Mobile Menu - OpenMobile Menu - Closed

Congressman Mick Mulvaney

Representing the 5th District of South Carolina

Connect

Cyber Security

I have received many inquiries regarding the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), H.R. 624. This is a critical issue and I appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concerns.

First off, let me say that I have heard from not only you, but from many folks in the Fifth District who are concerned about the potential impact of CISPA on our individual liberties. Please know that I share those exact same concerns, and looked at CISPA from precisely that perspective.

You should know there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding CISPA, especially with regards to our privacy, and what the government can do with our private information. For example, under CISPA, the government cannot keep or use the shared information to see if we failed to pay our taxes. You will not get in trouble with the government for exercising your free speech rights and posting things on FaceBook or other social media sites. I have read this entire bill as well as all the amendments. I do not believe and have seen zero evidence it does many of the things that various viral e-mails and fundraising letters from outside groups have suggested. The fact is that various critiques of the bill are, simply put, wrong.

The primary reason that CISPA was necessary is that computer hackers, and even countries such as China or North Korea, are subjecting our computer systems to a daily barrage of attacks. Legally, we lack the tools necessary to combat them. This is a very, very real threat.

Without CISPA, if the government was aware of information about a computer attack that could affect the commercial sector, it is currently illegal for the government to tell companies like Amazon or Wal-Mart about it, due to the classified nature of the intelligence. By the same token, if Wal-Mart became aware of a cyber threat against its own networks that could affect a government or military site, it could not tell the government about it.

CISPA was drafted in direct response to that legal void. And it does so in a completely voluntary manner, without government compulsion of any sort.

Keep in mind that the Constitution places very few affirmative duties on Congress. The most fundamental is that the federal Congress is charged in Article IV, Section 4 to defend the states against invasion. While 240 years ago an "invasion" meant armies and navies, today it can mean computer hackers and cyber terrorists.

This bill will not change the way you use the internet, or disclose any information about you or your internet use, unless you are actively engaged in an attempt to hack or destroy a private or government website or server. I don't think any of you are planning to do that.

Having said all that, I recognize the possibility that I could be wrong about all of this, and that this or future Administrations might seek to abuse CISPA. For that reason, I previously offered two amendments to the bill, both of which are part of the final bill. The first requires the government to delete and not use any information that it may have received not pertaining to cyber threats. This was a necessary protection for individual privacy. The second, and perhaps more important, would sunset the entire bill in five years, forcing Congress to revisit this issue so that it could address any concerns that may arise. The sunset amendment provides that the law would cease to have effect after five years unless it is reauthorized by Congress -- a check on possible future abuse. Other important amendments also passed to strengthen civil liberty protections, such as making the Department of Homeland Security -- not the Department of Defense -- the central agency for receiving data, making clear that the government cannot target U.S. citizens for surveillance, and further protecting individuals by limiting how data can be shared and used.

I know the issue of individual freedom is important to you. Please know that it is to me as well, and that I would never vote for any piece of legislation that I believed would violate our constitutionally protected liberties.

If you would like to know more or have further questions on the bill or my vote, please call my office at 202-225-5501. My staff and I will do our best to answer your questions and address your concerns.