SOPA bill raises cyber concerns

Many of you are contacting my office regarding the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” more commonly known as SOPA, which aims to crack down on copyright infringement committed by foreign Web sites. I want to assure concerned constituents that there are no immediate plans to bring this to the House floor for a vote. As of last Friday, Republican leaders have indefinitely postponed consideration of this bill

Stealing copyrighted material is a serious problem for American businesses and innovators.  The theft of movies, music and television content over the Internet costs the U.S. economy more than 373,000 jobs, $16 billion in lost earnings, and $3 billion in lost federal, state and local government tax revenue each year.

However, I have serious reservations about this bill in its current form because of its potential impact on cybersecurity. As Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Community, I believe cyber attacks are one of our nation’s top threats. Until we better understand the impact, I can not support this legislation.

Republican leadership has said they will not move this legislation until all concerns are addressed. I look forward to additional hearings, discussion and research so that the appropriate committees can properly address copyright infringement in a way that all parties can agree on.