Tuesday: Cyber legislation

by Jordain Carney - 08/04/15 9:45 AM ET

Senators will continue debating on Tuesday whether to proceed to a long-stalled cyber bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture on proceeding to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) on Monday, paving the way for a procedural vote on Wednesday.

{mosads}Backers of the bill have circulated a managers amendment that they hope could speed up the Senate’s consideration of the bill, while also tackling some privacy concerns that have delayed the legislation.

But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) quickly raised concerns on Monday evening that trying to tackle the bill before a five-week break didn’t give lawmakers enough time and that the agreement between Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) doesn’t go far enough to protect privacy.

“My concern is that this bill, in its present form, will create more problems than it solves, and it would be a mistake to bring it up without agreeing to an inclusive process for considering relevant amendments,” he said, adding that the deal “does not fix the provision of this bill that allows private companies to hand large volumes of their customers’ personal information over to the government with only a cursory review.”

No votes are currently scheduled in the Senate, and senators are expected to recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. for weekly party lunches.

Tags Dianne Feinstein Mitch McConnell Richard Burr Ron Wyden