably the most disastrous piece of legislation in our Nation's history: ObamaCare. If anyone needs any further evidence of its implosion into a death spiral, just yesterday CMS announced that 2 million Americans dropped off of the ObamaCare exchanges in just the first 3 months of this year. The ObamaCare house is on fire, and rather than waiting for it to burn to the ground with American families still inside, Republicans in the peoples' House have acted now. Republicans won't let Americans suffer in the face of such inevitable continuing adversity when it comes to our healthcare. So as ObamaCare continues to dissolve in front of our eyes, we have already taken action by sending an ObamaCare repeal bill over to the Senate. All of this work makes me incredibly optimistic about the results that we are continuing to deliver on the people's behalf, just as we did again last week when we passed a House bill that tackles a key issue that I have been sounding the alarm about since my first day in Congress: ending the reckless overreach of Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I was so grateful for the opportunity to support the House's passage of my fellow Texan, Jeb Hensarling's, Financial CHOICE Act last week, which puts an end to the days of the Obama-era CFPB as we know it, because the Financial CHOICE Act legislation converts the CFPB into the Consumer Law Enforcement Agency, which is tasked with promoting competition rather than stifling it, tasked with enhancing consumer choice rather than eliminating it, all the while ensuring congressional oversight that has been missing for far too long. Mr. Speaker, every Federal agency needs to have someone grading its paper, and the Financial CHOICE Act will allow the CFPB's paper to be graded for the very first time. I am incredibly excited about the economic opportunities that our Nation is going to continue to be afforded as we continue here to wipe away President Obama's sweeping government mandates and regulations so we can get our country back on track and back working for all Americans. There is a lot more to be done to ensure that America's brightest days truly are ahead of us, but with so many committed conservatives as we have here tonight, I am optimistic that we are going to continue to deliver results for the people here in what finally, once again, can be appropriately referred to as the peoples' House.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1842, the Strengthening Children's Safety Act of 2017. Mr. Speaker, there are few things more shocking to the conscience or sickening to the soul than crimes against children--the most innocent, the most vulnerable members of our society. In my time as a Federal prosecutor, the child exploitation images that I was forced to review as part of the evidence were, by far, the most disturbing and difficult part of that job. All of these years later, I still can't erase those depraved images from my mind, and I doubt that I will ever be able to do that. But crimes against children should stick with us, they should haunt us, and then they should spur us to take action. If we do anything here in Congress, it should be working to protect children. We talk all day long in this Chamber about the future of this country. Well, Mr. Speaker, the children are the future of this country. We need to put our words into action. So today I am introducing H.R. 1842, the Strengthening Children's Safety Act of 2017, a bill which closes two sets of loopholes in Federal child exploitation laws to make sure that all dangerous sex offenders are treated the same and are subject to the same enhanced penalties under the law. Right now, Mr. Speaker, current law establishes minimum national standards for sex offender registration and notification in all 50 States, in the District of Columbia, in U.S. territories, and Tribal jurisdictions. If a sex offender knowingly fails to register or update a registration, that individual faces a fine and imprisonment of up to 10 years. There is also an enhanced penalty of 5 to 30 years imprisonment if the offender, while in that noncompliance status, also commits a crime of violence under Federal law, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the law of the District of Columbia, Indian Tribal law, or the law of any territory or possession of the United States. But here is the problem, Mr. Speaker: Right now, only individuals committing crimes of violence under these Federal, military, and Tribal laws are subject to the enhanced penalty, while individuals committing the same crimes of violence under State law are not. Mr. Speaker, hopefully, we can all agree that child predators committing crimes of violence should be subject to the same enhanced penalties, regardless of whether these crimes are being charged in Federal court or at the State level. So this bill adds similar State crimes of violence to that list to ensure that the enhanced penalty applies equally to all dangerous offenders. Mr. Speaker, the second portion of H.R. 1842 addresses enhanced sentences for individuals with prior sex offenses. Fortunately, our child exploitation laws consistently do call for higher sentences any time a defendant has a prior conviction for Federal or State sex offenses. But currently, these sentencing provisions do not consistently include all similar sex offense convictions that arise under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. H.R. 1842 amends those Federal child exploitation laws to include all child sexual exploitation offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the recidivist provisions, as appropriate. Again, I think it is critical, Mr. Speaker, that we close this loophole to ensure that all prior child exploitation convictions are penalized for repeat offenders. Many issues in Congress these days are partisan, but it is my sincere hope, Mr. Speaker, that Members on both sides of the aisle today will be able to come together to support stronger protections for children who are sexually abused. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this important bill.