I haven’t been following the ins-and-outs of the cybersecurity bills that have been moving through Congress. I was aware that Congress intended to pass something before the August recess, and I assumed that fear of cyberattacks would be sufficient to assure that the Republicans would not hold the process up with a filibuster. I guess I was wrong about that. From reading the New York Times’ reporting on the matter, it is hard to tell whether the bill was filibustered because the Chamber of Commerce is operating the GOP’s puppet strings or simply because the Republicans are angry that they weren’t allowed to offer more frivolous amendments.
This is a bill that was supported by the ACLU, by Bush administration officials, by our head of the National Security Agency, and by the administration. It was co-authored by Independent Joe Lieberman and Republican Susan Collins. Sen. Collins, by the way, was incensed with her own party’s behavior:
After the vote, Ms. Collins said it was a “shameful day” and expressed disappointment with her fellow senators who lacked “a sense of urgency” about a looming cyberattack.
“We often hear the from members on both sides of the aisle, but particularly Republican members, that we need to be listening more to generals on the ground,” Ms. Collins said. “But listen to the generals who had responsibility in this area” who told members of Congress “over and over again” that the nation was not prepared for a cyberattack.
“I cannot think of another area where the threat is greater and we are less prepared,” she said.
Apparently, Lieberman and McCain had a verbal confrontation over the obstruction, with Lieberman accusing McCain of acting like the Chamber of Commerce’s poodle and endangering our security, and McCain firing back that his credentials on national security are beyond reproach. We’ll see what people say about that if we suffer a cyberattack while this bill is languishing on the Hill.
The Republicans offered seventy amendments to the bill. One would have banned all abortions past the 20th-week in the District of Colombia, with no exceptions made for the health of the mother or for victims of rape and incest. Another amendment would have simply repealed ObamaCare. I think there is a word in the dictionary called “germane.” The GOP ought to look it up.
