LIEBERMAN, COLLINS, CARPER HAIL MAJORITY LEADER’S BOLD CYBERSECURITY DECISION

Legislation To Be Considered in First Work Period of 2012

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Federal Financial Management Subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., expressed satisfaction Wednesday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan to debate cybersecurity legislation in the first work period of the 2012 legislative session.

Reid informed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of his decision to bring legislation to the floor early next year in a letter late Wednesday.

Lieberman, Collins, and Carper - the sponsors of the Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act, S.413 -- issued the following joint statement:

“Every day Congress fails to strengthen the cybersecurity of the nation’s critical infrastructure is another day of unacceptable risk for our country. Hackers, criminals, and antagonistic foreign powers are maliciously probing our cyber defenses every day on an unprecedented scale, and it is no secret they have found our defenses to be vulnerable.

“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that the next Pearl Harbor ‘could very well be a cyber attack that cripples our power systems, our grid, our security systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems.’

“For that reason, we are grateful Majority Leader Reid has scheduled debate on this important national and economic security legislation shortly after Congress reconvenes next year. We share his sense of urgency and commend him for his commitment to bipartisanship and ensuring private sector participation in this process. There is no such thing as 100 percent security, on- or offline, but we must take action to strengthen our defenses against those who are constantly working to do us harm.”

# # #