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my friend. Her amendment would sunset the very modest, yet necessary and appropriate, authority that we are seeking to grant Federal probation officers today. No valid reason has been given for the need to sunset this provision. In fact, ample evidence is available showing why probation officers need this authority to perform their duties safely and effectively. Just last year, over one-third of the safety-related incidents reported by Federal probation and pretrial staff involved third parties encountered by officers while performing their official duties. For example, during an unannounced home visit to an apartment by officers, as they approached the apartment, two unidentified subjects entered the hall from another unit. Officers knocked on the resident's door and there was no answer. One third party stated: ``Hey, five-oh, who are you looking for?'' And they began approaching the officers in a menacing manner. One of the third parties pulled out a cell phone and started videoing, yelling obscenities, and making other statements to the officers. Another individual, in response to the commotion, entered the hallway possessing a knife and drew it as he moved toward the officers. These types of threats, Mr. Speaker, are very real and very dangerous to the brave men and women who serve the criminal justice system as Federal probation officers. The types of threats that exist today will continue to exist in 2\1/2\ years when the gentlewoman's amendment would sunset the proposed arrest authority. I want to make one thing very clear, Mr. Speaker. The bill before us today does not create a new Federal crime. It is already a Federal crime to assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with a Federal probation officer for which an individual can be placed under arrest. The only thing the bill today does is say that probation officers can make that arrest. And why shouldn't they be able to make that arrest? Probation officers have a unique role in our criminal justice system, balancing the skills of a law enforcement officer with the skills of a social worker. In addition to the 6 weeks of initial training, Federal probation officers are required to complete at least 40 hours of continuing education and training annually. I don't think it is a radical idea to suggest that Federal law enforcement officers should be able to arrest someone who commits a Federal crime by interfering with the duties being performed by that officer. Let them do their part in keeping the public safe. Let them do their jobs safely. Let them do their jobs effectively. Mr. Speaker, I oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, there is no Fourth Amendment violation, the bill makes no reference whatsoever to the issue of searches, and there is no objection to the gentlewoman's request for a study. But there continues to be, and needs to be, objection and opposition to a sunset provision with respect to the authority that probation officers need to perform their duties safely and effectively. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1616, the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017. Let me start out by thanking Chairman Goodlatte for his support and allowing this bill to come to the floor and Senator Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Ranking Member Feinstein for their support in introducing a companion measure over in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, the bicameral, bipartisan support on this issue underscores its critical importance and the need for this issue to transcend political parties and partisan politics. Mr. Speaker, this is Police Week in the United States. It is our chance to show appreciation for some of the most important unsung heroes in our Nation. I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to use my time before this legislative body today to thank each and every member of this country's brave dedicated men and women of law enforcement. From patrolling our streets to pursuing criminals of every kind, it is these men and women in blue who keep our communities safe and uphold the pillars of law and order in society each and every day. Every American should be grateful for those who run towards danger and who march into harm's way to keep us safe. Nearly a decade ago I had the privilege of being appointed the United States Attorney under former President George W. Bush. Serving as the President's top Federal law enforcement official gave me the chance to work shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of great police officers and police departments across the 33,000 square miles of the Eastern District of Texas. It also instilled in me an incredible sense of gratitude for those in law enforcement who wake up each and every day simply wanting to make the world around them a safer place to live for all of us. I could say it 1,000 times and it wouldn't do justice to the service that they provide: Thank you. Thank you for all you do. We are all grateful. And while the simple truth is that we can never really repay those in law enforcement for the incredible sacrifices they make each and every day, as a lawmaker, I want to do everything within my power to give them the tools to help them keep us safe. Today this body has a unique opportunity to stand up for those who selflessly and dependably stand up for all of us. H.R. 1616, the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017, does exactly that by authorizing into law the National Computer Forensics Institute, or NCFI. As the chairman said, the NCFI is a critical national training center located in Hoover, Alabama, that is operated by the United States Secret Service for the purpose of training our State and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges on how to investigate cyber and electronic crimes, on how to conduct computer and mobile device forensics examinations, to respond to network intrusions, and to preserve the chain of custody for digital evidence. Mr. Speaker, in today's digital world, it is rarely that drop of blood or strand of hair that solves a crime or a case. Instead, far more