Despite Boehner's attack, 140 Democrats and 28 Republicans voted against the bill, even after the House adopted a slew of amendments intended to address privacy concerns. The amendments would narrow the definitions of what information could be identified and shared, limit the ways the government can use that information and clarify that the bill wouldn't give the government authority to use their security systems on private networks. Another amendment that passed would sunset the bill after five years. An attempt by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. to amend the bill to allow critical infrastructure companies access to the information sharing program failed.
By passing CISPA, the House has put the ball squarely back into the Senate's court on the issue of cybersecurity. While portions of the bill are unpalatable to Senate Democrats and the White House, the prospect of doing nothing to address cybersecurity and risk the fallout from a catastrophic cyber attack should be far more intimidating. CQ's Jennifer Scholtes reports that experts urged members of the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday to pass some sort of cybersecurity framework quickly, rather than waiting to perfect it. The experts emphasized that plans can be perfected over the time and that acting immediately would solve 80-85 percent of the problem.
That last phrase best demonstrates why the bulk of CISPA has a good chance of becoming law. While the bill doesn't address critical infrastructure, industry and experts have consistently maintained that better public-private information sharing is a crucial step to winning a cyberwar. In addition, Senate Democrats are aware of the slim odds their own comprehensive bill (S 2105), which includes regulations for critical infrastructure providers, would pass the House. So we expect the thrust, if not the language, of CISPA to be part of any cybersecurity package that becomes law this year. The most likely road appears to be hashing out the difference in a conference committee, provided the Senate can act before lawmakers become too involved in the upcoming campaign.
House Approves FISMA Updates: Shortly after approving CISPA, the House passed another cybersecurity bill (HR 4257) from House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that would update the Federal Information Security Management Act, which governs how civilian federal agencies safeguard their networks. Rewriting FISMA has been a popular topic in recent years, as a consensus has emerged that the law is too focused on compliance rather than actively deterring cyberthreats. Issa's bill would require agencies to deploy technology that continuously monitors their networks for attacks.The bill passed under suspension of the rules and is unlikely to draw much, if any opposition. The House will take up two more cybersecurity bills under suspension of the rules on Friday (HR 2096, HR 3834), both dealing with research and development.
House Panel Backs More Cybersecurity Oversight: CQ's Eugene Mulero reports the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats approved a fiscal 2013 defense policy bill (HR 4310) during markup that would require the National Guard to report to Congress on its cybersecurity programs. Subcommittee chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the bill affirms the importance of cybersecurity to national security. Specter of SOPA Haunts Trade Talks: CQ's Ambreen Ali reports that lawmakers who led the charge against a pair of controversial online piracy bills earlier this year are now pressuring the Obama administration to protect Internet freedom during trade talks. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Thursday that he's paying close attention to the current negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and how it deals with intellectual property and Web issues. Wyden raised concerns about the closed-door nature of the talks and said he will be paying close attention to ensure the agreement doesn't include elements of SOPA and PIPA, which were shelved earlier this year after a massive online backlash. House C-J-S Funding Bill Headed to Floor After Recess: CQ's Anne Kim reports the House Appropriations Committee approved the Commerce-Justice-Science fiscal 2013 spending bill on Thursday and plans to bring it to the floor in May after a one-week recess. The bill differs from its Senate counterpart, which would move the acquisition of weather satellites from the NOAA to NASA due to cost overruns and delays. The House bill would maintain funding and responsibility for the satellites in NOAA. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., also expressed concern about the upcoming selection of a contractor for NASA's commercial crew vehicle, comparing it to the failed energy startup Solyndra. FCC Open Meeting Today: The Federal Communications Commission will hold its monthly open meeting today, where the agency will consider requiring TV stations to post their public files online. The stations have argued the requirement would impose an undue burden by requiring them to post information on who pays for political ads online, but public interest groups have argued that requiring citizens to appear at the station in person to examine the files is outdated.