The Archive

PRESENTED BY

Thank you so much for joining our virtual pop-up Punchbowl News event with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) yesterday. The conversation focused on cybersecurity and the importance of privacy and security in all forms of technology. Afterward, Trusted Future Co-Chairs Adam Golodner and Jim Kohlenberger joined Anna for a fireside conversation.

Here are our key takeaways from the event:

→ Rep. Ro Khanna strongly affirmed his support for a ban on stock trading on Capitol Hill.

This comes as Speaker Nancy Pelosi signals that legislation to tighten members’ finances and possibly ban buying and selling stocks could move towards passage soon.

"I strongly support it. I don’t trade stocks personally, I support the stock ban. My wife has assets prior to marriage that are in a trust that we disclosed. She doesn’t actively trade but I support whatever the speaker comes up with and the strongest ban possible, and obviously would comply."

→ The California representative says that it’s time for Democrats to refine their messaging.

It’s nine months from the midterms, and House Democrats are throwing everything at the wall to avoid a watershed loss. Aside from uncertainty in redistricting, Democrats face the threat of normal vote swings against the party controlling the White House. 

Khanna urges his party to tout their accomplishments rather than the country’s weaknesses.

“If you look at every Democratic speech, half of them are all the things that are wrong with America. Well, there’s a lot that’s great about America, and we ought to champion that. We have to be hopeful. People don’t respond to leaders saying America is doomed.”

“Cleveland used to be the Silicon Valley of the 20th century. Democrats need to say we have a vision for the new job creation, the new wealth generation.”

→ Closing the digital literacy divide is a serious concern for Khanna.

Cyber literacy including getting familiar with cryptocurrencies is key to getting people into the modern economy. Khanna even recommends his colleagues become more familiar and immersed in technology.

“If you want to make rules for driving on the road, it’d be nice if you were a driver at some point or in the passenger seat. I would say look, members of Congress should get a wallet and see what Bitcoin’s like. I don’t have any investment more than 10 bucks, but I’ve gone on Coinbase. I’ve seen what the platform is like. I see like 30 million kids or young people or others have this and what it means.”

→ Trusted Future Co-Chair Jim Kohlenberger says he helped launched the think tank to increase trust in America’s digital ecosystem. 

Kohlenberger explained how a trustable, inclusive, and safe digital ecosystem is imperative for a better society.

"Our goal is really to help raise awareness around these key opportunities to build trust in the very fabric of our policies and our technologies… ​​A small factory may not invest in smart manufacturing technologies if they’re worried that it could increase their risk that their factory could be shut down by ransomware. A patient may not use new connected health technology if they think it can put their privacy at risk. A parent may not take advantage of a new learning app for their kids if they can’t trust that they’ll be safe from bad actors.”

→ Trusted Future Co-Chair Adam Golodner added his take on the think tank’s core mission.

"At the end of the day, we’re going to put together a framework of how you can actually determine whether one should trust a product or a service or a company. And that sounds really that people should have done this before, that we should have these kinds of frameworks. But having worked on this issue for over 20 years in cybersecurity, I can tell you that we don’t.”

A big thank you to Trusted Future for partnering with us on this event. Watch the full conversation here. 

For those of you who aren’t Punchbowl News subscribers, we hope you’ll join the community. Our free morning newsletter comes out Monday through Friday. You can sign up here. We also invite you to consider our premium community — which includes a midday and evening wrap-up as well as lots of members-only events. 

Thanks again for joining!

Team Punchbowl News