frequently, it is proof of a text message that was sent or an online purchase that was made or geolocation data on a mobile device. Since its creation, the NCFI has trained and equipped more than 6,000 law enforcement officials from all 50 States on how to handle digital evidence and solve and prosecute cybercrimes. By authorizing the NCFI into Federal law, Congress can ensure that the NCFI remains our Nation's premier cybercrime training center for State and local law enforcement officials for many years to come. This isn't some theoretical program at the NCFI. The proverbial rubber is already hitting the road. In fact, three different law enforcement agencies in my own district have had their folks trained at the NCFI, folks like Don Waddle, a 25-year veteran of the Greenville Police Department in my home district. In a hearing I chaired last year about the impact of the training that Don received at NCFI, he talked about the value that not just he got as a law enforcement officer, but the community that he serves. He told me: I am not the main benefactor of this training. The citizens of Greenville and Hunt County and the entire northeast Texas area reap the benefits of this training with better recovery rates for stolen property, as well as more perpetrators being taken off of our streets. Don is like thousands of detectives and prosecutors and judges across the country who because of their NCFI training are better able to serve their communities and do their law enforcement jobs in an ever- increasing digital world. Mr. Speaker, the need for this bill could not be more clear. Cybercrime has surpassed drug trafficking as the most profitable criminal enterprise in the world. Today, let's vote to help fight cybercrime by passing this commonsense legislation to support our law enforcement and give our officers a leg up on the criminals who are increasingly using digital means in cyberspace to evade justice. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1616. I once again thank Chairman Goodlatte and my Senate colleagues for their support.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for his kind words. I also thank him and commend him for his leadership on cybersecurity issues for many years in this House. I look forward to working with him for many years, hopefully, to come. I thank him for his friendship and collaboration in helping to make America safer. Mr. Speaker, I again urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 612. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 612, the United States- Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017. I was grateful for the opportunity to work closely with my colleague, Mr. Langevin from Rhode Island, on this vitally important legislation that will build upon the existing collaboration between the United States and the State of Israel on critical cybersecurity issues. Following our successful congressional delegation to Israel in May of last year to discuss homeland security and cybersecurity issues, Mr. Langevin and I worked closely to champion two important pieces of legislation. Last year, I introduced H.R. 5877, the United States-Israeli Advanced Partnership Act of 2016, which was signed into law on December 16 with Mr. Langevin's help and support. That legislation expanded a current cooperative research program between the two countries by adding cybersecurity to a program that had previously focused only on border security, explosives detection, and emergency services. Today, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have H.R. 612, the United States- Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017 come before the House. This bill would expand the memorandum of agreement already in place between our Department of Homeland Security and the State of Israel by authorizing the Secretary to carry out a grant program at DHS to support cybersecurity research and development as well as the demonstration and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies. During our congressional delegation, Mr. Langevin and I were able to meet with top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss how the United States and Israel can better cooperate in these vital areas. We also had the opportunity to meet with many of Israel's cybersecurity companies and technology startups. Over the past several years, Israel has become a leader in cybersecurity and has developed a deep and talented cyber workforce, something we need greater focus on here in the United States. To that end, much of our discussion with Israeli officials and private companies revolved around how the United States and Israel can work more closely together and learn from each other as we combat growing cybersecurity threats. This legislation is a product of those successful discussions. Mr. Speaker, the United States and Israel are both under constant threat from nation-state and other actors that wish to do our countries harm, so it is vitally important that the United States and Israel work hand-in-hand to build our cyber defenses to combat these cyber threats together. Mr. Speaker, it is also vital that in the House both parties work hand-in-hand on America's national security vulnerabilities. Given the current political environment, I would like to commend and thank my colleague, Mr. Langevin, for his willingness to do just that, as demonstrated by his partnership on this issue. I very much look forward to continuing to work with him on more cybersecurity issues during the 115th Congress. I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 612) to establish a grant program at the Department of Homeland Security to promote cooperative research and development between the United States and Israel on cybersecurity.