Cyber Lobbying

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) and other U.S. business groups, in a June 21 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MO) and several other senators, say they want assurances that a cyber bill -- which could lead the United States to block imports from companies that engage in, or benefit from, economic espionage against U.S. companies -- does not make its way into the final fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill.

China Trade Extra reported Monday that Levin, the main proponent of the cyber bill, appears eager to include it in the Senate version of the FY-14 defense policy bill. The Senate will likely vote on the bill in September, and it may be sent to the president's desk sometime in the fall, according to industry sources. The House approved its version of the bill last month.

The letter outlines "significant" problems with the bill as introduced, "particularly the impact the legislation may have on international commerce and trade." In fact, the groups suggest that the bill could end up hurting U.S. exports, impede international talks on cybersecurity issues and perhaps even violate U.S. commitments under the World Trade Organization.

On substance, business groups want a major overhaul. "I don't think minor tweaks are going to entirely fix the bill," an industry source said. "So our hope is that the co-sponsors are open to significant, overarching changes, or potentially a different strategy." When asked if business groups could support any version of the bill, this source said it depends on "how open the co-sponsors are to a rewrite." Levin's office declined to comment for this article.

Business groups also want the bill to be considered in the Finance Committee first -- not simply inserted into the Senate [defense authorization bill] -- in order to give all stakeholders more of a chance to weigh in. "[W]e urge the cosponsors to engage in a thorough review of this and similar legislation through hearings and markup in the Senate Finance Committee, where S.884 is currently pending," they wrote in their letter.

These business groups are particularly keen to "get out in front" of this issue after being surprised by the inclusion of cyber and trade provisions in past spending measures. For instance, many groups were surprised by provisions included in a continuous resolution (CR) earlier this year, signed by the president on March 26, that restricts government purchases of certain goods from entities that are owned, directed or subsidized by the Chinese government.