James Lankford on Technology

	James Lankford on Technology

Secure Elections Act: prevent foreign interference

Given Russia's unprecedented effort to undermine confidence in our election system. There's no question that the Kremlin is emboldened--to try again.

James Lankford and I were the only members of the Senate who served on both the Homeland Security and Intelligence Committees. As such, we were uniquely suited to come together in a nonpartisan way to develop legislation to combat these attacks. At the end of December 2017, we introduced the Secure Elections Act, to protect the U.S. from future foreign interference in our elections.

The legislation would establish clear expert guidelines for securing election systems--including, for example, the need for paper ballots. Russia might be able to hack a machine from afar, but it can't hack a piece of paper. And it would provide $386 million in grants for cybersecurity improvements. It would also establish what's known as a bug bounty program for election infrastructure--where hackers are paid for identifying software vulnerabilities.

Source: The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris, p.238-9 , Jan 8, 2019

Reduce federal requirements on infrastructure impact studies

I do not like federal mandates that state a certain amount of highway money that we pay 18.4 cents in tax on every gallon of gas we use has to go to sidewalks or to a bike trail. Replacing an 85-year-old bridge with a new bridge requires about 18 months of impact studies. If we have 85 years of a bridge at that spot, I think we know what the effect will be by putting a bridge there. The first thing we need is not being so expensive to do things based on the regulatory environment that we create. Source: 2011 House of Representatives website, item #100023 , Apr 24, 2011

Voted YES on protecting cyber security by sharing data with government.

Congressional Summary:

CISPA conducts federal cybersecurity activities to provide shared situational awareness enabling integrated operational actions to protect, prevent, and recover from cyber incidents.

Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:

Rep. SINEMA: We need a 21st century solution for this 21st century problem. This bill ensures that research and development, intellectual property, and software code is no longer being stolen by China, Iran, and Russia.
Rep. MAFFEI: We've already seen state actors like the People's Republic of China pursue widespread data theft from American computer networks. This is a clear and present danger.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:

Rep. McNERNEY: I'm concerned with the civil protections not required in H.R. 624. Businesses should be required to remove personally identifiable information before submitting data to Federal agencies.
CNet.com: Rep. Ron Paul warned that CISPA represents the "latest assault on Internet freedom"; that "CISPA is Big Brother writ large." CISPA would permit, but not require, Internet companies to hand over confidential customer records to federal agencies. What sparked the privacy worries--including opposition from the ACLU and the Republican Liberty Caucus--is the section of CISPA that says "notwithstanding any other provision of law." By including the word "notwithstanding," CISPA's drafters intended to make their legislation trump all existing laws. It would render irrelevant wiretap laws, Web companies' privacy policies, and more.
Rep. LOFGREN: CISPA could allow any private company to share vast amounts of sensitive, private data about its customers with the government. CISPA would override all other privacy laws, and allow a private company to share nearly anything--from the contents of private emails to medical records--as long as it "directly pertains to" a broadly defined "cyber threat."

Reference: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act; Bill H.R.624 ; vote number 13-HV117 on Apr 18, 2013

Voted YES on terminating funding for National Public Radio.

Congressional Summary:

broadcasting, transmitting, and programming over noncommercial educational radio broadcast Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created in 1967. Today, we have multiple listening choices; NPR [has become an] absurd anachronism. It is time to move forward and to let National Public Radio spread its wings and support itself.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Waxman, D-CA]: This bill will cripple National Public Radio, public radio stations, and programming that is vital to over 27 million Americans. We are now voting to deny the public access to one of our Nation's most credible sources of news coverage. This bill does not save a penny. This legislation does not serve any fiscal purpose, but it does serve an ugly ideological one. This legislation is not about reforming NPR. It is about punishing NPR. It is vindictive, it is mean-spirited, it is going to hit the smallest stations in rural areas particularly hard. Public radio is indispensable for access to news that's hard to get, especially where broadband service is limited.

Reference: Prohibit Federal Funds for NPR; Bill H.1076 ; vote number 11-HV192 on Mar 17, 2011

Member of House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.

Lankford is a member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, roads, bridges, mass transit, and railroads. But the Committee has jurisdiction over other aspects of our national infrastructure, such as clean water and waste management, the transport of resources by pipeline, flood damage reduction, the economic development of depressed rural and urban areas, disaster preparedness and response, activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and the various missions of the Coast Guard.

When combined, these areas of jurisdiction provide a comprehensive view of how communities across the United States are connected to one another, how infrastructure affects the growth and flow of commerce at home and abroad, and how an effective government can improve the lives of its citizens.

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Aviation	Tom Petri (R-WI)	Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation	Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)	Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management	Jeff Denham (R-CA)	Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Highways and Transit	Jimmy Duncan (R-TN)	Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials	Bill Shuster (R-PA)	Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Water Resources and Environment	Bob Gibbs (R-OH)	Tim Bishop (D-NY)

Source: U.S. House of Representatives website, www.house.gov 11-HC-TI on Feb 3, 2011

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