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[brant_point]

McCain promises GOP alternative to ‘super regulator’ cybersecurity bill


Republican senators announced their intention to introduce a competing cybersecurity bill last Thursday to counter a recently introduced Democratic bill that would expand the Department of Homeland Security’s authority. The GOP plan will reportedly instead grant new powers to the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.

In an opening statement before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on Thursday, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain announced that he and several other Republican senators would introduce the bill after the President’s Day recess.

Advocates of the Democratic bill — the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, also called the Lieberman/Collins bill — emphasized the urgent need for adequate legislation to address unforeseen threats to the nation’s critical infrastructure.

“The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 would require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct risk assessments of the nation’s core critical infrastructure before determining which should be covered by the bill,” HSGAC said in a statement released Thursday.

“DHS would then work hand in glove with the owners/operators of designated critical infrastructure to develop risk-based performance requirements, based on current standards or industry practices.”

HSGAC said the bill is “the result of at least three years of intensive work and scores of hearings — 10 in just HSGAC since 2005. Both HSGAC and the Commerce Committee passed similar legislation in the last Congress.” (RELATED: Full coverage of the tech world)

McCain, however, criticized the time frame in which the bill was brought before the Senate, the policy and the cost of the proposal, calling it “hurried.”


http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/20/mccain-promises-gop-alternative-to-super-regulator-cybersecurity-bill/