The Senate's failure to move forward on a bill to strengthenU.S. computer defenses leaves little chance that Congress can finda compromise this year, as lawmakers turn their attention toNovember's election.

The chamber's Democratic leadership failed yesterday to get the60 votes needed to force a final vote on the cybersecurity measurebefore the Senate leaves this week for an August recess. The votewas 52-46, largely along party lines, as most Republicans opposed abill their leaders called a burden for businesses.

“As a practical matter, it's probably dead,” Stewart Baker, aformer assistant secretary for policy at the Department of HomelandSecurity, said in an interview. “There's some people hoping againsthope to revive it, but given the calendar and the difficulty of theissues, it would be almost impossible.”

The Republicans' roadblock was a setback for President BarackObama's administration, which tried to build support through aseries of briefings for senators on potential dangers of a digitalattack on the nation's infrastructure, including a simulatedassault on New York City's power grid.

The bill from Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman JoeLieberman, a Connecticut independent, originally proposedgovernment-issued computer security standards for privately ownedinfrastructure, such as electrical and water systems, consideredessential to national security. It also promoted informationsharing about cyber threats between businesses and the U.S.government.

Last month, Lieberman and his co-sponsors sought to attractRepublican support by revising the measure, replacing mandatorysecurity rules with a system for developing voluntary industrystandards, with incentives for companies to adopt them.

The Senate's Republican leadership, the U.S. Chamber of Commerceand other business groups opposed the legislation even with thechanges, saying the voluntary infrastructure standards would be aback door to later imposing government regulations.

“Between business pressures and electoral pressures, there's noway they're going to get to anything useful,” James Lewis,technology program director at the Center for Strategic andInternational Studies, said in an interview. “The game now will beeach side blames the other.”

Obama may be able, by executive order, to accomplish some of thelegislation's goals, said Baker, now a partner at the Steptoe &Johnson law firm in Washington.

'Profound Disappointment'

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, in an e-mailedstatement yesterday blamed the Senate vote on “the politics ofobstructionism, driven by special-interest groups seeking to avoidaccountability.”

Cyber attacks on U.S. computer networks increased 17-fold from2009 through 2011, General Keith Alexander, director of theNational Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command, said lastmonth, citing reports that digital adversaries have stolen $1trillion of U.S. intellectual property.

Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, andLockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense company, wereamong U.S. companies that suffered cyber attacks last year.

“It's not just another political argument in a campaign,”Lieberman told reporters after yesterday's vote. “This is aboutwhat everyone acknowledges is rising to be a serious threat toAmerica's security in the years ahead.”

Lieberman said he wasn't optimistic about the bill's chances,though he said he's open to further negotiations on amendments.

A co-sponsor, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein,said backers would continue to seek an agreement during the Augustbreak. “Either it's done by September, or we're not going to beable to do it,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican,said before the vote that Majority Leader Harry Reid was trying to“steamroll” the bill past opponents seeking to vote on amendments.Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said Republicans are “running like scaredcats” to please the Chamber, the largest business lobbyinggroup.

Five Republicans crossed party lines to vote in favor ofproceeding with the bill, and five Democrats sided with Republicansin blocking the measure. Reid also voted no for procedural reasons,so he can later bring up the bill for reconsideration.

A cybersecurity measure that passed the Republican- controlledHouse of Representatives in April focuses on cyber- threatinformation sharing without setting standards for companies. It issponsored by Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican wholeads the House Intelligence Committee.

Carney described the House bill as “deeply flawed,” saying itthreatens the privacy of consumer data and does nothing to protectthe nation's infrastructure.

Lieberman's bill is S. 3414. Rogers's bill is H.R. 3523.

Bloomberg News

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