The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has been scheduled to receive a vote from the full Senate on Tuesday.
The Senate voted 83-14 on Thursday to set the date, and will need at least 60 votes to get past a filibuster. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has an been an outspoken opponent of the bill, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is likely to join his fellow presidential contender in opposing its final passage. Considering both members have used filibusters, it’s likely that Senate leaders have estimated they have the votes to overcome one.
Nonetheless, Paul managed to garner 32 votes for an amendment that would have required companies to abide by their privacy agreements, a change that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said would have been “fatal” and a “bill-killer.”
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The bill would release companies from liability if they share personal identifying information about customers with federal agencies or other companies. The proposal states that companies should provide only broad information related to prospective cyberthreats, and strip personal information about consumers out in the process. However, in the event they “overlook” something, companies are to be released from civil liability.
Paul’s amendment received support from a bipartisan group of colleagues that included Cruz; Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and the legislation’s most outspoken opponent, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
“Sharing law-abiding Americans’ private information with the government is not security, it’s surveillance,” Wyden said on Twitter. Wyden has argued that the bill’s supporters have been unable to name any cyberattack the legislation would have prevented and called it a “surveillance bill by another name.”
Depending on how remaining votes on the amendment process play out, senators who oppose the legislation could exceed the number who voted for Paul’s amendment on Thursday, reaching the high 30s, by the time of final passage on Tuesday. However, considering the measures the bill’s proponents have taken in negotiating the legislation and soliciting support from their colleagues over a span of months, it is unlikely they will proceed to the vote without ensuring support from 60 members.
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A version of the legislation passed the House in April, which means that if it passes the Senate, the two chambers will need to appoint a conference committee to work out any differences in the text.
