Cybersecurity bill to give president new emergency powers

clipped from thehill.com The president would have the power to safeguard essential federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity legislation. The president would then have the ability to initiate those network contingency plans to ensure key federal or private services did not go offline during a cyberattack of unprecedented scope, the aide said. Ultimately, the legislation is chiefly the brainchild of Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively Rockefeller and Snowe's forthcoming bill would establish a host of heretofore absent cybersecurity prevention and response measures It is unclear when Rockefeller and Snowe will finish their legislation. And the ongoing debate over healthcare reform, financial regulatory reform, jobs bills and education fixes could postpone action on the floor for many months.

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