Cybersecurity Accord Unlikely in 2012, Say Thornberry, Rockefeller Aides.
Lawmakers are skeptical that Congress will pass cybersecurity legislation this session, despite a commitment by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to resurrect the Cybersecurity Act (S-3414) in November. Aides to Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and the leader of the House Cybersecurity Task Force, Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said during a cybersecurity event Monday hosted by 1105 Media that the effort would likely fail.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Rockefeller’s cybersecurity aide, Clete Johnson, said he doesn’t think the Senate will be able to pass S-3414 if Reid brings the bill to a vote in the lame duck session of Congress. “We are hopeful we will be able to legislate in November but we aren’t banking on it,” he said. “Frankly Senator Rockefeller is not confident that the people who need to come to the table will come to the table and work out the remaining differences,” he said. Johnson placed the blame for the Senate’s inability to pass S-3414 this summer on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Rockefeller was “really taken aback by the refusal … from the Beltway lobbying community, particularly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” to reach a compromise, he said. “The Chamber sought to kill this legislative process and did a pretty good job of it.”
While Rockefeller supports the President’s work to develop a cybersecurity executive order, the Senator would “greatly prefer legislation,” said Johnson. There are three disadvantages to an executive order that “bewilder us as to why we face the political obstruction we faced,” Johnson said. Specifically an executive order cannot offer liability protections to companies who share cyberthreat information with the government, and it can’t codify private sector leadership or private sector choice relative to the development of baseline cybersecurity practices, he said. Liability protections are “a really important part of the program” that offers companies the ability to voluntarily sign up and get protection from punitive damages, said Johnson. Johnson said neither he nor Rockefeller have seen a copy of the draft cybersecurity order.
Thornberry’s legislative director, Michael Seeds, said lawmakers will continue to focus their attention on cybersecurity, no matter what happens in November. “If we are unable to get something done this Congress we were still able to heighten the awareness of cybersecurity for members in the House,” he said. “Overall we have still laid some good groundwork for the next Congress.” Last spring the House passed four cybersecurity bills including the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (HR-3523). That bill aims to increase information sharing between the private and public sectors and is supported by the Chamber.
If Gov. Mitt Romney is elected president he will focus on securing U.S. networks from cyberattacks, said Seeds. “Romney said cybersecurity is an important thing that we need to look at so overall there will be an emphasis to continue to look into cybersecurity issues,” he said. But the election likely won’t change the House leadership’s strategy on cybersecurity since Republicans are projected to keep their majority, he said. “I'm not sure we would see too much difference in what bills we have already put out in the House,” said Seeds. Thornberry has not seen a copy of the draft cybersecurity order and the White House has not consulted him on the order, said Seeds.