Senate Dem Chairmen Sponsor New Cyber Bill, With Text, Details TBD
The Democratic chairmen of several Senate committees introduced a cybersecurity bill Tuesday that sets forth broad goals instead of specific text. The measure is intended as a “broad placeholder,” with details coming as an amendment, a Homeland Security Committee aide said Wednesday. No hearings or markups have been scheduled.
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The bill, S-21, is only five pages long. It sets general goals, including strengthening the security of federal government communications, creating incentives for business to reduce risks, bolstering the ability of the federal government and private industry to respond to attacks, and fighting identity theft.
At this point S-21 is a statement of goals and purposes, said Leslie Phillips, the Homeland Security Committee’s communications director, Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wanted a cybersecurity bill introduced at the start of the Congress, to show it’s a priority for passage this Congress, she said. S-21 reflects an informal agreement that Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., reached in summer 2010. It includes a Senate-confirmed White House cyber coordinator, enough resources and authority for the Department of Homeland Security to monitor federal civilian networks and strengthen its partnership with the private sector, a risk-based approach to securing the nation’s most critical infrastructure, and acquisition policies to tighten security, she said.
The bill won’t necessarily be brought through Senate committees, but may instead be handled just by the majority leader’s office, Phillips said. Several Senate committees have jurisdiction over cybersecurity, and the inability of their chairmen to agree on a bill was a major reason the Senate didn’t pass legislation last year. Several are co-sponsors of S-21, including Lieberman; Rockefeller; Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., of Judiciary; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., of Intelligence; Carl Levin, D-Mich., of Armed Services; Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., of Energy and Natural Resources; and John Kerry, D-Mass., of Foreign Relations.