[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 126 (Wednesday, August 5, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6327-S6328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CYBER SECURITY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, a cyber attack can feel like a very 
personal attack on your privacy. A criminal with your medical records, 
your credit cards, and your Social Security number; a stranger with 
emails from your boss, texts to your friends, and pictures of your 
kids--it is personally violating, financially crippling, and it

[[Page S6328]]

can be just plain creepy. But with effective cyber security 
legislation, we can help protect America's privacy.
  It seems the White House agrees too. We were glad to see such a 
strong statement of support yesterday for the strong bipartisan and 
transparent cyber security bill before the Senate. The President's 
spokesman said ``the Senate should take up this bill as soon as 
possible and pass it.'' That is what the President's spokesman said 
just yesterday about the bill that is currently on the floor. It is 
easy to see why. This bipartisan legislation would help the public and 
private sectors protect America's most private and personal information 
by defeating cyber attacks.
  It contains important measures to protect ``individual privacy and 
civil liberties,'' as the top Democrat on the issue put it. It has been 
scrutinized and supported overwhelmingly--14 to 1--by both parties in 
the Intelligence Committee.
  Our colleagues said they would be happy to consider the bill in a 
timely fashion--a couple of days ``at the most'' is what the Democratic 
leader told us--if allowed to offer some amendments. That seemed 
reasonable enough to me. That is why I offered a fair proposal 
yesterday that would have ensured at least 10 relevant amendments to be 
pending and debated for each party. That is actually more than what 
Democrats have been asking for. So I think everyone was a little taken 
aback when they chose to block the proposal anyway.
  I am still determined to see if we can find a way forward on this 
bipartisan bill. Republicans support it, Democrats support it, and 
President Obama supports it. I am asking colleagues to join me to open 
debate on it today. With a little cooperation, we can pass a strong 
bipartisan cyber security bill this week.

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