FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chairmen Green, Garbarino Open “Innovation Nation” Field Hearing: “Cybersecurity Truly is a Team Sport”
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) and Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) delivered the following opening statements in a field hearing to examine issues impacting the United States’ cybersecurity posture and solutions to address them, including around critical infrastructure resilience, technological innovation, and regulatory harmonization.
As prepared for delivery:
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you to The Hoover Institution for hosting us on this beautiful campus. It is no coincidence that we are holding today’s hearing in the heart of Silicon Valley. Since World War II, Silicon Valley has been the world’s shining example of what a nation can accomplish when innovation is unleashed.
It is home to some of America’s most talented and creative minds—innovators who are spearheading major breakthroughs in technological development. From semiconductors to social media, Silicon Valley has produced innovations that have changed the way we work, communicate, and complete daily tasks.
As we know, great technological advancements come with great responsibilities. I am here today to emphasize the importance of prioritizing cybersecurity as we build new capabilities that will continue to change the world.
I have prioritized cybersecurity in Congress, and I hope industry partners—many of which are headquartered here—will join me in our mission to improve our cyber resilience against nation-state and criminal actors, strengthen our offensive posture, and develop new capabilities that incorporate security from the start.
I strongly believe that allowing American innovation to flourish is critical to strengthening our national security. That’s why we must start by injecting common-sense into the regulatory regime. By reducing burdensome, costly, and duplicative requirements on our innovators, we stifle our innovation and hinder security.
We will continue to explore technological solutions for regulatory compliance and ways that we, as Congress, can help deconflict and simplify cyber regulations.
This priority pairs well with another focus of mine this Congress: changing the economic models of cybersecurity. The costs and incentives associated with cybersecurity are currently imbalanced in favor of attackers, rather than defenders.
According to a report by IBM, the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was nearly $4.9 million. In many cases, to inflict multi-million-dollar damage on U.S. businesses, attackers only need some degree of technical knowledge and a laptop—a fraction of the cost faced by victims.
Fixing the economic models of cybersecurity will require a concerted effort across industry and government. First, we must raise the cost of cyberattacks for our adversaries. From strengthening our offensive posture in cyberspace to creating innovative cybersecurity solutions, the U.S. must make it more challenging and costly for adversaries to strike.
Second, we must ensure that American businesses—especially private owners and operators of critical infrastructure—are investing in cybersecurity. There needs to be a greater demand for products designed with cybersecurity in mind, accompanied by a supply shift toward more secure information technology and operational technology.
There is an indisputable connection between what happens here in Silicon Valley and the security of U.S. critical infrastructure. The technology and cybersecurity solutions produced here have applications across all critical infrastructure sectors. By improving investment in cybersecurity and raising costs for our adversaries, the entire nation will be more secure.
Cybersecurity truly is a team sport. Our collective defense against cyber threats relies upon public-private partnerships and information sharing. I’m grateful for Chairman Garbarino’s efforts to preserve and enhance these partnerships, including through the reauthorization of CISA 2015, and I look forward to discussing other ways to strengthen public-private partnerships in cybersecurity.
I want to thank our witnesses for joining us here in Silicon Valley. I look forward to discussing the current threat landscape with you, and to examining ways we can realign the economic models of cybersecurity. Our discussion will position us well to dive into solutions with some our nation’s innovators during the breakout session following the hearing.
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