[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 125 (Tuesday, August 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S6247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CYBER SECURITY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I recently shared an AP news story with 
my colleagues, and I think it is worth sharing again.
  Here is the headline: ``Federal Agencies Are Wide Open to Hackers, 
Cyberspies.''
  I will read just a little bit of what it says.

       The federal government, which holds secrets and sensitive 
     information ranging from nuclear blueprints to the tax 
     returns of hundreds of millions of Americans, has for years 
     failed to take basic steps to protect data from hackers and 
     thieves, records show. In the latest example, the Office of 
     Personnel Management is under fire for allowing its databases 
     to be plundered by suspected Chinese cyberspies in what is 
     being called one of the worst breaches in U.S. history. OPM 
     repeatedly neglected to implement basic cybersecurity 
     protections, its internal watchdog told Congress.

  That story should worry every one of us, Democrats and Republicans 
alike. The AP referred to the massive cyber attack that recently struck 
the Obama administration as ``one of the worst breaches in U.S. 
history.'' But while this massive breach may have been ``one of the 
worst,'' it certainly--unless the administration can be rescued from 
the cyber security Dark Ages--will not be the last.
  So the Senate will be considering bipartisan cyber security 
legislation this week that would help the public and private sectors 
defeat cyber attacks. The modern tools it contains, through the sharing 
of threat information, would provide for the construction of stronger 
defenses. The top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee says this 
bipartisan bill would also protect ``individual privacy and civil 
liberties.'' She is right. It contains strong measures to limit the 
use, retention, and diffusion of consumers' personal information. 
Information sharing with the government would also be voluntary under 
this bipartisan legislation.
  No wonder my colleague from California joined virtually every other 
Democrat and every other Republican to endorse this bipartisan bill 
overwhelmingly in committee 14 to 1. No wonder this bipartisan bill is 
backed by a diverse coalition of supporters, too--everyone from the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce to farm supply stores, to your local community 
bank.
  This is a strong bipartisan, transparent bill that has been 
meticulously vetted by both parties in committee and that has been 
available online for literally months for anyone to read. My friend the 
Democratic leader has also publicly declared that the Senate could 
finish this bill in ``a couple of days.''
  ``In a couple of days,'' he said, ``at the most.''
  So with cooperation, we can pass the bipartisan bill this week. There 
will also be an opportunity for Members of both parties to offer 
amendments. I urge colleagues who wish to do so to begin working with 
the bill managers right now.
  This legislation is the work of many Members. I mentioned Ranking 
Member Feinstein earlier, who has been a key player on this issue. I 
also wish to thank Chairman Burr for his strong leadership and his hard 
work across the aisle in developing this bipartisan bill. I urge the 
Senate to allow us to act and pass it this week.
  The House of Representatives has already passed two similar White 
House-backed cyber security bills. The sooner we pass ours, the sooner 
we conference with the House to finally get a good cyber security law 
on the books, and the sooner our country can be better protected from 
more of these types of attacks.

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