House Passes 3 Cybersecurity Bills

In what seemed to be a flashback to a more genial era in Congress, when compromise wasn't a dirty word, the House of Representatives passed a key cybersecurity bill, with its conservative Texas sponsor lauding the support for the measure from the liberal American Civil Liberties Union.

By voice votes on July 28, the House passed the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act and two other cybrsecurity measures. Next stop: the Senate.

On the floor, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, pointed out that business organizations and the ACLU, groups that often are at odds over legislation, supported the bill, with McCaul alluding to the ACLU's characterization of the bill as being pro security and pro privacy.

"Striking a balance between security and privacy, I believe, is one of the most difficult challenges in developing cybersecurity legislation, and I'm so very proud that this committee and this bill achieves that goal," McCaul said.

The bill, if enacted, would codify the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security that fosters real-time cyberthreat information sharing with critical infrastructure operators. It also would establish an equal partnership between industry and DHS, and ensure that DHS recognizes industry-led organizations to expedite critical infrastructure protection and incident response.

Comments