President Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to pass legislation that would allow government and private business to share information on potential cyber threats.
The legislation has languished in Congress for years, partly because Obama threatened to veto it in 2012. But he has embraced the idea as his own after a series of major hacking attacks on U.S. infrastructure.
“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids. We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism,” he said in his State of the Union address.
“And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe.”
The legislation, known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, was introduced in 2011, but has stalled in two successive Congresses due mostly to privacy and confidentiality concerns.
The bill was reintroduced earlier this month by Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger of Maryland, who, as ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee in the 113th Congress, was one of its co-authors.
