08.04.15

McConnell Offers Path Forward on Cyber Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor offering a UC agreement on the cybersecurity bill:

“Our government was recently struck by a devastating cyberattack that’s been described as ‘one of the worst breaches in U.S. history.’ It was a major blow to the privacy of millions of Americans.

“We know that the private sector is vulnerable to attack too.

“The House has already passed two White House-backed cybersecurity bills to help address the issue. Similar legislation is now before the Senate.

“It’s strong, bipartisan, and transparent legislation that’s been vetted — and overwhelmingly endorsed, 14 to 1 — by both parties in committee.

“It would help both the public and private sectors defeat cyberattacks. The top Senate Democrat on this issue reminds us that it would protect ‘individual privacy and civil liberties’ too.

“Now is the time to allow the Senate to debate and then pass this bipartisan bill.

“In just a moment, I’ll offer a fair consent agreement to allow the Senate to do just that.

“The Democratic Leader previously said that both he and the Senior Senator from Oregon believe the Senate should be able to finish the bill ‘in a couple of days…at the most,’ and just today he said that Democrats remain willing to proceed to this bipartisan bill if allowed to offer some relevant amendments.

“The Senior Senator from New York has also said that Democrats ‘want to get to the bill,’ and they want ‘to get a few amendments’ too.

“Our friends across the aisle will be glad to know that the UC I’m about to offer would allow 10 relevant amendments per side to be offered and made pending — that’s a good and fair start that exceeds the request from our friends across the aisle.

“Now that we have a path forward that gives both sides what they said they need, I invite our colleagues to join us now in moving forward on this bill. I invite our colleagues to allow the Senate to cooperate in a spirit of good faith to pass a bill this week — so we can help protect the American people from more devastating cyberattacks.”

Related Issues: Cybersecurity