On the recordAugust 1, 2012
I rise to speak about the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which is numbered S. 3414. Last night, the majority leader, Senator Reid, filed a cloture motion which would ripen for a vote on tomorrow. Senator Reid said he was saddened to have to file that motion. He also used a word we don't hear much when he said he was ``flummoxed'' by the need to file a cloture motion on bipartisan legislation that responds to what all of the experts in security in our country from the last administration and this one say is a critical threat to our security, which is the lack of defenses in the cyber infrastructure that is owned by the private sector. Senator Reid was saddened, as I was, that he had to file for cloture because, of course, there can be disagreements about how to respond to this threat to our security and our prosperity. Hundreds of billions of dollars of American ingenuity and money have already been stolen by cyber thieves operating not only from within our country but, more often, from outside. So you can have differences of opinion about how to deal with the problem. But the fact that people started to introduce totally irrelevant amendments, such as the one to repeal ObamaCare-- well, that is a debatable issue. We have debated it many times, as the House has, but not on this bill, which we urgently need to pass and send to the House and then go into conference and then, hopefully, pass something and send it to the President.…
