Debate unfolded this week on the House floor on the bipartisan Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), sponsored by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-Mich) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). Representative Bob Woodall (R-GA) gave an impassioned speech on the importance of preserving consumer privacy while also advocating for the passage of CISPA as a tool to protect against foreign nation actors that form “teams of cyber warriors led by nation states focused on stealing U.S. technology and intellectual property.” Republicans in favor of CISPA argue that in the absence of adequate controls to share cyber-threat and attack information between the private and public sector, the U.S. economy will continue to be vulnerable to foreign espionage and theft of American trade secrets and intellectual property. Ruppersberger argued, “If you don’t have security you don’t have privacy.”
Democrats largely led the opposition to CISPA. Congressman Doc Hastings (D-FL) argued that CISPA as currently written is a back door toward the violation of Americans civil liberties. The majority of representatives that oppose CISPA cite privacy concerns. They argue that CISPA allows the federal government and the private sector to potentially share personally identifying information belonging to law-abiding citizens. There are a total of 12 amendments that will be debated this week largely aimed at strengthening the privacy provisions of CISPA.
The bill is expected to go to the floor to a vote on today.
