Sen Chambliss: Senate must get cyber bill done this year

The Senate needs to get a cybersecurity bill done, and the Senate Intelligence Committee is “close” to a bipartisan bill, according to Sen Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the committee’s top Republican.

“We’re down now to just a couple of provisions that we’re still talking about that we’ve got to resolve before we bring it before the committee,” Sen Chambliss said.

Sen Chambliss said he has been working with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for months and has solved some of the differences between their approaches, including over real-time sharing of information about cyber threats across relevant entities in the public and private sectors.

They’re still working to solve issues of liability protections, he continued, adding that he’s “confident we’ll figure something out.” Sen Chambliss said he is hopeful the bill will come to the Senate floor once the committee considers it. “It’s a bipartisan bill,” he said. “That rings a bell in [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid’s mind as to what ought to come to the floor.”