Senate to Take Up CISA, Amendments on October 27

The third time is a charm: the Senate is scheduled to pass a cybersecurity bill (The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA) on Oct 27. The bill has been stalled for much of 2015, and has been pulled from the Senate floor twice over concerns from privacy advocates and tech companies that personal information was not adequately protected. The bill has gone through a lot of changes in the months in 2015 that it has been on the Senate floor. It was first offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in June and as a standalone bill in late July. When it was reintroduced to the Senate floor this time around, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) took pains to respond to the critiques. They were successful. A go-ahead vote on the bill passed 83-14. Before final passage on Oct 27, the Senate is scheduled to vote on as many as seven amendments.

In the House, the Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine the economic impacts of “Internet regulation” (read: Net Neutrality). On Oct 28, the subcommittee will examine the barriers to broadband infrastructure at a hearing. On Oct 28, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission will testify at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing regarding her confirmation for her second term on the agency.