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017. I thank Chairman Goodlatte for the opportunity to again lead on this issue and for the inclusion of two of my bills--the Separation of Powers Restoration Act and the ALERT Act--in this incredibly important regulatory reform package. Because you see, Mr. Chairman, the realities of President Obama's failed liberal progressive experiment are all too real for the three- quarters of a million Texans that I represent, realities like higher prices for families in Sulphur Springs trying to make ends meet, fewer jobs for those seeking work in Texarkana, and small businesses in Sherman and Rockwall forced to close their doors. Mr. Chairman, these are just a few of the countless devastating symptoms of overregulation that citizens across our great country have been forced to endure under President Obama. The President gives a good speech, and he did so again in his farewell address last night. But the President read us a fictional tale last night. The inescapable truth is that for 8 long years, the constant stream of regulations being pumped out by the Obama administration has taken a terrible toll on families, on businesses, and on our economy. It has made our Nation less prosperous and leaves folks worse off than they were before. The urgency to reverse this unsustainable regulatory quagmire couldn't have been made more clear than in November, when the American people rose up and voted for a new President who vowed not to subject us to more of the same. That is where my bill and all of the bills in the Regulatory Accountability Act come into play. When you look back at the last 8 years, many people wonder how the Obama administration was allowed to grow at such an alarming rate. Now, while there are a lot of troubling factors that go into that equation, the result of an infamous 1984 Supreme Court decision, the Chevron doctrine, is certainly recognized as one of the key culprits. For three decades now, this doctrine has required courts to defer to agency interpretations of congressional intent. Said in more plain terms, Mr. Chairman, this means that when individuals challenge Federal regulators in court, the deck is stacked in favor of the regulators, the very same regulators who have written the regulations in the first place. Letting regulators grade their own papers, if that doesn't reinforce the need to drain the swamp, then I don't know what does. My legislation, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, will fix this perversion of our Constitution by ensuring that Congress, not executive branch agencies, write our laws and that courts, not agency bureaucrats, interpret our laws. Mr. Chairman, title V of this bill is my ALERT Act legislation, and it provides another critical remedy to the current regulatory process by fixing the lack of transparency that is both unfair and harmful to individuals and small businesses across the country. Right now, the current law requires the administration to release an update twice a year on the regulations that are being developed by Federal agencies--the problem is that the regulators are ignoring the law--as these updates have either been very late or never issued at all under President Obama's watch. Up to this point, there hasn't been a way to reinforce and enforce these requirements. So the ALERT Act tackles this problem by forcing the executive branch to make the American people aware of regulations that are coming down the track; and it prohibits any regulations from going into effect unless and until detailed information on the cost of the regulation, its impact on jobs, and the legal basis for the regulation have been available to the public on the Internet for at least 6 months. Mr. Chairman, the way our government has been allowed to function under this administration isn't how our forefathers intended our government to work. Today's legislation takes a giant step forward in fixing how Washington works. I have already spoken to President-elect Trump about partnering together to make this the law of the land and to give the American people back the government that our Founders intended, a government that works for them, not the other way around. Mr. Chairman, we owe them nothing less.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to bring two important bills to the floor today that strengthen the government's ability to effectively leverage cutting-edge cyber technologies. Last year, the House passed both of these provisions as part of Majority Leader McCarthy's Innovation Initiative, and I am excited that we are able to bring them to the floor here so early in the 115th Congress. Mr. Speaker, over the past 2 years, my colleagues and I have been working diligently with technology innovators and tech startups to find solutions that will spur innovation and break down the bureaucratic barriers that prevent the government from effectively leveraging the private sector's emerging technologies. H.R. 239, the Support for Rapid Innovation Act of 2017, addresses this problem by requiring the science and technology directorate, or S&T, to more effectively coordinate with industry and academia to support the research and development of cybersecurity technologies. H.R. 239 does so because it requires S&T to support the full life cycle of cyber research and development projects and identify mature technologies to address cybersecurity gaps. In doing so, S&T will be required to target federally funded cybersecurity research that demonstrates a high probability of successful transition to the commercial market within 2 years. This bill will also extend the use of other transactional authority, or OTA, until the year 2021, a move that will improve DHS's ability to engage with tech startups that are developing these cutting-edge technologies. H.R. 239 also includes additional accountability requirements to ensure that there is proper oversight of the authority. Mr. Speaker, our digital borders are constantly being barraged by cybercriminals, by nation-states, and by terrorists seeking to exploit and harm innocent Americans. Almost daily, we read news stories on how these hackers are intruding into our networks and doing so with increased sophistication. One thing is for certain, we have seen that cyber intrusions and their impact on victims quickly morph and increase both in frequency and in their severity. In 2017, these hackers will unfortunately continue to pose a great threat to the U.S. homeland and to our critical infrastructure. The Federal Government, therefore, needs to keep pace with these evolving threats by more actively working with the private sector to find effective solutions. DHS's Directorate of Science and Technology is the primary research and development arm of the Department. The directorate manages basic and applied research and development, including cybersecurity R&D, for the Department's operational components and for our first responders. Ensuring there are mechanisms in place, like S&T's cybersecurity R&D programs and the OTA, to support the dynamic nature of cybersecurity research and development is essential for addressing homeland security capability gaps. Thank you again, Mr. Speaker, for calling up this important bill today. I believe it will have an incredibly positive impact on encouraging technology innovation across the Nation to address our vital homeland security needs. