Coats Statement on Cyber Security Legislation

Statement

Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the procedural vote on the cyber security legislation introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine):

"My vote on this procedural measure was a vote in favor of keeping alive ongoing bipartisan negotiations to address the serious threat that current cyber attacks pose to our country.

"My vote was not a vote in favor of the Lieberman-Collins bill. It is truly despicable what the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate did here today. In the middle of bipartisan, good-faith negotiations, the Majority Leader cut off progress to placate an administration that wanted no improvements made to this bill. Given the track record of this administration, I fear the White House may take steps to regulate cyber security in the absence of congressional action.

"There is broad, bipartisan agreement throughout Congress that cyber security legislation must be completed this year. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I will continue to work with my colleagues to accomplish that critical goal."

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