Capitol Hill

by Mike McConnell, the Bush administration’s last Director of National Intelligence (WID Feb 24 p1). The body also plans to weigh a bill (S-2881) by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., that would allow each FCC commissioner to hire an additional technical staff member. The meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Snowe released the latest version of the cybersecurity bill Wednesday with several changes. One would create a process where the president and critical infrastructure sectors designate specific systems whose “disruption or incapacitation” would harm national interests. “Key” business owners of critical infrastructure would also be given security clearances to receive classified information on threats. Companies complying with best practices and auditing their performance would receive “public recognition” as an incentive, similar to the Energy Star program. The president and infrastructure owners would “develop and rehearse detailed cybersecurity emergency response and restoration plans” to clarify what each would be doing in an emergency “equivalent to an act of war, a terrorist attack, or a major natural disaster.” Acknowledging the stinging criticisms of earlier drafts of the bill that appeared to give the president cutoff authority over the Internet, a new provision explicitly said nothing authorizes “new or expanded presidential authorities."