Members of Congress are making it clear that more than three months after President Obama announced his plan to create a cybersecurity coordinator, it’s time to fill the position.

In a letter to Obama on Sept. 10, Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, expressed concern about the vacancy and encouraged a swift appointment.

“We strongly believe that the continued absence of a permanent cybersecurity coordinator impedes the ability of federal agencies to move forward in updating and strengthening their aging cyber policies while also complicating our efforts to collaborate with private institutions that play such a critical role in keeping our nation safe,” the chairman and ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology Subcommittee in the 110th Congress said in their letter.

The pair co-chaired the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, which issued a report in December containing cybersecurity recommendations for Obama.

“Two of the most fundamental recommendations of the commission were that the president create a comprehensive national security strategy for cyberspace and that this strategy be coordinated from the White House,” the congressmen said in their letter. “While we are pleased to see progress on the first step, we are deeply concerned by the delay in acting on the second.”

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama is committed to finding the right person for this job and that a rigorous selection process is underway.

Obama announced a plan in a May 29 speech to create the position of cybersecurity coordinator, which will be a staff member of both the National Security and National Economic councils, saying whoever takes the job will have his “full support and regular access” to him.

The coordinator’s new office within the White House will handle all cybersecurity policy for the government, working with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure administrative priorities are reflected in agency budgets and coordinating the response to major attacks.

Since Obama announced that he would create the position, reports indicate several high-profile candidates have turned down the job. During that time there were two high-profile resignations from the administration, including that of Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cybersecurity who led the White House’s 60-day review of cyberspace policy, and Mischel Kwon, head of DHS’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

The resignation of Hathaway, who was once considered a top candidate for the coordinator job, caused consternation in the cybersecurity community. Particularly worrying to some was a report in The Washington Post that Hathaway felt discriminated against because of her ties to the Bush administration.

“I wasn’t willing to continue to wait any longer, because I’m not empowered right now to continue to drive the change,” Hathaway told the Post. “I’ve concluded that I can do more now from a different role.”

Shapiro said Hathaway has since been replaced by a new acting director, Chris Painter, who came to the White House after working on cybersecurity issues for the FBI.

A variety of reasons have been put forward for why the cybercoordinator position hasn’t been filled yet. Many explanations focus on the coordinator’s lack of real authority to carry out his or her responsibilities. The cybercoordinator will report to both the president’s national security adviser and the chairman of the White House’s National Economic Council, but does not have budget authority, a situation that could make the position vulnerable to unfair blame, critics say, in the event of a catastrophic cyber-attack.