National Journal reports that the latest draft of the legislation has been released. The bill would grant greater authority to DHS with respect to safeguarding critical infrastructure and improving information sharing among the government and private sector. Ritika Singh at the Lawfare Blog has provided a link to the text.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee will hold a hearing on the legislation Thursday from 2:30-5:30pm. Among those testifying: Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s National Security Task Force Tom Ridge, Steptoe and Johnson’s Stewart Baker, CSIS’s James A. Lewis, and Microsoft’s Scott Charney.
(Update – 5:30 pm)
The Hill is reporting that several Republican senators have requested a delay on moving forward with the cybersecurity legislation, citing the sheer breadth of the legislation and lack of consensus building as obstacles to implementing a bipartisan approach to cybersecurity. From the letter:
We call upon our Senate Leadership to allow the committees of jurisdiction to convene hearings and conduct executive business meetings on this new bill so that Senators can be properly educated on this complicated measure and the committees of jurisdiction can provide their necessary perspective before any measure is brought to the Senate floor for consideration.
Marvin Ammori 