Congressman Moulton is First to Pass Legislative Action Holding Office of Personnel Management Accountable for Massive Cyber Attack

Washington, D.C. - This week, Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) became the first member of either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate to pass legislative action to address the massive hacking of data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) about millions of federal employees, including many who work in sensitive national security positions. The Moulton amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act requires the administration to assess how foreign intelligence agencies may use any stolen information from background security clearance checks of defense and intelligence personnel. It also requires the Director of National Intelligence to brief Congressional intelligence committees on impacts of the breach on intelligence personnel and operations, including proposals to respond to cyber attacks.

The text of the amendment can be found here and his comments are below.

Congressman Moulton's Remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives, June 16, 2015:\

Mr. Chairman, recently the Office of Personnel Management disclosed a massive security breach that may have exposed personal information of millions of current and former federal employees, including those who work in sensitive national security positions.

Simply put, this cyber breach is unacceptable and breaks faith with those dedicated military and civilian personnel who commit their lives to keeping our country safe.

Although responsibility has not yet been officially confirmed, many observers believe that individuals in China -- who may have been acting on orders of the Chinese government -- were responsible for hacking into OPM databases.

Two things are clear, Mr. Chairman:\

First, we must ensure this does not happen again. We must protect our federal employees -- our foreign service officers, State Department staff, members of the intelligence community, and many others.

Second, we must make clear to the rest of the world that these attacks will not be tolerated. And that that there will be consequences. That is why my amendment takes the first of many critical steps to respond to this breach:\

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• My amendment starts the process of holding OPM accountable,
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• It makes sure we leverage the best data security practices that our intelligence agencies use to protect sensitive personal information about our military and civilian personnel who work day in and day out to keep our country safe,
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• And finally, my amendment ensures that the United States Congress can play a constructive role in developing a meaningful, forceful response to cyber attacks -- especially attacks aimed at our nation¹s security.
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We must stop these attacks and protect those who commit their lives to our safety. This amendment is an important first step in doing just that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.

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