Senate passes bill to secure federal data

The Senate passed a bill Monday that aims to better secure federal information.

{mosads}Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced S. 2521, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, which the Senate passed by voice-vote.

Carper’s bill would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish guidelines for all federal agencies the event that government data is leaked.

The bill comes after government contractor Edward Snowden leaked classified information about a government spying program that caused an uproar since U.S. citizens personal cell phone information was being collected.

Senate passage sends the bill to the House for further action.

The Senate also passed through a unanimous consent agreement H.R. 1281, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes grant programs to expand screening of newborns and children for heritable disorders. 

The House passed that bill in June, meaning it now heads to President Obama’s desk for his signature before becoming law.