Cybersecurity Bill Nears Crucial Senate Vote

The Senate is poised to take up a controversial cybersecurity bill that has drawn the ire of privacy advocates. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he plans to begin debate on Oct 20 on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which would encourage private companies to share information about cyberthreats with each other and with the federal government. "We intend to pass the cybersecurity bill," Majority Leader McConnell said. "It enjoys significant bipartisan support and we think it's important. And we intend to see it through to completion hopefully early next week."

Before leaving for the August recess, Senators reached an agreement to vote on the bill as well as 22 amendments, which touch on everything from privacy protections for individuals to liability protections for companies. The vote, however, was post-poned, as the Senate dealt with other time-sensitive issues like the debt ceiling and President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. With no time agreement, voting on 22 amendments could take far more time than the Senate has to spare. For that reason, the bill's co-sponsors, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), are working with other Senators to bundle a number of amendments together into a single "manager's" amendment. "There'll be some of the 22 that find their way [into the manager's amendment]," Chairman Burr said. "Probably eight or nine."