Following the introduction of comprehensive cyber security legislation in the Senate on Tuesday, key Republican Senators voiced concerns that the bill is lacking in substance and is being rushed through the legislative process.

In a Feb. 14 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Republican lawmakers said that the bi-partisan working groups he established to construct the bill “met infrequently, if at all, and did not function constructively.” Moreover, they say The Cyber Security Act of 2012 “does not satisfy our substantive concerns, nor does it satisfy our process concerns.”

The letter was signed by Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), ranking member of the Commerce Committee, Chuck Grassley (Iowa), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, John McCain (Ariz.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jeff Session (Ala.), ranking member of the Budget Committee, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), ranking member of the Energy Committee, and Mike Enzi (Wyo.), ranking member on the Health and Education Committee.

Reid said on Tuesday that he plans to bring the bill to the floor quickly. But the Senate Republicans want all committees that have jurisdiction on cyber related matters to weigh in on the legislation through the “full process,” including hearings and additional meetings.

As for the substantive concerns, several of the Republican senators have said previously that they would prefer to start with reform of the Federal Information Security Management Act and relying more on key national laboratories and technology agencies in the federal government to develop cyber security technologies.

The bill was introduced by four senators, including Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (Defense Daily, Feb. 15).

The bill attempts to provide a framework for enhanced cooperation about cyber threats and concerns between the Department of Homeland Security and privately-owned critical infrastructure. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday told a House Appropriations panel that the reports her department gets from the private sector regarding cyber attacks are “episodic.”

For their part, private sector representatives have said previously that DHS is slow to tell them about cyber attacks and frequently doesn’t share enough information about the nature of an attack so that they can better defend themselves.

According to the proposed legislation, DHS would assess risks and vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure and then work with the owners and operators of these assets to develop risk-based measures to better secure the infrastructure. It would be up to the owners and operators to find their own solutions and they could also self-verify compliance.

Despite the opposition from some Republicans, the bill’s sponsors, which include Collins’ counterpart on the Homeland Security Committee, Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), said that industry as well as current and former government officials are praising the new legislation.

The bill’s sponsors cite support from Cisco Corp. [CSCO], Oracle [ORCL], TechAmerica and the Information Technology Industry Council, Defense Secretary Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey as well as former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff.

“Your legislation proposes a number of tools that will enhance the nation’s cybersecurity, without interfering with the innovation and development processes of the American IT industry,” Cisco and Oracle say in a letter to the sponsors.