Randy's Roundup: Issue Spotlight on Cybersecurity

Issue Spotlight on Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is an important issue for almost everyone. Most of us use a credit card, email or electronic device every day. Data breaches have become widespread, newsworthy subjects affecting major companies like Target, Home Depot, Wendy’s, and Yahoo, as well as government agencies. I wanted to take the opportunity this week to highlight some of the work Congress has done relating to data security to prevent future data breaches.

As a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I participated in a hearing about cybersecurity breaches experienced by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where the personal information of more than 10,000 individuals was compromised. One aspect about the FDIC data breaches that was so troubling was that the FDIC hesitated to alert Congress, as required by law, about the breaches. I was pleased that yesterday, October 30, 2016, the Office of Management and Budget sent out a memo to all federal agencies to help clarify when to report breaches like these to Congress, which will hopefully prevent such delays in the future.

It is vital that Congress work to protect consumers from potential breaches of their personal data, such as credit card information or other personally identifiable information. For this reason, I introduced H.R. 2205, the Data Security Act. This legislation would establish two important cybersecurity standards.

First, H.R. 2205 would set a scalable national standard for securing consumers’ personal information. “Scalable” refers to the flexibility in this legislation. This flexibility ensures that companies that do not store sensitive customer information will have fewer additional cybersecurity aspects of compliance. However, those companies that seek to aggregate and store consumer data would need to comply with a standard similar to what is already used by financial institutions. I believe this is a reasonable approach. In the wake of its high-profile data breach in 2014, Home Depot agreed to voluntarily comply with approximately 90 percent of the standards that would be established by this bill.

Second, H.R. 2205 would make sure that companies have clear guidelines for how and when to report breaches when they happen. The need for this requirement was demonstrated by the fact that Yahoo only recently disclosed a breach that occurred in 2014. Consumers deserve to know as soon as possible if their personal data has been compromised.

The House Financial Services Committee has already approved H.R. 2205 with bipartisan support. Congress should show the American people that we are committed to securing all levels of our digital economy by taking up this balanced legislation and bringing it to the House floor this year.

Obamacare Causes Premiums to Rise on Average 22 Percent
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, continues to fail spectacularly in its stated goals of lowering health care costs and insuring more individuals. Instead of providing more options to those who struggle to find insurance coverage that meets their needs, Obamacare has removed flexibility and further harmed those who still cannot afford insurance by imposing a tax penalty. As insurers flee the so-called marketplaces due to this unsustainable model, Americans continue to lose access to their preferred doctors and choices in medical care and coverage. The latest symptom of this flawed system has been an average increase in insurance premiums of 22 percent nationwide. As more Americans face higher premiums and fewer insurance choices, my hope is that my colleagues across the aisle will be willing to work with us to implement market-based solutions that offer individuals more options, not Washington mandates.