WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is honored to have been selected as a member of the bipartisan Encryption Working Group announced today by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The working group will be formed by Members of Congress, from both parties, and will examine, research and make recommendations for potential policy solutions to protect the benefits of encryption — namely, the privacy and security of our personal information in a digital age — while seeking ways for law enforcement to have the tools it needs to investigate crime.

Congressman Darrell Issa released the following statement:

“In the last few weeks, we’ve heard a lot of debate over privacy and encryption, security and backdoors. I am honored to be a part of this working group so that lawmakers, on all sides of the issue, can get together to talk about the best path forward to protect the privacy and security of our personal information in the digital age that is the 21st century.”

Members of the working group are:

Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Suzan DelBene (D-WA)
Bill Johnson (R-OH)
Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Joe Kennedy (D-MA)

BACKGROUND:

Congressman Issa has been a leading tech policy maker and a vocal advocate in support of strong encryption, making several media appearances, writing op-eds in WIRED and the Los Angeles Times, and questioning FBI Director James Comey at a hearing on encryption before the House Judiciary Committee.

Before joining public service, Issa served as CEO of Directed Electronics and previously served as the chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association.

At the height of his career in business, Issa served as CEO of California-based Directed Electronics, a company that Issa founded and built in the mid-1990s to become the nation’s largest manufacturer of vehicle anti-theft devices, including the highly-successful Viper system. In 1994, Issa was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine, Ernst & Young and The San Diego Union Tribune.

During his leadership of Directed Electronics, Issa served as chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association, an organization of 2000 companies within the consumer technology industry that hosts the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.