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Angus King on cybersecurity provisions in new defense budget

Maine Sen. Angus King spoke Friday about the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which now heads to the Senate after passing through the House Thursday.

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act passed through the U.S. House of Representatives with a 350-80 vote Thursday.

The $858 billion bill will now head to the Senate where it is expected to be voted on and passed early next week.

Maine's Independent Senator Angus King had a hand in adding several cybersecurity provisions to this year's budget.

"Because this is the next frontier of conflict," King said Friday morning.

King and Wisconsin Republican Senator Mike Gallagher serve as the co-chairs of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. The commission worked for two years on strategies to improve our country's defenses in the cyber and electronic spaces.

King said the United States is the "most wired country in the world," which is a good thing, but also leaves us vulnerable to attackers.

"Whether it’s the electric grid, financial services, telecommunications," he said. "I mean we have a taste of it when we have a big storm, and the power goes out for a couple of days."

A top recommendation from the commission included in the bill is the establishment of a Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy at the U.S. Department of State.

The reason for establishing the bureau and leadership positions, King said, was to have someone working with other countries to confront the issues of cyber attacks every day.

"Sanctions, for example, are much more effective if they’re multilateral instead of just one country," King said.

The provisions also include adding more funding for cyber operations, strategies for the military, new guidance, and the creation of an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber at the Department of Defense, according to a release from King's office.

King also spoke on the continued need to be diligent when it comes to protecting U.S. elections.

He said Russia was able to hack into American voting records and databases during the 2016 election and began its disinformation campaign that still continues today.

King said he hopes the intelligence community as a whole becomes more transparent with the American people to share insight when misinformation campaigns become apparent.

“I don’t want the government deciding what’s true or not true on the internet," he said. "The only way to confront it in my view is for us to be better consumers of information, more skeptical. To try to verify what we’re reading, to get our information from various sources.”

As the threat of cyberattacks continues to grow, King said the vast majority of them target the private sector, so the government and private businesses need to work together.

It even trickles down to the average American worker as local businesses are not immune from attacks, King said. His recommendation is for every Mainer and American to remain vigilant at the "desktop".

King said he expects the defense bill to pass through the Senate. That vote is expected to be taken early next week.

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