The Carroll Standard

Congress Rubber Stamps Obama's Secret CyberSecurity Plan

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Congress released the continuing resolution to fund the government into next year late yesterday.  One provision in the bill should send shivers down the collective spines of those who treasure freedom of the Internet and the right to privacy.  It appears that the Continuing Resolution (CR) pending in Congress will allow average American’s privacy rights to be violated.

Congress has struggled to pass legislation dealing with cybersecurity threats to the power grid and financial institutions termed “critical infrastructure.”  The Senate has tentatively scheduled votes on legislation to deal with this issue, yet the Senate, and Congress as a whole, has yet to pass legislation dealing with this issue.  The reason for the impasse is that there is a deep concern that if too much power is granted to the federal government in the name of protecting critical infrastructure, this new authority may allow the federal government to monitor activities with little or no relation to cybersecurity threats.

The Administration has chosen to ignore the legislative process to implement their own secret plan.  The Obama Administration has secretly prepared an executive order to implement an executive order dealing with cybersecurity.  Language in the CR appears to rubber stamp this secret (from the public) cybersecurity plan.  The fact that his plan has yet to receive a full vetting by the American people is outrageous. ...continues...