The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, coordinating cybersecurity programs with U.S. states, and improving the government’s cybersecurity protections against private and nation-state hackers.

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The Cybersecurity category has related posts on government agencies and departments and  committees and their Chairs.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)  works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborate to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future.

As the National Coordinator for Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, CISA works with partners at every level to identify and manage risk to the cyber and physical infrastructure that Americans rely on every hour of every day. CISA works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborate to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. Read CISA’s Fact Sheet to learn more.

Mission

We lead the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure.

Vision

A secure and resilient critical infrastructure for the American people.

Source: CISA website

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was founded in 1901 and is now part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST is one of the nation’s oldest physical science laboratories. Congress established the agency to remove a major challenge to U.S. industrial competitiveness at the time—a second-rate measurement infrastructure that lagged behind the capabilities of the United Kingdom, Germany, and other economic rivals.

From the smart electric power grid and electronic health records to atomic clocks, advanced nanomaterials, and computer chips, innumerable products and services rely in some way on technology, measurement, and standards provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Today, NIST measurements support the smallest of technologies to the largest and most complex of human-made creations—from nanoscale devices so tiny that tens of thousands can fit on the end of a single human hair up to earthquake-resistant skyscrapers and global communication networks.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations.

As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States. Following the dissolution of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946, and this group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency by implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.

Source: Wikipedia

The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces.

The DOD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.4 million active-duty service members (soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen, and Guardians) as of 2021. More employees include over 826,000 National Guard and reservists from the armed forces, and over 732,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD’s stated mission is to provide “the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security”.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries.

Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health. With an annual budget of about $8.3 billion (fiscal year 2020), the

NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States’ colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing.

Source: Wikipedia

Mission:  
The Committee was created by the Senate in 1976 to “oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government,” to “submit to the Senate appropriate proposals for legislation and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities and programs,” and to “provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

House counterpart: Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Democratic Members (Minority):
Mark Warner, Virginia (Vice Chair)
Ron Wyden, Oregon
Martin Heinrich, New Mexico
Angus King, Maine[20]
Michael Bennet, Colorado
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York

Republican Members (Majority):
Tom Cotton, Arkansas (Chair)
Jim Risch, Idaho
Susan Collins, Maine
Tom Cotton, Arkansas
John Cornyn, Texas

Featured Video: 
Senate intelligence committee holds hearing on threats worldwide

Current Position: US Senator since 2017
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: US Representative

Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former Army officer serving as the junior United States senator from Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015. As Chair of the Senate Republican Conference since 2025, he is the third-ranking Senate Republican. He is also the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Cotton was elected as the U.S. representative for Arkansas’s 4th congressional district in 2012 and to the Senate at age 37 in 2014, defeating two-term Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor. In 2024, Cotton was selected as chair of the Senate Republican Conference. An ardent conservative, Cotton is known for his hawkish views on foreign affairs, especially toward China and Iran.

Current Position: US Senator since 2009
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: Governor from 2002 – 2006; Venture Capital from 1989 – 2001

Other Positions:
Vice Chair, Senate Intelligence Committee
Vice Conference Chair, Senate Democrats

Featured Quotes:
“Senator Warner is committed to strengthening our national security both at home and abroad, and he believes a strong and engaged United States is fundamental to securing our national interests around the world.”

When he left the Governorship in 2006, Virginia was ranked as the best state for business, the best managed state, and the best state in which to receive a public education.

What is the Cybersecurity Caucus? 1:23 5/10/2021

Mission:
Empowered with legislative oversight of the nation’s military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy.

House counterpart: Armed Services Committee

Democratic Members (Minority):
Jack Reed, Rhode Island, Ranking Member
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Angus King, Maine
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Gary Peters, Michigan
Joe Manchin, West Virginia
Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
Jacky Rosen, Nevada
Mark Kelly, Arizona

Republican Members (Majority):
Roger Wicker, Mississippi, Chairman
Deb Fischer, Nebraska
Tom Cotton, Arkansas
Mike Rounds, South Dakota
Joni Ernst, Iowa
Dan Sullivan, Alaska
Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
Rick Scott, Florida
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma
Ted Budd, North Carolina
Eric Schmitt, Missouri

Featured Video:
Senate Armed Services Committee holds hearing on recent cyber attacks

Current Position: US Senator since 2007
Affiliation: Republican
Former Positions: State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions:   Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

Roger Wicker was an officer in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980 and a member of the United States Air Force Reserves from 1980 to 2003. Wicker served as a judge advocate. During the 1980s, he worked as a political counselor to Congressman Trent Lott on the House Rules Committee.

Featured Quote: 
Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.

GOP Senator Wicker On Prospect Of Infrastructure Bill

Current: US Representative of WA District 9 since 1997
Affiliation: Democrat
Leadership: Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
District:  Western Washington, through the densely populated central Puget Sound region, from Auburn and Federal Way in the south to parts of Seattle and Bellevue in the north. 
Next Election: 

History: He completed a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington in 1990. He worked his way through college by loading trucks for United Parcel Service. After law school, Smith worked as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendoza & Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he served as a prosecutor for the city of Seattle. In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.

Smith was elected to the State Senate in 1990; at age 25, he was the youngest state senator in the country. He ran in and won his first congressional race in 1996

Quotes: ICYMI: I reintroduced the Emergency Economic and Workforce System Resiliency Act last week. If we are going to #BuildBackBetter, we need to support workers through better training & development, layoff aversion, and more employee ownership opportunities.

Featured Video: Rep. Adam Smith on Pentagon Funding, Impeachment Hearings and USMCA

Current Position: US Representative of AL 3rd District since 2011
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: State Delegate from 1994 – 2002
Other positions: Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
District:  Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties, 
Upcoming Election:

Featured Quote: 
Attacks on our intelligence professionals & diplomats, direct or indirect, are a sinister escalation in tensions with #Russia. We must investigate #HavanaSyndrome & support those affected, & make it clear that this behavior is unacceptable. @TheHillOpinion

Rogers served as the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee from 2021 to 2023 and as the Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee from 2019 to 2021.

Republican Congressman Mike Rogers on impeachment, State of the Union