Gardner to File Bill to Create Select Cybersecurity Committee

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., plans to file legislation in the next Congress aimed at creating a Senate select cybersecurity committee, two industry lobbyists told us Tuesday. Gardner's legislative push for a unified Senate cybersecurity effort follows a similar call over the weekend from incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and two other senators (see 1612190061). Schumer and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who's also supporting creating a Senate cyber committee, pushed during a Tuesday appearance on NBC's Today Show for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to create the committee in part to investigate recent Russia-led hacks aimed at influencing the presidential election. Foreign governments' involvement in cyberattacks against U.S. interests predating the Russia hacks shows “it's evident that we are facing a growing cybersecurity challenge,” Gardner said in a statement. “The nature and complexity of recent cyber-attacks require a whole of government approach to cyberspace and the development of federal policy to mitigate the threat and protect everything from personal information to the security of our critical infrastructure.” Gardner began favoring a select cyber committee in 2015 and said earlier this year it was needed “because I think it reflects that we don't have a specific body that is looking at all of these challenges at the same time across the government” (see 1606140048).