Cybersecurity Legislation Rebuffed in Senate

By Emily Holden and Tim Starks, CQ Staff

The Senate dealt what may be a fatal blow to cybersecurity legislation on Thursday, declining to limit debate on a procedural motion after a week of behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Unless proponents of the legislation can quickly regroup and attract additional support, the 112th Congress is likely to conclude without addressing what some view as the nation’s most serious national security threat.

Senators voted 52-46 to invoke cloture on the measure (S 3414), which would create voluntary security standards for critical digital infrastructure. Sixty votes are needed to invoke cloture.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., attempted to end a filibuster and advance the measure over Republican opposition after Democratic and GOP leaders were unable to reach agreement on the bill or on amendments that the Senate would consider.

Democrats Max Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana and Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon voted against the cloture motion. Reid also voted against the motion once it’s defeat was apparent in order to preserve the option of asking for reconsideration.

Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Richard G. Lugar and Dan Coats of Indiana, and Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts voted to limit debate.

“It’s unfortunate that there was not a clear path forward on enabling senators to amend and improve the proposal, as there was strong bipartisan support for amendments that would have addressed many of the outstanding concerns,” Wyden said.

In a floor speech Thursday, Reid said Republicans never presented a list of relevant amendments. Instead, he said, Republicans sought votes on unrelated issues, including repeal of the 2010 health care law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152).

Reid also accused Republicans of carrying water for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which opposed an earlier version of the bill. The earlier version would have given the Homeland Security Department authority to mandate security standards for owners of vital computer networks, such as the electricity grid and banking system. Sponsors changed the bill to make such standards voluntary, with incentives for compliance, but the Chamber argued that the voluntary standards could become mandatory.

Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue said Wednesday he is optimistic that an agreement on the legislation can be negotiated in September. But bill supporters said the congressional schedule this fall will make such an outcome difficult.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that Republicans do not doubt the need for cybersecurity improvements. “The issue is the manner in which the Democratic leadership has tried to steamroll a bill that would address it,” he said. “The anticipated open amendment process once this new bill got to the Senate floor never happened.”

GOP sponsors of a rival bill (S 3342), led by John McCain, R-Ariz., tried to cancel Thursday’s cloture vote and delay action on the measure until September.

Emily Cadei contributed to this story.