Following President Barack Obama’s announcement that the White House will propose new cyber security legislation for Congress to consider, new House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said the committee will be adding its own bill to the mix of emerging cyber measures to be considered.
Nunes said in a statement Tuesday evening that he is “glad” Obama has contributed his “ideas” on cyber security, adding that “they will receive close consideration as the House Intelligence Committee crafts a cyber bill.”
Obama’s pending proposal follows the introduction last week by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the former ranking member on the committee, of the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection bill, which, like the president’s bill, would provide for liability protections for companies to encourage them to share cyber threat data with the federal government. Obama’s proposal will also strengthen efforts to criminalize cyber hacking.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) also plans to introduce cyber security legislation this year aimed at removing “unnecessary legal barriers for the private sector to share cyber threat information.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), the new chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday evening Obama’s proposal is “an important first step.” Johnson, who has said cyber security will be a priority this year, also stated that liability protections will enable “effective information sharing between and among private companies and the federal government” that will boost cyber security in the United States.