Madam President, I support this important bill, but I want to strengthen it. Under the bill, a business receives liability protection by reporting threats to DHS or its regulatory agency, but many businesses, especially retailers like Target or Home Depot, don't have a regulator; thus, they must report to DHS. They have no choice. They must report to DHS even if they have longstanding ties to the FBI, as did Sony Pictures. I contend that we should allow these businesses to choose between the DHS, FBI, and Secret Service. Fortunately, the White House appears to agree with my position. The National Security Council tweeted over the weekend: ``If you are a victim of a major cyber incident, a call to @FBI, @SecretService, or @DHSgov is a call to all.'' This amendment wouldn't undermine the single-point-of-reporting concept behind this bill because there is already an exception for the regulators, nor would it impair privacy rights because those rules apply to the FBI. Finally, I would note that the House-passed version of this bill includes a nearly identical provision, and that got 307 votes. Let's join together in a bipartisan fashion, adopt this amendment, and strengthen the bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
On the recordOctober 27, 2015
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