House approves Ratcliffe’s cybersecurity amendment as part of defense bill

An amendment to strengthen the United States-Taiwan cybersecurity partnership offered by U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on July 12 passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020.

“I’m grateful my U.S.-Taiwan cyber partnership amendment passed the House with strong bipartisan support because cybersecurity is national security and we should be working together on innovative efforts to ensure our digital borders are protected,” Rep. Ratcliffe said.

If enacted, the amendment would call on the U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. Secretary of State to coordinate and report to related congressional committees on the feasibility of establishing a high-level, interagency U.S.-Taiwan working group to devise responses to emerging cybersecurity issues, among other provisions, according to the amendment’s text.

Rep. Ratcliffe added that Taiwan “is uniquely positioned to partner” with the United States on its efforts to combat Chinese cyberattacks.

“China has clearly demonstrated its capability and willingness to conduct cyberattacks against our country, such as the state-sponsored economic espionage that led to the indictment of Beijing-linked hackers last year,” said Rep. Ratcliffe. “On top of implementing strict retaliatory measures to deter this malicious behavior, we should work proactively with our allies to establish preventative defense plans that leverage cybersecurity sharing strategies.”

The NDAA, H.R. 2500, now heads to the U.S. Senate for action.