Rep Markey urges Chairman Upton to pass GRID Act

Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) urged House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) in a letter to pass a bill aimed at securing the nation's electrical grid from cyberattacks.

In the letter, Rep Markey underscored the rising cyber threat the electric grid faces and described how it could take months to restore electricity after a crippling cyberattack. He cited a recently declassified National Research Council report published five years ago that warned how a cyberattack could result in thousands of deaths if it disabled the power grid during a heat wave or cold spell. Rep Markey also noted that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Department of Homeland Security have sounded alarm about the havoc a cyberattack could wreak on the nation's critical infrastructure.