Rogers on Thursday reiterated his concerns about alleged Chinese cyber theft of U.S. trade secrets, describing Beijing as “ferocious about seeking information.” He also cited what he called media reports that China likely was behind a disruption of a White House computer system disclosed this week.

“What people don’t realize is that we are in war today in cyberspace,” he said. “And this is the biggest national security threat I can think of that we are not prepared to handle in this country today.”

A Senate bill backed by President Barack Obama that would have allowed for greater information-sharing between intelligence agencies and private companies has met opposition from both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which objected to additional regulation, and the American Civil Liberties Union, which is worried about privacy issues.

Rogers and Representative C.A. Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the committee, have introduced separate bipartisan legislation that would clear the private sector to share information on cyber threats with the federal government and others on a voluntary basis.