The Senate fell short Thursday, August 2, 2012, of the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural vote on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, S3414, postponing until the fall, if then, a resolution to the vulnerabilities of our nation's most critical networks.
"It’s hard to see that today is anything but a failure of the Senate and a setback for our national security," said Senator Lieberman. Added Senator Collins: "In all my years working to identify vulnerabilities to our national security, I can't think of an area where the threat is greater and where we have done less."
The co-sponsors introduced the revised Cybersecurity Act two weeks ago in a good faith effort to secure enough Republican votes to pass the legislation, which would help protect the nation's most critical infrastructure from attacks by foreign nations, hacktivists, criminals, and terrorists. Opposition from the Chamber of Commerce appeared to have halted the measure in its tracks.
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Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Maine, Wednesday pressed Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan about a culture of misconduct that might have existed at the agency long before the Cartagena scandal became public.
Speaking publicly about the troubled agency for the first time at a Committee hearing, Sullivan insisted several times that he was unaware of such a culture after 29-years at the agency, as an agent, including with the President’s detail, and as director. The Senators, however, felt differently.
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WASHINGTON – The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved legislation May 16, 2012, that would entitle federal employees in same sex domestic partnerships to the samebenefits now available to married federal employees.
The four Senate authors of bipartisan postal reform legislation have written to House leaders asking them to move swiftly on a reform bill to stop the loss of $25 million a day by the U.S. Postal Service and preserve an iconic American institution that still delivers 550 million pieces of mail daily.
In the meantime, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has begun to downsize the postal service - fortunately in a way that is consistent with Senate-passed postal reform legislation. But the urgency for House action increases with each passing day if the downsizing is to be fair and orderly. The Senate bill was approved April 25 on a strong bipartisan vote of 62-37.
The Postmaster general announced May 9 that he would begin reducing hours of service at 13,000 post offices nationwide. And on May 17, he announced that USPS would consolidate 48 mail processing plants this year and begin closing plants early next year. Chairman Lieberman was cautiously optimistic about both decisions.
The four Senators explain in a USA Today oped why their bill is the most reasonable approach to ensure the future of the USPS for millions of American people and businesses. The Senators hailed the legislation as a strong effort to put the USPS back on solid financial ground and prevent the wholesale closings of postal facilities.
Senators Lieberman, Collins, Caper, and Brown introduced a substitute to the 21st Century Postal Act, S.1789 in mid April to address concerns raised by a number of Senators, especially those who represent rural areas where post offices are heavily relied upon not just for mail but as centers of the community. The substitute amendment would give the USPS the flexibility and tools it needs to raise revenues, cut costs, and maintain its financial viability.
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The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued a staff report February 20, 2012, detailing the internet radicalization of a homegrown terrorist to violent Islamist extremism and the inadequacy of U.S. policy to counter online radicalization.
The report presents a classic case study of how quickly online radicalization can occur compared to the traditional process of face to face contact between an aspirant and an established terrorist group.
In the case of Zachary Chesser, a young Virginia man now serving 25 years on terrorism related charges, the trajectory from high school graduate to incarcerated felon occurred in just two years.
“Chesser represents a growing breed of young Americans who have such comfort and facility with social media that they can self radicalize to violent Islamist extremism in an accelerated time period, compared to more traditional routes to radicalization,” the report said.
Read the full report here »
Senators Lieberman and McCain authored the legislation that created the 9/11 Commission to determine how our defenses failed us leading up to September 11, 2001, and to ensure a catastrophe of that magnitude never happens again. When the Commission issued its report and recommendations in 2004, the Committee worked quickly to shepherd through Congress in just three months legislation to implement most of the recommendations. In 2007, the Committee pushed through a second bill implementing the remaining recommendations. Since then, the Committee has spent much of its time ensuring those laws are implemented properly, reviewing them for possible changes and updates, and anticipating future needs.
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