How the 119th Congress can move the needle on US cybersecurity

Excerpt

When the 119th Congress convenes in January, it must modernize the U.S. government’s approach to cybersecurity. This is not only about defending our national security; it is about growing our economic prosperity and ensuring the American way of life. 

This next Congress sits at an uncomfortable crossroads in our collective cyber defense. Threats are growing in frequency and complexity, yet there will be a congressional cyber brain drain. Deep, bipartisan expertise from Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I), Will Hurd (R-Texas), John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) will no longer be there to pull Congress forward.  

To be sure, Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Gary Peters (D-Mich) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) remain. And there is important new cyber leadership on the horizon from Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Pat Fallon (R-Texas), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Morgan Luttrell (D-Texas) and others. 

David Hickton is the founding director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security (Pitt Cyber) and the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral who served as director of operations at U.S. Pacific Command, is the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and was previously the executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.