In remarks today on the Floor, Senator Reid promised that the Lieberman-Collins cybersecurity bill would return to the floor before Thanksgiving. Here is the rough transcript of what he said:
WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A VOTE ON
CYBERSECURITY. I SPOKE TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE A SHORT
TIME AGO, SENATOR LIEBERMAN. HE’S GOING TO COME OVER TOMORROW
AND GIVE A SPEECH ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS LEGISLATION. HE
AND SENATOR COLLINS HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO COME UP WITH A BILL.
THEY HAVE COMPROMISED AND COMPROMISED AND COMPROMISED TO POINT
THAT WE SHOULDN’T —
THE PRESIDING OFFICER: THE MAJORITY LEADER.
MR. REID: TO THE POINT WHERE, MR. PRESIDENT, PEOPLE ARE GOING
TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE ON THIS ALSO. SENATOR
LIEBERMAN’S GOING TO TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS BILL IS TO
PROTECT OUR COUNTRY.
JUST HAD A — I LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE AN HOUR OR TWO AGO. ABC
NEWS THEY BELIEVE — THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
BELIEVES THE CYBERSECURITY BILL IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
THINGS FACING THIS COUNTRY NOW — NOT NEXT CONGRESS, NOW. I A
SAID ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, THE PENTAGON, THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY BELIEVE THAT THIS LEGISLATION IS VITALLY TO THE
SAFETY AND SECURITY OF OUR COUNTRY. SO BEFORE THANKSGIVING,
WE’RE GOING TO FINISH THE SPORTS MEN’S BILL, WE’RE GOING TO
HAVE — THE REPUBLICANS NEED TO KILL THE CYBERSECURITY BILL.
THEY’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
WHICH IS AN ARM OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ANYMORE. IT IS JUST A
FRONT FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. THEY SPEND HUGE AMOUNTS OF
MONEY THAT THEY GET FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES TO DEFEAT DEMOCRATS.
THEY WASTED THEIR MONEY THIS TIME, BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT IS
THEY ARE OPPOSING THIS BILL FOR NOT ANY LOGICAL REASON.
It’s nice to see that the spirit of compromise and bipartisanship is alive and well in the Senate.