Congressman Pat Fallon Introduces Legislation to Drastically Increase Penalties for Attacks on Critical U.S. Infrastructure

Thursday, I filed legislation that would drastically increase penalties for foreign actors who commit attacks on critical United States infrastructure and threaten U.S. national security.

If passed, the bill would impose a mandatory minimum sentence of thirty years in prison and level severe sanctions against those convicted of either an attempted or successful incursion on U.S. infrastructure. My legislation was filed in response to the May 2021 Colonial Pipeline cyberattack that crippled gasoline delivery operations in the U.S. for days, paralyzing much of the Southeastern United States and severely threatening U.S. national security.

Our nation is still reeling from the devastating Colonial Pipeline cyberattack that paralyzed much of the United States last week. Hundreds of gas stations are shuttered, families are struggling to attend school and work, and our energy infrastructure has been left more vulnerable than ever. The legislation I am introducing today would not only mandate severe imprisonment for infrastructure attacks by foreign actors, but also level strict sanctions on individuals and entities convicted of such acts against the United States. An attack on our critical infrastructure is an attack on our entire nation, and it must not go unpunished.

The sanctions outlined in my legislation include asset forfeiture, visa revocation, and visa denial in addition to the prison sentence range of thirty years to life.

Full text of my resolution may be found at the link below.

PipelineFALLON_016_xml.pdf(47.96 KB)