[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16511]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CYBERSECURITY INFORMATION SHARING BILL

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, today I rise as a staunch supporter of 
every American's right to privacy. I rise because, like many Montanans, 
I have grave concerns about whether my personal information gets handed 
over to the government.
  As the Senate debates the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, I 
start by acknowledging the inherent conflict between the right to 
privacy and national security. Some folks want to pretend this conflict 
doesn't exist, but it does. Ask yourself this: How do we stop cyber 
terrorists from crashing our networks, stealing our personal 
information, and throwing our entire economy into a tailspin--an 
economy that is dependent on technology? How do we do this without 
violating your right to privacy and mine? How do we do this without 
giving the Federal Government far-reaching authority to share the 
personal information of law-abiding citizens?
  These are tough questions that require thoughtful answers, and I do 
believe we can answer them. I do believe we can strike a balance that 
protects our right to privacy and protects our Nation from threats. 
That is why I want to offer my support for a couple of amendments 
sponsored by colleagues from both sides of the aisle.
  The first amendment, from Senators Flake and Franken, provides the 
necessary 6-year sunset for this legislation. That means that in 6 
years Congress would be forced to have another conversation about how 
we ensure every American's right to privacy while also ensuring our 
national security. These conversations are incredibly important, and we 
should revisit them often. We should revisit them often because we know 
that a government unchecked is dangerous. In a world where technology 
changes faster than our laws, we cannot and must not give corporations 
and the Federal Government unbridled authority for generations to come.
  We already know that several Federal agencies have engaged in 
invasive surveillance of law-abiding Americans. They have utilized 
intrusive monitoring techniques--tracking our phone calls, listening to 
our conversations, gathering storehouses of personal information. They 
have done this in the name of the PATRIOT Act, one of the worst pieces 
of legislation ever to come out of this body. It took a long time for 
those agencies to own up to the fact that certain operations were far 
bigger in scope than what they had led Congress or the American public 
to believe.
  The best thing we can do to try to prevent a repeat of those mistakes 
is to pass the amendment offered by my good friend Senator Wyden. This 
amendment would improve cyber security and better protect privacy by 
reducing the amount of unnecessary personal information that would be 
shared about a possible cyber security threat. It seems like common 
sense to me, and I certainly appreciate Senator Wyden championing this 
issue.
  As Members of Congress we all took an oath to the people of this 
Nation to protect them from enemies both foreign and domestic, and we 
should not give up our ability to check and balance this administration 
or for that matter the next one. That is why the Flake-Franken 
amendment and the Wyden amendment are so critical, and I urge my 
colleagues to support them when they come to the floor.
  With that, Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized 
for such time as I may consume.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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