Great news for you folks who worry about the safety of critical infrastructure here in the United States: The Senate may get back to work on the issue in its coming session.
Bad news for you folks who worry about the safety of critical infrastructure here in the United States: The Senate bill is still kaput, and even if it passed, is far enough from the House’s cybersecurity bill – CISPA – that the chance of anything making its way out of Congress before 2013 is a joke.
I hate to rain on your parade, but that’s where we stand.
From The Hill today: “A Senate Democratic aide said taking up the cybersecurity bill is a possibility this week, but that the schedule hasn’t been finalized just yet.” That in mind, the reasons as to why cybersecurity is dead for the moment remain exactly as they were when the issue died in the Senate the first time ’round this year.
And, as Senator Reid is likely to take up the same bill as before, and attempt the same feat that flopped spectacularly last time, the chance of a Hail Mary working out I would put as close to zero as possible. Procedurally, how the amendment process would be handled remains a point of contention, as does the very content of the bill, especially concerning the issue of security mandates.
Why do amendments matter? As TNW reported before, issues such as gun control and the repeal of ObamaCare were stuck to the bill its first time around, prompting a scolding from the old warhorse, Senator Lieberman. Rivals to the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 even tacked their entire competing bill – the SECURE IT Act – to the bill in an act of flagrant cheek.
If there is any real progress on cybersecurity that is not led by the President before the end of the year, I’ll eat my mousepad.
Top Image Credit: Stefan Ostermann
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