Patrick Leahy: “Frankly, I don't have a problem with the Feingold amendment as it is written. I do have a problem, however, with keeping…”

“Frankly, I don't have a problem with the Feingold amendment as it is written. I do have a problem, however, with keeping a bill together. The initial administration request had no limitations whatsoever. It was so wide open we were concerned that someone who might be using a computer at work to add up their accounts for the month would be trapped by this because the company said you couldn't use the computer to add up your checking account, for example, to use a farfetched example, because they would be accessing the computer without authorization and the Government could just step in and go forward. The administration moved partly our way. We actually ended up with a compromise on this. I suspect what they would say to the Senator from Pennsylvania is that these attacks last more than 96 hours and that they would be unable to go after them if they were limited to the 96 hours. We saw this recently 2 or 3 weeks ago where we had a continuous roving attack on a number of Government computers. As I recall--I didn't pay that much attention at the time--they were attacking them one week and when we came back the following week, they were still attacking them. So you had more than 96 hours. Frankly, it is a case where we have reached a compromise. The distinguished ranking member, speaking on behalf of the administration, said this is not acceptable to them. Had this been part of the original package, I wouldn't have found it acceptable.”