Cybersecurity bill blocked by top GOP senators

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-CT), 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-NV) wants quick floor action on the measure. But a group of top Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has called on Sen Reid to slow down. The same day Sen Lieberman revealed his bill, which was accompanied by choreographed floor speeches from its backers, top Republicans on seven other Senate committees wrote to Sens 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.