Sen. Young & colleagues lead letter supporting offensive cyber capabilities

Submitted by Office of Sen. Todd Young

Young

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined 11 of his Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to President Donald J. Trump to express the strong support among Senate Republicans for the President’s peace through strength agenda and to highlight the need for increased U.S. offensive cyber capabilities to reestablish deterrence against China.

The letter outlines a series of China-backed cyber attacks and espionage campaigns during the Biden administration that saw Chinese actors burrow into critical infrastructure systems, spy on millions of Americans – including President Trump himself – through compromised U.S. telecommunications providers, and hack into sensitive U.S. Government systems.

“Mr. President, it is clear that deterrence must be restored in the cyber domain,” the senators wrote. “It is unacceptable for China and our other enemies to conduct such brazen cyber-attacks against our government and the American people. We urge you to take strong, decisive action to secure America’s critical networks from PRC threats. We stand ready to support you and your administration in imposing higher costs on adversaries who attack our country in the cyber domain, improving our cyber defenses, and increasing U.S. offensive capabilities to conduct cyber operations.”

In addition to Senator Young, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), and Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) also signed the letter.

Click here to read the full text of the letter.