National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise today to oppose H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015. I commend Chairman MCCAUL and Ranking Member THOMPSON for crafting a cybersecurity bill that improves upon legislation this body has previously voted on, but ultimately I cannot support it in its current form.

As was the case with yesterday's bill, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560), I continue to have concerns about the ambiguous liability provisions in this legislation. Specifically, H.R. 1731 would grant immunity to companies for simply putting forth a ``good faith'' effort when reporting security threats to the Department of Homeland Security. Like H.R. 1560, companies would receive liability protection even if they fail to act on threat information in a timely manner. I was disappointed that Republicans did not allow a vote on any of the seven amendments offered to improve the liability provisions in this bill.

I strongly believe that we must take steps to protect against these cyber threats while not sacrificing our privacy and civil liberties. It is my hope that many of these murky liability provisions can be resolved in the Senate, but I cannot support this bill as it stands today.

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