Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
Wednesday, October 21, 2015

 

Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support for S.754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, and to thank the bill’s managers for their leadership and hard work on the bill.

The cybersecurity challenges that threaten us are real.

We receive almost daily reminders of the importance of effective cybersecurity to protect our private data, and the safety and security of the entire nation, from cyber-attacks.  These attacks have compromised the personal information of so many Americans, as well as sensitive national security information.  

The legislation before us will encourage the government and private sector to work together to address these cybersecurity challenges.  

This bill helps create a strong legal framework for information sharing that will help us respond to these threats.

The bill authorizes private companies to voluntarily share cyber threat information with each other and the government.  In turn, it permits the government to share this type of information with private entities.  The bill reduces the uncertainty and legal barriers that either limit or prohibit the sharing of cyber threat information today.

At the same time, the bill includes significant privacy protections to strike a balance between maintaining security and protecting our civil liberties.  For example, it restricts the government from acquiring or using cyber threat information except for limited cybersecurity purposes.
I salute the leadership of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Intelligence Committee, Senators Burr and Feinstein, for their efforts on this bill.

This isn’t easy work.  In the 112th Congress, I co-sponsored cybersecurity legislation, along with several of my colleagues, which involved working across several committees of jurisdiction.  
Last Congress, as then-Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, I continued to work with the Intelligence Committee and others on an earlier version of this bill.  Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership never gave the Senate an opportunity to debate and vote on that bill.
But Senators Burr and Feinstein were undaunted.  

This Congress, they diligently continued to seek input from relevant committees of jurisdiction, including the Judiciary Committee.  They incorporated the views of a broad range of senators, and worked to address the concerns of stakeholders outside Congress, which has produced their manager’s amendment.

This is a bill that enjoys broad, bipartisan support.  
It may not be a perfect bill from any individual Senator’s point of view, but it’s a good bill that addresses a very real problem.

It’s time for us to do our job and vote. This is how the Senate is supposed to work.  Now is the time for action, because the question isn’t whether there will be another cyber-attack; it’s when.  

 

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