[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4966-H4968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENERGY EMERGENCY LEADERSHIP ACT
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 362) to amend the Department of Energy Organization Act with
respect to functions assigned to Assistant Secretaries, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 362
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Energy Emergency Leadership
Act''.
SEC. 2. FUNCTIONS ASSIGNED TO ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 203 of the
Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7133(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(12) Energy emergency and energy security functions,
including--
``(A) responsibilities with respect to infrastructure,
cybersecurity, emerging threats, supply, and emergency
planning, coordination, response, and restoration; and
``(B) upon request of a State, local, or tribal government
or energy sector entity, and in consultation with other
Federal agencies as appropriate, provision of technical
assistance, support, and response capabilities with respect
to energy security threats, risks, and incidents.''.
(b) Coordination.--The Secretary of Energy shall ensure
that the functions of the Secretary described in section
203(a)(12) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (as
added by this Act) are performed in coordination with
relevant Federal agencies.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
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. 362.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation and the two bills that will follow it
are bipartisan bills that will help protect our energy grid from
cyberattacks.
In hearings before our Energy Subcommittee last year, we heard from
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, from the members of
FERC, that our energy grid is being attacked each and every single day
by state actors or their entities.
Former Energy Secretary Perry started to address this important issue
by creating the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency
Response, or CESER. He further enhanced its stature by making its
leader an Assistant Secretary.
We agree with those decisions, and this legislation would help
elevate the importance of this issue while putting Congress' bipartisan
stamp of approval on these executive actions.
H.R. 362 would simply amend section 203(a) of the Department of
Energy Organization Act by establishing a new assistant secretary
position responsible for cybersecurity and emergency response issues.
The Department of Energy is the lead agency for ensuring the
cybersecurity of the electric grid, and the newly created assistant
secretary would have jurisdiction over all energy emergency and
security functions related to energy supply, infrastructure, and
cybersecurity.
This bill would also authorize the new assistant secretary to provide
DOE technical assistance, as well as support and response capabilities
with respect to energy security risks to State, local, or Tribal
governments upon request.
The bill would also require 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.
This bill would go a long way, in my opinion, in helping to protect
the Nation's electric infrastructure from hackers who would attempt to
disrupt our energy grid and cause untold harm to our economy, our daily
lives, and our overall national security.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Representatives Walberg and Energy
Subcommittee Ranking Member Upton for their leadership and for working
with Chairman Rush and me on the Energy Emergency Leadership Act. I
also want to thank Ranking Member Upton and full Committee Ranking
Member Walden for their ongoing partnership with us over the years on
cybersecurity matters. That partnership was essential in getting these
three critical bills to the floor today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of H.R. 362, Energy Emergency
Leadership Act.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation, sponsored by Representatives Rush and
Walberg, strengthens the Department of Energy's important energy
emergency mission. It does so by requiring the well-established energy
emergency and cybersecurity functions at DOE to be organized under the
leadership of an assistant secretary confirmed by the United States
Senate.
Just over 2\1/2\ years ago, then-Secretary of the Department of
Energy Rick Perry recognized the importance of elevating this mission
within the Department, and he established an Assistant Secretary-led
office, the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency
Response. This office has proven its worth in various situations over
the past 2 years, Mr. Speaker, including assistance relating to
hurricanes and wildfires.
This bill would amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to
establish in law and, therefore, maintain that a Senate-confirmed
assistant secretary would lead the Department of Energy's emergency
response and cybersecurity functions.
This legislation will ensure the Department has the focused and
accountable leadership to more fully protect the public from fuel and
electricity supply disruptions against all the hazards, natural or man-
made, including emerging threats from our foreign adversaries to the
Nation's electric grid.
The bill has been drafted to ensure the Department carries out its
responsibilities in coordination with other agencies by improving
coordination across the Department, ensuring more effective interagency
collaborations, and increasing accountability to the Congress.
A vote for H.R. 362 is a vote for ensuring high-level leadership over
energy emergencies at the Department of Energy for the benefit of
public safety and welfare, and for stronger cybersecurity protections
in the electricity systems.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
[[Page H4967]]
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the
Committee on Homeland Security.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise for purposes of
expressing my concerns with H.R. 362, H.R. 360, and H.R. 359, in their
current forms.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that, without clarification, these bills
risk significantly disrupting how the Federal Government has
collaborated regarding cybersecurity for nearly two decades.
Congress has repeatedly supported the framework that designates the
Department of Homeland Security as the lead for ensuring that Federal
agencies work together and with the private sector to protect and
secure critical infrastructure.
This framework was developed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks to guard against repeating the mistakes of a disjointed, siloed
approach to national security and is well-understood and has been well-
litigated within this body.
It has been reinforced repeatedly by numerous laws, Presidential
policy directives, and executive orders that have the support of
Democrats and Republicans alike.
