Congressman Mike Kelly Warns Bigger Problems Than North Korea Ahead
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- While thousands patronize independent theaters with the courage to show Sony's 'The Interview,' strongly opposed by North Korea, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R/Butler) says Americans, theater owners and Sony are right to stand up to Kim Jong Un.
"Whether I agree with the movie or don't agree with the movie, that's not the point. I don't want somebody telling me you can't do that. That's just not who we are," said Kelly.
At a taping of the KD/PG Sunday Edition co-hosted by political editor Jon Delano and PG editor David Shribman, the Butler Republican says kowtowing to a foreign dictator sends all the wrong messages to terrorists.
"So anybody can say to us, 'You do this, you go ahead and we'll make it so hard you won't do it again,' that's the definition of terror," noted Kelly.
"You can't allow people to do that and when we allow that to happen we diminish who we are as a people, and we no longer become the defenders of liberty and freedom around the world. We become those who cower in the corner. I say, meet them head on. Don't let them get away with that stuff," he said.
Kelly says beyond the movie, a much greater problem looms.
"There are two companies that exist in the United States now today -- those that are being hacked into and know it and those that are being hacked into and don't know it," Kelly said.
And the congressman says we all need to wise up.
"Why would we put our most valuable and vulnerable information into something that is so easily hacked into?" he said.
Kelly noted the greater problem is not North Korea, but superpowers like China and Russia.
"You take China and Russia; this is a 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, initiative to hack into everything that America does. We can't afford to have that," Kelly said.
Kelly conceded that Congress has some ideas on what to do, but no great answers yet.
"When people have access to everything you have in your life and can get it and out of it without you even knowing it, there's a problem there," Kelly said. "That's not who we are as a people, and we should never ever cower from those who are trying to take that away from us."
The full interview with Kelly is on the KD/PG Sunday edition at 8:30 a.m. this Sunday.
You May Also Be Interested In These Latest News Stories
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter