Last week, the House passed the COMPETES Act, a bill that will increase American technological innovation, while strengthening online security measures to protect American consumers.

 

Now, there’s a lot in this piece of legislation – but there are two particular provisions that I made sure were included in the final version.

 

For America to truly be technologically innovative, we need to ensure we are tapping into all of our talent here at home, which is why U.S. Sen. Ossoff and I made sure that for five years, at least 50 percent of existing cybersecurity grants from Homeland Security are granted to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions.

 

Strengthening our cybersecurity also includes protecting consumers at home. As the pandemic increased the amount of time consumers spent online, counterfeit products sold on the internet also rose.

 

This is not only fraud, it poses safety risks, so we included incentives for online platforms to engage in best practices for vetting sellers and products.

 

With the increase of cyber-attacks in recent years, we need to make sure we are using all of America’s brain power to protect our country from bad actors. While we strengthen our cybersecurity efforts, it’s also important we work with platforms to ensure the products we buy do not pose safety risks. If you agree that inclusion is the basis of innovation and online protection, will you sign our petition in support of the COMPETES Act?

 

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