Work Continues On Senate Cyber Bill
The Senate Commerce Committee's timetable for advancing broad cybersecurity legislation continues to slip as aides retool key provisions and the bill's co-sponsors -- Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine -- continue their prominent roles in the high-stakes healthcare debate. It appears unlikely that a hearing on the measure will happen this month, Rockefeller aides said Wednesday. An August e-mail from Commerce Committee General Counsel Bruce Andrews to outside groups said the panel was aiming for a hearing and a markup in September or October.
Several sections of the legislation are considered "wet cement," an aide said. One such provision, which high-tech policy watchers argued could give the president the power to effectively shut off the Internet in a Web crisis, is being reworded after lengthy consultations. The goal is to map out the untested responsibilities of the public and private sector in the event of a high-tech hurricane. More prominent in a forthcoming version of the bill will be language that details how the president and pertinent government and industry officials can develop emergency response plans.
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