news release
Senate Office Gary Peters
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a Senate Appropriations and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing, Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.) asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to transfer secured funds to Selfridges Air National. I asked how it would be used to set up the Northern Border Coordination Center. Guard bases in Macomb County and strengthen America's cybersecurity defenses.
“In this year's appropriations bill, with the help of my colleagues here, we were able to secure initial funding for the Northern Border Coordination Center. He will play an important role in coordinating our efforts,” said Senator Peters.
In response, Secretary Mayorkas is working with DHS and Customs and Border Protection to expedite plans to establish and staff the Northern Border Coordination Center to strengthen efforts to secure the northern border. promised.
In the recently signed Government Funding Act, Peters secured $3 million to establish and operate the Northern Border Coordination Center. The center will be co-located with existing DHS components currently operating at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The center is designed to support coordination between DHS and key partners to identify and address security needs along the entire northern border. This comes after Peters introduced bipartisan legislation in the Senate to further expand the center's operations and mission.
Peters also asked Mayorkas during the hearing what steps should be taken to effectively protect Michigan communities from emerging threats, such as cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.
“I was pleased to see a notice of proposed rulemaking published by CISA, as required by the Critical Infrastructure Cyber Incident Reporting Act,” Peters said. “This law and implementing regulations will ensure that cyber incidents impacting critical infrastructure are reported to CISA and will help businesses prevent similar attacks. However, a 24-year budget for this program is requested. It was set $24 million below the mark.”
In response, Mr. Mayorkas agreed that this bill is critical to strengthening our nation's cybersecurity capabilities, and that the lack of funding for this program would allow DHS to reap the full benefits of Mr. Peters' bill. agreed to prevent it from happening. Mr. Mayorkas emphasized the importance of receiving adequate resources for legislation to effectively protect our country from future cyberattacks.
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