Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's
already packed September just got worse. Because he had to waste days on a futile vote to end funding to Planned Parenthood, he shortchanged cybersecurity legislation that needs a lot of time and attention, hoping he could jam the Senate on a national security issue and pass a slap-dash bill. Again. And again, he failed. The bill has been
put off until after the August recess.
Under the deal senators struck Wednesday afternoon, the cyber bill will come up again in September after recess, and 21 Democratic and Republican amendments will receive votes.
The bill—put forward by the top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Burr and Dianne Feinstein—would offer incentives to the private sector to share information about cyberthreats with the government.
Supporters, including senators from both parties and many in the private sector, say the information sharing legislation would make for stronger cyberdefenses against hackers. But privacy advocates in and out of the Senate have raised flags about the bill's treatment of Americans' sensitive information, saying it will violate personal privacy, and security experts have questioned the bill's effectiveness.
It's not just security experts. The Department of Homeland Security
raised a big warning flag over the proposed legislation because it would "sweep away important privacy protections." This bill was not ready for prime time, which McConnell should have known, particularly after hearing it from DHS.
The agreement leaders reached on the bill appears to help on that front. Democrats Ron Wyden (OR), Patrick Leahy (VT), and Al Franken (MN) will have four amendments to address privacy problems in the bill. Additionally, there won't be a limit on debate time. Republican Sen. Rand Paul didn't have as much luck with his amendments. He had a slew of them—to audit the Federal Reserve, to defund sanctuary cities, and to allow for more guns on military installations, and another nine that were actually related to the bill. He's getting one.
So the Senate leaves town on Wednesday, having made September—when they also have to consider the Iran nuclear agreement, along with all that keeping the government funded stuff—a looming nightmare.