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Senate floor remarks urge quick reauthorization of cybersecurity information-sharing law
Summary
An unnamed senator urged immediate Senate action to reauthorize information-sharing protections in the bipartisan Protecting America from Cyber Threats Act after those authorities expired Oct. 1, citing support from nearly 80 industry stakeholders across health care, finance, energy, transportation and technology.
An unidentified senator on the Senate floor urged colleagues to pass the bipartisan Protecting America from Cyber Threats Act to restore cybersecurity information-sharing authorities that expired Oct. 1.
The senator said the lapse leaves the nation more vulnerable to cyber attacks and undermines a decade of cooperation in which businesses and government agencies voluntarily exchanged threat information to prevent attacks from spreading. "Critical cybersecurity protections expired," the senator said, adding that the bill was introduced with Senator Rounds to reauthorize the authorities.
The appeal cited support from a coalition of nearly 80 stakeholders across sectors. The senator quoted the Business Software Alliance as saying further delay "will only serve to entrench information-sharing silos between government and industry" and weaken the United States' cybersecurity posture. The Connected Health Institute was quoted saying the healthcare ecosystem is "uniquely vulnerable to cyber attacks" and that the bill's liability protections are needed to ensure patient security and privacy. The senator also quoted the CEO of UST Telecom, the American Bankers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance of Automotive Innovation and the National Association of Manufacturers, each arguing the authorities help firms share threat data and respond more rapidly to incidents.
The senator framed the legislation as protecting systems that power homes and keep the economy running and said reauthorization would give "our cyber defenders the tools that they need to act fast and to act smart." There was no recorded floor vote or formal amendment in the transcript. The remarks closed with an urging that the Senate pass the bill "today" to protect the economy and national networks from ongoing cyber threats.
Next steps: the transcript contains a floor appeal and statements of industry backing but does not record committee action, a Senate vote, or a formal referral; the legislative pathway and scheduling for any vote were not specified in the remarks.
