Homeland Security

Anyone who has read or watched any news source over the past year knows President Obama, numerous Administration officials, and many leaders in Congress agree that addressing the threat of cyber attacks is a critical national priority. Based on this threat analysis, the administration and many members of Congress continue to push for passage of cybersecurity legislation that would clarify and expand the government’s powers to receive and process traffic from American computer networks.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the heinous attacks at the Boston Marathon on Monday:
 
Today, the thoughts of every American are with the people of Boston, but especially with the many victims of yesterday’s horrendous attacks, and their families.
 
Many who were looking forward to celebrating the achievement of a loved one yesterday woke today to the grim reality of facing the rest of their lives with a disfiguring injury. For them, yesterday’s attacks were the beginning of a long, difficult journey. Three others who lined up to encourage others, including an eight-year old boy who was there to cheer on his dad at the finish line, lost their lives in the blast.
 
We pray in a special way for their families.

As the Senate prepares to debate gun safety legislation, Senators will go to great lengths to demonstrate they are ardent supporters of the 2nd Amendment. Meanwhile, the House will consider the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, a bill with enormous implications for the 4th Amendment, but few members seem equally concerned about the impacts of the House legislation on Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights.

As Congress finds itself on the cusp on a bipartisan immigration solution, advocates and opponents of reform are anxious to see what the Senate "Gang of Eight" has cobbled together. From everything that I have heard and read, it seems that these Senators have reached a very reasonable, responsible, and fair compromise. As a conservative, I am not thrilled by some of the proposed agreements, but that's okay. If I was perfectly happy with this bill, it probably would not be acceptable to my friends on the progressive side of the aisle. If most proponents of this immigration overhaul are begrudgingly accepting of these proposed solutions to the crisis that confronts America's immigration system, then it seems that these Senators have gotten it just about right.

Inside the beltway, immigration is the single most issue that has captured the bipartisan support of a deadlocked Congress. While the budget and gun control seem to be replete with heated politics, immigration, till this moment, has been a welcoming and civil debate. Just last week, major components were resolved and the news cycle is filled with lead Democrats and Republicans projecting progress to the American people. But when legislation emerges on Tuesday, will Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn stand in the way of immigration reform?

In an increasingly polarized political environment, it is rare to find issues on which people from all over the ideological spectrum can find consensus. So what do Grover Norquist, Dr. Richard Land, Wade Henderson, former corrections officials and prosecutors, representatives of faith groups, attorneys, and human rights advocates have in common? They all believe that the immigration detention system is in desperate need of repair and that Congress should fix it… now.

In the wake of cyberattack mischief by foreign regimes and unrestrained disruptions from commercial and criminal sources, we are witnessing heightened concerns about cybersecurity from politicians in Washington.
 
Recently the White House issued an executive order featuring plenty of new regulations it feels could tighten security in federal information systems.  More recently, Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) submitted a bill (short name SECURE IT) that addresses what freedoms U.S. governmental agencies and private sector entities should have in their role as protectors, and what criminal penalties should apply to criminals who attack us.

What does it take to get Congress to listen?
 
On April 10, more than 100,000 people from 31 states descended on the nation’s Capitol to send a strong message that now is the time for immigration reform.
 
Thousands of immigrant families knocked on Congress’ door and met with policymakers while in Washington, telling their stories about the urgent need for compassionate, comprehensive legislation.

An opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform doesn’t come along every day. More than 25 years have passed since President Ronald Reagan signed the last major reform into law, and leaders of both parties have tried unsuccessfully to adopt new legislation since. Reforming immigration is hard to do because passing a truly comprehensive bill requires national consensus — bipartisan political will in Congress and the White House paired with an American public that believes reform is important and necessary.
 
Today, the political stars have aligned once more. After a flurry of activity over the past few weeks, comprehensive immigration reform legislation will likely be introduced in both houses of Congress this week. Yet at this once-in-a-generation moment, we shouldn’t attach the label “comprehensive” to a bill that leaves people out simply on the basis of who they are or who they love.

A recent report issued by computer security firm Mandiant shined a bright light onto a dark truth we have known for years: The Chinese government is systematically and methodically stealing American intellectual property at a breathtaking pace and scope.
 
The Chinese are doing this to gain an artificial advantage in the global economy. Chinese Communist party leadership has learned from the collapse of the Soviet Union that the only way to compete with free, dynamic, innovative nations like ours is to have a strong economy of their own. The problem is that China decided to take a short cut. One manufacturer in the U.S., for example, spent $1 billion and ten years on research and development for a new product. In a matter of minutes, the Chinese had stolen the design and now can engineer and sell it in the global marketplace without having spent one day or one dollar on research and development. Pesticide formulas have been stolen, manufacturing blue prints, software, chemical formulas, you name it. The Chinese even attempted to steal the secret recipe for Coca-Cola. Extrapolate that out to the entire American economy and you have a major threat to our ability to compete in the world.