Cyber Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I recently shared an AP news story with my colleagues, and I think it is worth sharing again.

Here is the headline: ``Federal Agencies Are Wide Open to Hackers, Cyberspies.''

I will read just a little bit of what it says.

The federal government, which holds secrets and sensitive information ranging from nuclear blueprints to the tax returns of hundreds of millions of Americans, has for years failed to take basic steps to protect data from hackers and thieves, records show. In the latest example, the Office of Personnel Management is under fire for allowing its databases to be plundered by suspected Chinese cyberspies in what is being called one of the worst breaches in U.S. history. OPM repeatedly neglected to implement basic cybersecurity protections, its internal watchdog told Congress.

That story should worry every one of us, Democrats and Republicans alike. The AP referred to the massive cyber attack that recently struck the Obama administration as ``one of the worst breaches in U.S. history.'' But while this massive breach may have been ``one of the worst,'' it certainly--unless the administration can be rescued from the cyber security Dark Ages--will not be the last.

So the Senate will be considering bipartisan cyber security legislation this week that would help the public and private sectors defeat cyber attacks. The modern tools it contains, through the sharing of threat information, would provide for the construction of stronger defenses. The top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee says this bipartisan bill would also protect ``individual privacy and civil liberties.'' She is right. It contains strong measures to limit the use, retention, and diffusion of consumers' personal information. Information sharing with the government would also be voluntary under this bipartisan legislation.

No wonder my colleague from California joined virtually every other Democrat and every other Republican to endorse this bipartisan bill overwhelmingly in committee 14 to 1. No wonder this bipartisan bill is backed by a diverse coalition of supporters, too--everyone from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to farm supply stores, to your local community bank.

This is a strong bipartisan, transparent bill that has been meticulously vetted by both parties in committee and that has been available online for literally months for anyone to read. My friend the Democratic leader has also publicly declared that the Senate could finish this bill in ``a couple of days.''

``In a couple of days,'' he said, ``at the most.''

So with cooperation, we can pass the bipartisan bill this week. There will also be an opportunity for Members of both parties to offer amendments. I urge colleagues who wish to do so to begin working with the bill managers right now.

This legislation is the work of many Members. I mentioned Ranking Member Feinstein earlier, who has been a key player on this issue. I also wish to thank Chairman Burr for his strong leadership and his hard work across the aisle in developing this bipartisan bill. I urge the Senate to allow us to act and pass it this week.

The House of Representatives has already passed two similar White House-backed cyber security bills. The sooner we pass ours, the sooner we conference with the House to finally get a good cyber security law on the books, and the sooner our country can be better protected from more of these types of attacks.

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