Graves aims at cyber threats
He shares his thoughts on recent ransomware attacks and efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves said Friday he hopes to introduce his Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act within a few months.
The Ranger Republican, who represents all of Northwest Georgia, has been working with experts and stakeholders since March to address what he called the “increasingly more complex” nature of cyber attacks.
The legislation, currently in the form of a working draft, focuses on the private sector.
“Govern- ment agencies face tens of millions of attacks a day. It’s very pervasive, and certainly there are some breaches,” Graves said. “But the government has a lot of resources and they can take care of themselves. My concern is for the American people and businesses.”
Escalating ransomware attacks — which lock up company networks or data and demand payment for the “key” — are unacceptable, he said. He’s proposing changes to current law that would allow the development and use of “active defense” techniques that could track suspected hackers and disable parts of their networks.
“We need to protect private property rights, but we also need to give individuals the tools to attribute the breach (to the attacker) and turn that information over to law enforcement, and to stop attacks on their own systems,” Graves said.
The draft legislation was updated following a May symposium he held in Atlanta with Georgia Tech, and he’s continuing to solicit input.
Congress is in recess for a district work week, but Graves will be on a factfinding trip and no town hall events are scheduled.
His last feedback session in the 14th District was a June 14 tele-town hall with Republican Sen. David Perdue. Graves’ spokesman Garrett Hawkins said a vendor used a list to automatically dial up 70,000 households with an invitation to participate.
The congressman said he plans to be in Rome in August for the annual Floyd County Republican Party Tillman hangar rally at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.
Repeal and replace
Meanwhile, Graves said he is keeping an eye on Senate efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
“If the Senate can perfect what we sent to them, I’ll be very supportive,” he said.
That chamber rejected the House-passed American Health Care Act and crafted a substitute Better Care Reconciliation Act. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had planned a vote before the recess but pulled it for lack of support in his own party.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would result in a $772 billion decrease in Medicaid spending and 49 million uninsured Americans through 2026.
Graves said he expects the final version to contain a range of options unavailable under the ACA, also called Obamacare, such as forming pools of interest and buying insurance across state lines.
Tort reform, to lower medical malpractice insurance costs, is also part of the long-range plan.
“This is a process, and we’re just in Phase I of rescuing Americans from the healthcare that’s just not working for them,” he said.
As a Georgia House representative he co-sponsored legislation that eventually passed to legalize cross-state purchases here, although there have been no offerings yet. Graves said a national market would spark activity.