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Prepared Statement of The Honorable Joe Barton CyberSecurity: Protecting America's Critical Infrastructure, Economy, and Consumers
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Thank you, Chairman Upton, for holding this hearing. Just following the five-year anniversary of September 11th, today's hearing on cybersecurity is both timely and important. Following the events of September 11th, we learned a great deal about our country's vulnerabilities. As a result, there have been ongoing, systematic reviews surrounding our nation's critical infrastructure, most of which fall within the jurisdiction of this Committee. Just as we have to take steps to protect our electricity and drinking water, it is also vitally important to ensure that our information systems, telecommunications networks, and Internet infrastructure are protected from those who wish to do us harm. In light of the public and private reliance on the Internet for commerce, communications, and education, I requested the Government Accountability Office to complete a report on our preparedness for a major Internet disruption. Although this country has, thankfully, never seen a catastrophic Internet disruption, such an event is not out of the realm of possibility. The conclusion of the GAO is that recovering from a major Internet disruption would be difficult. Roles of responsibility among government agencies are not fully defined, and coordination among the vast number of affected entities, both public and private, is not occurring on a satisfactory scale. Imagine America without a functioning Internet, even for a little while. Most of us lived to adulthood without the Internet, but it is now an unnoticed part of our lives. Some people probably think they're exempt from the impact of the Internet, but you'd have to live in a cave to be truly unaffected. You benefit if you have a job, see a doctor, drive a car or eat a meal, and the list goes on and on. Jobs, growth and opportunity in America without an Internet would not disappear, but they'd be dramatically tougher to achieve. Life, business and the economy would not tumble into a new Dark Age, but it would be a dimmer and poorer one for all of us. That is exactly the outcome envisioned for us by a man who does live in a cave. Protecting our Internet infrastructure is not simply a goal this country should aim to meet. This is an imperative that the United States must achieve. I am anxious to hear from the Department of Homeland Security what steps are being pursued to remedy the problems described by GAO. Also, I am interested in hearing from our private industry witnesses about what they see as the most critical issues and how they believe we can best resolve them. Thank you again, Chairman Upton. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses.
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