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in supporting this very important bill. I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Washington, DC, January 9, 2017. Hon. Michael McCaul, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing concerning H.R. 239, the ``Support for Rapid Innovation Act of 2017,'' which was introduced on January 4, 2017. H.R. 239 contains provisions within the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology's Rule X jurisdiction. In order to expedite this bill for floor consideration, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will forego action on the bill. This is being done on the basis of our mutual understanding that doing so will in no way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology with respect to the appointment of conferees, or to any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters contained in the bill or similar legislation. I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding, and would request that you include a copy of this letter and your response in the Congressional Record during the floor consideration of this bill. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Sincerely, Lamar Smith, Chairman.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 239) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for innovative research and development, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Thompson for his leadership on the committee, and I want to thank the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies Subcommittee staff for their hard work. Once again, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 239. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, again, I am pleased that the House is today considering H.R. 240, the Leveraging Emerging Technologies Act of 2017. H.R. 240 encourages engagement between the Department of Homeland Security and technology innovators, including startups. This bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to proactively engage with innovative and emerging technology developers and firms to address our vital Homeland Security needs. Additionally, H.R. 240 provides the Secretary with the authority to identify geographic areas in the United States where high concentrations of these innovative and emerging technology developers and firms exist and to establish personnel and office space in these areas to more effectively collaborate with these technology hubs. The Federal Government certainly needs to do a better job working with the private sector, and H.R. 240 will help to address that. Mr. Speaker, this bill also requires the Secretary to develop and to implement a targeted strategy to proactively engage innovative and emerging technology developers and firms. Under this bill, the Secretary must use the strategic plan to address existing barriers to leveraging innovative and emerging technologies, and the small businesses and startup ventures that create those technologies, and to incorporate them into the Department's acquisition process. For example, in order to keep pace, the Department of Homeland Security has established an office in Silicon Valley to encourage engagement and communication with the innovative technology developers in that area. Although it is a vital technology hub, Silicon Valley certainly is not the only technology hub in the United States. The Department should not be limited to a single geographic area from which to identify these emerging and innovative technologies. Mr. Speaker, all Americans are learning that cybersecurity is national security. The impacts of cyber intrusions are being felt everywhere, from boardroom tables to kitchen tables. We have seen them undermine consumer confidence and damage a company's hard-earned reputation in just a couple of seconds. Cybersecurity is a complex and serious issue that our Nation will have to address for decades to come. So it only makes sense for us to require the Department to consider strategically just how it will engage these technology developers to strengthen the Department's ability to access innovative and emerging technologies to better combat evolving cyber threats. I am happy to support this measure today because I believe it will move us forward, further addressing our homeland security needs by supporting technology innovation. I urge Members to join me in supporting this important bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 240) to encourage engagement between the Department of Homeland Security and technology innovators, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) for his support of this bill and for his leadership in keeping this issue at the forefront of our cybersecurity discussion. This is an incredibly important bill, and I, once again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 240. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. 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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. RATCLIFFE

Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5877) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 to promote cooperative homeland security research and antiterrorism programs relating to cybersecurity, and for other purposes, as amended.