CybersecurityAct of 2012 - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. CHAMBLISS. Senator Grassley, who is scheduled to speak next, has been kind to give me 45 seconds, so I appreciate that.

In July and August, the cosponsors of both the underlying bill, the Lieberman-Collins bill, and the SECURE IT bill, of which I am a cosponsor, met regularly, and I was hopeful we could resolve the significant differences between these two bills. Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement, and even though we had been promised an open amendment process on this underlying bill, the majority leader once again filled the tree and filed cloture. Unfortunately, nothing has changed since then, so I am compelled to do the same thing today.

We all understand the serious threat that is facing our country from cyber attacks and intrusions, but that does not mean Congress should just pass any bill. Frankly, the underlying bill is not supported by the business community, for all the right reasons, and they are the ones who are impacted by it. They are the ones who are going to be called on to comply with the mandates and the regulations. Frankly, it is not going to give them the kind of protection they need from cyber attacks.

So I regret to have to stand up today and say that I intend to vote against cloture on this bill, and I yield to Senator Grassley.

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