{time} 1215
The policy is clear: DHS serves as the lead agency responsible for
coordinating Federal efforts to protect critical infrastructure in the
16 diverse sectors.
To carry out this mission, DHS, through the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, is tasked with coordinating
with other sector-specific agencies.
The Department of Energy is the sector-specific agency for the energy
sector and is well-suited to do so. Its role as the facilitator of
robust cybersecurity within the energy sector is important.
However, the problem common to the three measures today is that, in
their current forms, they risk siloing cybersecurity efforts when it
comes to protecting the energy sector, as none of them acknowledges DHS
as the coordinating partner to DOE for cybersecurity.
As a reminder, this is the same infrastructure that has been under
sustained, sophisticated attack from foreign adversaries, some of which
have been successful.
While cyberattacks against the energy sector have accelerated, the
sector does not exist in a vacuum. Over the past few years, DHS and the
FBI have been sounding the alarm about Russian-led attacks on energy
infrastructure that coincide with and often mirror attacks in other
sectors.
In a 2018 technical alert issued to all infrastructure sectors, DHS
and the FBI described a multistage intrusion campaign by the Kremlin.
The alert explained that Russia used a similar playbook to target U.S.
entities as well as organizations in the energy, nuclear, commercial
facility, water, aviation, and commercial manufacturing sectors.
In the face of these threats, the Cybersecurity Solarium Commission
and others have called for a redoubling of efforts to strengthen DHS'
role.
I would like to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from New
Jersey.
Chairman Pallone, I remain concerned that the cyber bill before us,
as well as the other cybersecurity bills being considered today, do not
provide sufficient direction to the Secretary of Energy to coordinate
his Department's cybersecurity activities with the Department of
Homeland Security.
Is it your intent that the activities authorized by this legislation
be carried out in coordination with the Homeland Security Secretary and
that Department?
Mr. PALLONE. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. I yield to the gentleman from New
Jersey.
Mr. PALLONE. Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely my intent and the
intent of the Energy and Commerce Committee that these bills be
implemented in coordination with the Secretary and the Department of
Homeland Security. In fact, the sole reason we are amending these bills
is to make clear that the Department of Energy must implement these
bills in coordination with other Federal agencies.
I want to make clear that we intend, first and foremost, DOE to
coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security. We have made that
clear to DOE at the highest levels, and the Department has acknowledged
that it will coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security in
implementing these bills.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear that,
without any equivocation, Mr. Pallone fully expects DOE to coordinate
with DHS, but that only addresses one of my concerns.
My other concern is that these bills do not, in any way, shape, or
form, detract from or erode the existing authorities of the Secretary
and Department of Homeland Security, including the authorities set
forth in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Act of 2018.
I understand that is your position that these bills do not in any way
infringe on DHS' existing authorities or prerogatives. Is that correct?
Mr. PALLONE. If the gentleman continues to yield, yes, Chairman
Thompson, it is correct, and I thank my friend, the chairman of the
Homeland Security Committee, for that question and the opportunity to
further clarify what these bills do and do not do.
These bills completely confine themselves to codifying or further
specifying authorities and obligations the Secretary of Energy already
has as the sector-specific agency for electricity under the FAST Act,
the Federal Power Act, and the Department of Energy Organization Act.
So let me make this clear: Nothing in these bills is intended to
infringe, curtail, or otherwise affect the authorities of the
Department of Homeland Security as they exist at this moment. And I
will go even further to say that nothing in these bills actually
affects, in any way, shape, or form, the existing authorities or
prerogatives of the Department of Homeland Security or its Secretary in
any area. Any interpretation to the contrary is simply incorrect.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New
Jersey for that information.
To be clear, it is your intention that these measures do not affect
DHS' authority under PPD-21, PPD-41, Executive Order 13691, and
Executive Order 13636?
Mr. PALLONE. If the gentleman continues to yield, that is correct,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Would you agree to work with me to
communicate to the Senate and the administration that the intention
behind these measures is to have the Secretary of Energy coordinate
activities with DHS consistent with the existing cybersecurity
framework?
Mr. PALLONE. If the gentleman continues to yield, yes, and I would be
pleased to do so.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Pallone for
addressing my questions.
While I still have concerns over these measures, I appreciate his
willingness to put into the Record these statements and look forward to
working with him to clarify expectations going forward.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and understand that
he continues to have concerns, and I know I may not be able to address
them all today, but I commit to working with my friend from Mississippi
and my Republican colleagues to try to further address these concerns
going forward.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
New Jersey for his cooperation and clarifying these three pieces of
legislation.
Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and the
chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee in supporting passage of
this legislation and our efforts to ensure that our electric grid and
our power supply sources are safe and secure.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
[[Page H4968]]
Pallone) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 362,
as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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