Cyber bill sponsor: ‘Doubtful’ Senate finishes this week

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Wednesday it is unlikely that lawmakers will be able to complete work on a major cybersecurity bill before the August recess.

“I think it’s probably doubtful we’re going to finish this week,” he said off the Senate floor.

{mosads}Lawmakers are scrambling Wednesday to reach an eleventh-hour deal to restrict floor debate and swiftly move the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) — which is intended to boost the sharing of data on hackers between the public and private sectors — before the Senate’s month-long August recess.

Burr is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top-ranking Democrat on the Intelligence panel. The two have been leading the negotiations to cap the amendments that can be offered on CISA.

While Democrats had apparently settled on a list of roughly 10 amendments as of Tuesday afternoon, Republicans were still working Wednesday to determine which amendments they wanted on the floor.

According to people with knowledge of the negotiations, leaders are struggling to incorporate the demands of the libertarian wing. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), for instance, is attempting to tie a number of divisive issues to the cyber bill, including a measure to limit federal funding for immigration “sanctuary cities” and an amendment to audit the Federal Reserve.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pushed back a vote to proceed on the bill until Wednesday afternoon in the hopes of reaching an accord.

The two parties caucused over lunch to see if they could hash out any remaining disagreements.

But prospects of a successful resolution seem grim.

Burr made his remarks as he walked to his party meeting. He didn’t totally rule out a deal on amendments, though.

“Oh I’m never willing to give up until it’s time to vote,” Burr said.

There’s a shot, he added, that lawmakers could reach a deal Wednesday to line up the amendments for consideration when the Senate returns in September.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), also on her way to the chairman’s meeting, said “my fear is that they’ll just put off the whole thing until after the recess.”

“I personally think that we really need to stay here and do this bill,” said Collins, who added that her amendment to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber authority would likely be included in any deal.

McConnell on Tuesday offered Democrats a deal to limit each side to 10 amendments, which Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rejected.

“I’m puzzled by the objection,” Collins said. “That’s so reasonable.”