From: Hillicon Valley/The Hill’s Technology Blog
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) said the White House has signaled that it will likely introduce its cybersecurity order in the second half of February, following President Obama’s State of the Union address.
After the White House releases the cyber order — which it has been crafting over the last several months — Carper said he plans to hold a joint hearing with the Commerce and Intelligence committees to discuss the measures included in the order. Carper said he wants to hear from administration officials and stakeholders’ feedback as well.
“The administration is going to proffer next month an executive order, we think in the second half of February,” Carper told The Hill.
“I think the smart thing for us to do would be to receive it, to read it, and I raised this as a possibility with [Commerce Committee] Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller [D-W.Va.] today: Maybe the relevant committees do a joint hearing … and invite the administration to come in, explain the executive order, and invite other folks to come in and react to the executive order,” Carper said.
The White House began drafting the executive order after Congress failed to pass cybersecurity legislation last year. The administration has argued that the cybersecurity threat facing the United States is too great for it not to take action while Congress grapples with passing legislation.
The executive order builds off a section in a cybersecurity bill that was co-sponsored by Rockefeller, Carper and Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which was ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans. The cyber order would create a voluntary program in which companies operating crucial infrastructure would agree to meet a set of cybersecurity standards developed, in part, by the government.
The administration was expected to issue the executive order this month, but it’s been kept under wraps. White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel and other administration officials have engaged in an outreach effort with various industry groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, over the last few months to receive their feedback about what should be included in the cyber order.
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