Press Releases

Joint statement from Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) and Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Rick Crawford (R-AR) on the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack:

“Cyberattacks on our infrastructure network represent an ongoing, serious threat to our national security.  However, it also highlights the continued need for projects that would expand our capacity for safely and efficiently moving goods and people.

“While this attack did not jeopardize the safety of the pipeline network itself, the incident highlights the necessity for redundancy in the system.  As with other segments of the transportation network, such as our highway and aviation systems, our pipeline network requires the redundancy necessary to deal with multiple contingencies.  For example, not only would the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines have provided added capacity during regular operations for the safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly transportation of energy, those projects would have also created a significantly greater capability to respond to this cyberattack.  But those projects have not been approved.

“Fortunately, we have robust trucking and freight rail networks that can help take up some of the slack if needed.  We commend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for granting an hours-of-service exemption for truckers in this case.  However, that’s not a solution to our capacity needs, and we cannot continue to limit our pipeline system’s capacity, as was the case with the Keystone XL pipeline, or these types of incidents will only pose more severe consequences in the future.

“The attack also underscores the need for all impacted agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to have a seat at the table in determining how to address cyberthreats to our infrastructure network.  Discussions on how to address these issues could not be more timely as we continue to work on finding common ground on bipartisan infrastructure solutions. Our Members look forward to receiving a full and detailed briefing so we can have all the relevant information.”