Senate to Bring Cyber Bill Mirroring House Effort

The U.S. Senate is moving on a cyber bill that is more in line with the approach being taken by the House, said a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) told the morning audience at the AFCEA Global Intelligence Forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., that this bill may be marked up by the Senate Commerce Committee this week. It would turn to standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for private sector guidelines.

Thornberry reflected on how the House passed four separate cyber bills a year ago, but they died in the Senate as that body pursued a single large bill. The congressman endorsed the House concept of legislating cybersecurity in “discrete, bite-size chunks” that reach across the relevant government committees and agencies.

The congressman called for greater cooperation between Congress and the White House, saying that this can produce a cyber policy that benefits the nation as a whole. The more the administration and Congress work together, the more their work becomes the policy of the nation rather than that of any particular administration, Republican or Democrat. “Only with this partnership can we have the solutions the country needs,” he declared.