{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=67ac0520-4aac-4e82-8672-0666b9e78a2c", "Heitkamp Statement on Passage of Bill to Improve Cybersecurity, Including Heitkamp Amendment Helping Emergency Responders", "2015-10-27", "2015", "2015-10", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today voted for comprehensive legislation the Senate passed to improve cybersecurity, better protecting national security and American businesses. The bill includes an amendment Heitkamp wrote to make sure states that want assistance securing their emergency response networks from cyberattacks will receive help from the federal government.\r\nHeitkamp also launched a new webpage featuring 10 Smart Ways to Protect Yourself From Cyber Threats to help North Dakotans improve their cybersecurity at home and at their businesses.\r\nOur lives are more connected online than ever before. Just as families and businesses face the threat of cyberattacks, such intrusions also pose a serious national security risk for our financial systems, electric grid, and first responder networks, said Heitkamp. Emergency responders and 911 call centers work hard day in and day out to keep our communities safe. With growing cybersecurity threats to our emergency response systems, my amendment to the cybersecurity bill will make sure first responders in North Dakota and around the country are as protected as possible against cyber threats so they can effectively keep our communities safe. As a whole, this bill will make it easier for businesses and the government to share cyber threat data so that online interactions are more secure for North Dakota families and businesses.\r\nCurrently, no federal entity gathers and analyzes information from states on cyber outages of emergency service networks. Collecting that data  which Heitkamps amendment allows for  would assist the federal government and states in preventing and responding to cyber incidents involving emergency service networks. By voluntarily providing information about cyber risks or incidents, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would provide best practices to improve cybersecurity on those critical networks.\r\nTop national security experts, including former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, have said cyber threats are the biggest national security threats we face  both to financial systems as well as our electric grid. To help prevent such attacks, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) will help protect businesses from cyber threats and boost national security by:\r\n \r\nEnabling companies to share information about cyber threats with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Working with DHS will help the private sector secure private data networks from hackers.\r\n \r\n \r\nEncouraging the government to share classified and unclassified information about cyber threats with the private sector. Information sharing about possible threats will help the government and the private sector shore up their security, and protect Americans private information from malicious hacks.\r\n \r\n \r\nProviding a valuable step toward improving U.S. cybersecurity. After several high profile hacks have put Americans personal information on the line in recent years, this bill is an important step toward improving U.S. cybersecurity.\r\n \r\nImproving cybersecurity is a key piece of Heitkamps Strong and Safe Communities Initiative, which she launched last year to guarantee that North Dakota remains a vibrant, safe place to live in the face of emerging challenges related to population and economic growth. In June, Heitkamp led a cybersecurity discussion in Grand Forks among members of her Strong & Safe Communities Task Force, leaders from local credit unions and Microsoft, tribal representatives, cybersecurity experts, and other connectivity officials. The group examined ways to address growing online security threats across North Dakota.\r\nHeitkamp is working to make sure that the increasing number of businesses, individuals, and families who do much of their work online are effectively protected from cyber threats. Cyber-attacks have already impacted thousands of North Dakotans and North Dakota businesses, like Anthem, Inc. and the North Dakota University System. \r\nDuring a meeting Heitkamp held in April in Bismarck when she brought the head of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board to speak with credit union officials, one of the biggest issues local credit unions discussed was their concerns with cybersecurity as many of them have faced losses from cyber fraud.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=67ac0520-4aac-4e82-8672-0666b9e78a2c"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.742063857614994, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}