There’s no disagreement on Capitol Hill that more needs to be done to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from potentially devastating cyberattacks. It’s just that lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, can’t agree on how to go about doing it.
That lack of harmony, which erupted into public view earlier this week, promises to hamstring an effort to quickly pass a sweeping cybersecurity bill through the Senate.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), along with a handful of allies, unveiled a doorstop of a bill on Feb. 14 aimed at boosting defenses against escalating cyberthreats. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants quick floor action on the measure. But a group of top Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has called on Reid to slow down.
The same day Lieberman revealed his bill, which was accompanied by choreographed floor speeches from its backers, top Republicans on seven other Senate committees wrote to Reid and McConnell to complain that the measure was being rushed. The GOP critics said the measure should be vetted — through hearings and markups — by their committees.
The seven Republicans — Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), John McCain (Ariz.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) — wrote that Lieberman’s bill “does not satisfy our substantive concerns, nor does it satisfy our process concerns.”
McConnell was quick to align himself with the group.
“Rather than rush into a massive bill that could have unintended consequences and may not address the problems it is supposed to, the American people would be better served by holding hearings and a markup so that members of both parties can make informed decisions about cybersecurity legislation,” McConnell said.
The bill could also face some direct competition from Republican quarters. Hutchison told POLITICO on Feb. 14 that she and other GOP senators “are working on another approach.” On Feb. 15, Chambliss said that he and other Republicans were writing their own bill.
Read the full article here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72943.html
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