Sherman, TX — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, joined fellow Texan Congressman John Ratcliffe (TX-04), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies for a field hearing, in Sherman, Texas, entitled “Cyber Preparedness and Response at the Local Level.”

The field hearing sought to help provide a better understanding of how state and local officials prepare for, respond to and investigate cyber incidents. Additionally, the hearing provided an opportunity to learn about different cyber training opportunities for State and local officials to bolster cyber preparedness and response.

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, under the chairmanship of Congressman Burgess, has focused extensively on data breach and the notification process that should be required to inform consumers when there has been a data breach.

“While Chairman Ratcliffe’s subcommittee deals with the ‘.gov side’ of the world, my subcommittee deals with the ‘.com side’ of the world. Ultimately, data security is national security,” said Burgess during the hearing. “This hearing comes at an ideal time as all Americans prepare to file their taxes next week and many will face the very real hurdle when they discover that their accounts that have been diverted in the past due to a breach of personal data.”

Last year, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 (H.R. 1770) was passed through Congressman Burgess’ subcommittee. H.R. 1770 would establish a national standard for procedures used to notify consumers when there has been a breach of their personal data. Currently, 47 states have a security notification standard but there remains no national standard.

H.R. 1770 passed full committee and is awaiting action on the House floor. 

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