Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman has written to President Obama asking him to use the full range of his executive authority to better secure the nation's most critical cyber networks, particularly by conducting risk assessments of critical infrastructure cyber systems and developing security standards.
In the absence of Senate action on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, S3414, and the presence of a real and imminent threat of cyber attack, Lieberman asked the President to consider incentives for companies that comply voluntarily with minimum standards.
The Cybersecurity Act would help protect the nation's most critical infrastructure from cyber 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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WASHINGTON— High-ranking homeland and national security officials Wednesday discussed a persistent and evolving terrorist threat and provided updated information related to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in testimony before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Maine, heard the testimony during the Committee’s annual hearing on threats to the homeland.
At the hearing, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen clarified that the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens was an act of terrorism and discussed the key issues that the intelligence community was assessing about this attack, including questions as to who carried out the attack and whether it was planned in advance. Olsen indicated that the intelligence community was looking into the possibility that al Qaeda or one of its affiliates, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, played a role in the attack
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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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