Senate Intel Chairman Burr on Today's Cybersecurity Amendment Cloture Vote

Press Release

Today, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) made the following statement on the Senate vote to end the filibuster of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015:

"The American people deserve the privacy protections included in this legislation. Those entrusted with personal information, from banks to telecommunications companies, know those protections are included and offered their support in an effort to combat the threats against this country. In opposing cloture on this bill, however, the Senate allows foreign adversaries and international criminals to continue to steal Americans' personal information and intrude on their privacy. I don't think the American people will respond well to claims that those who voted against this effort today did so because they didn't like the manner in which they had to vote. Perhaps when Senators have their own information stolen by North Korean hackers they'll react differently."

The bill includes strong commitments to personal privacy, while spurring the information sharing that is necessary to stop future cyber-attacks before they happen, not after Americans personal, financial, and private information is stolen by foreign agents and criminal gangs. This legislation creates a cybersecurity information sharing environment that works much like a "neighborhood watch" program, allowing all participants to get a better understanding of the current cybersecurity threats that may be used against them.

Senator Burr gave the GOP Weekly Address on his cybersecurity bill in April, and the bill was reported out of Committee on March 3rd, 2015 on a vote of 14-1.

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