Eshoo Among Democrats Who Wants Cybersecurity Legislation Even With Any Executive Order
SILICON VALLEY -- Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said some cybersecurity legislation may need to eventually pass, even if President Barack Obama issues an executive order. Though the White House appears to be ready to address certain cybersecurity issues through an order, it can’t do it all, she said at a town hall-style event in her district Tuesday. “It would be in the hands of Congress to address liability and funding,” said the ranking member on the House Communications Subcommittee. “I think there was a lot of disappointment that this issue didn’t mature in this Congress.” Administration officials have made similar comments as Eshoo on the need for cybersecurity legislation, after a bill failed to pass late this summer in the Senate because of a threatened filibuster if it was brought to a vote (CD Oct 1 p7).
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The White House said separately it’s consulting with businesses and congressional aides on President Barack Obama’s draft executive order on cybersecurity. “We are exploring ways for executive branch departments and agencies to more effectively secure the nation’s critical infrastructure by working collaboratively with the private sector,” said White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. “We are considering an executive order (EO) as one way to improve such collaborative efforts. However, an EO is not a substitute for new legislation. While an EO doesn’t create new powers or authorities, it does set policy under existing law.” Hayden said current prospects for a comprehensive cybersecurity bill are “limited,” and the administration continues to urge Congress to pass legislation that will better protect the systems that run U.S. critical infrastructure.
Eshoo pledged to the event to quickly introduce new legislation giving the FCC authority to craft net neutrality rules, should the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturn the agency’s open Internet order. “I would act quickly to introduce legislation clarifying the FCC’s authority to make sure there is a clear and open Internet,” she said. She said she still believes such services should be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act.
Eshoo said she expects House Commerce to hold hearings next session on pay-TV issues. It’s too soon to say whether such issues will be included in next year’s satellite reauthorization bill, she said. “We haven’t begun it yet, and it’s difficult for me to sketch out what it looks like."
Online piracy is an issue that still needs to be addressed in the wake of the collapse of the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act, Eshoo said. “Piracy is simply not something that is defensible.” But addressing the issue will take collaboration among Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Congress, Eshoo said. “Nothing happens unless people are willing to collaborate with one another,” she said. “We can’t afford to have anyone pick up their marbles and go home."
It’s hard to gauge whether patent reform legislation will return in the next Congress, Eshoo said. A change in the makeup of Congress could lead to a renewed push on that issue, she said. Otherwise “Congress doesn’t have much of a stomach, most frankly, to revisit a major issue once it thinks it has dealt with it,” she said. “So I'm not sure a new Congress is ready to go at this again."
This week, Eshoo will welcome House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to her district, she said. They'll each visit a handful of local technology companies of various sizes to hear what’s important to their businesses, she said.