Lawmakers ask Ridge for cybersecurity plan

Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday indicated changes they may include in the panel's authorization bill this year on cybersecurity.

Homeland Security Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and ranking Democrat Jim Turner of Texas, along with other legislators on the panel, asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to submit a plan for cybersecurity that links initiatives and budget needs to President Bush's national strategy by May 10.

"We solicit your views on these topics in connection with our ongoing work on the" department's authorization bill, they wrote.

The legislators asked the secretary to give the panel his views on the National Cybersecurity Division's effectiveness and placement within the department.

The department established the division last summer to carry out Bush's national strategy. The lawmakers said they are "particularly sensitive to the challenge" of integrating elements from other agencies into the new division.