[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      FISCAL AGREEMENT AND CYBERSECURITY INFORMATION SHARING BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as colleagues have no doubt already 
noted, a fiscal agreement has been filed that addresses a number of 
important issues. Members currently have the opportunity to review it. 
I hope they will take that opportunity. I will certainly have more to 
say on the matter later. But for now, I encourage all our colleagues to 
examine the agreement.
  On the legislation before the Senate today, the challenges posed by 
cyber attacks are real and they are growing. They don't just threaten 
governments and businesses; they threaten individuals as well. Everyone 
understands that a cyber attack can be a deeply invasive attack on 
personal privacy. Everyone understands that a cyber attack can be 
financially crippling. That is why everyone should want to see the 
bipartisan cyber security bill before us pass today.
  Its voluntary information sharing provisions are key to defeating 
cyber attacks and protecting the personal information of the people we 
represent. We also know the bill contains measures to protect civil 
liberties and individual privacy.
  It is no wonder the Senate voted to advance it by a large bipartisan 
vote of 83 to 14 last week. I want to thank Chairman Burr and Vice 
Chairman Feinstein of the Intelligence Committee for their continued 
hard work on this legislation. We will consider a number of amendments 
from both sides of the aisle today. Then we will proceed to a final 
vote on the underlying bill. I urge every colleague to join me in 
voting to protect the personal data, privacy, and property of the 
American people.

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