II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 21 

To secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance American 

competitiveness and create jobs in the information technology industry, 

and to protect the identities and sensitive information of American citizens and businesses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mr. REID (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEVIN, 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance 

American competitiveness and create jobs in the information technology industry, and to protect the identities 

and sensitive information of American citizens and businesses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cyber Security and 

5 American Cyber Competitiveness Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Malicious state, terrorist, and criminal ac4 tors exploiting vulnerabilities in information and 

5 communications networks and gaps in cyber security 

6 pose one of the most serious and rapidly growing 

7 threats to both the national security and economy of 

8 the United States. 

9 (2) With information technology now the back10 bone of the United States economy, a critical ele11 ment of United States national security infrastruc12 ture and defense systems, the primary foundation of 

13 global communications, and a key enabler of most 

14 critical infrastructure, nearly every single American 

15 citizen is touched by cyberspace and is threatened by 

16 cyber attacks. 

17 (3) Malicious actors in cyberspace have already 

18 caused significant damage to the United States Gov19 ernment, the United States economy, and United 

20 States citizens: United States Government computer 

21 networks are probed millions of times each day; ap22 proximately 9,000,000 Americans have their identi23 ties stolen each year; cyber crime costs American 

24 businesses with 500 or more employees an average 

25 of $3,800,000 per year; and intellectual property 


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1 worth over $1,000,000,000,000 has already been 

2 stolen from American businesses. 

3 (4) In its 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review, the 

4 White House concluded, ‘‘Ensuring that cyberspace 

5 is sufficiently resilient and trustworthy to support 

6 United States goals of economic growth, civil lib7 erties and privacy protections, national security, and 

8 the continued advancement of democratic institu9 tions requires making cybersecurity a national pri10 ority.’’ 

11 (5) An effective solution to the tremendous 

12 challenges of cyber security demands cooperation 

13 and integration of effort across jurisdictions of mul14 tiple Federal, State, local, and tribal government 

15 agencies, between the government and the private 

16 sector, and with international allies, as well as in17 creased public awareness and preparedness among 

18 the American people. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that Congress should 

21 enact, and the President should sign, bipartisan legislation 

22 to secure the United States against cyber attack, to en23 hance American competitiveness and create jobs in the in24 formation technology industry, and to protect the identiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:49 Jan 26, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S21.IS S21

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1 ties and sensitive information of American citizens and 

2 businesses by— 

3 (1) enhancing the security and resiliency of 

4 United States Government communications and in5 formation networks against cyber attack by nation6 states, terrorists, and cyber criminals; 

7 (2) incentivizing the private sector to quantify, 

8 assess, and mitigate cyber risks to their communica9 tions and information networks; 

10 (3) promoting investments in the American in11 formation technology sector that create and main12 tain good, well-paying jobs in the United States and 

13 help to enhance American economic competitiveness; 

14 (4) improving the capability of the United 

15 States Government to assess cyber risks and pre16 vent, detect, and robustly respond to cyber attacks 

17 against the government and the military; 

18 (5) improving the capability of the United 

19 States Government and the private sector to assess 

20 cyber risk and prevent, detect, and robustly respond 

21 to cyber attacks against United States critical infra22 structure; 

23 (6) preventing and mitigating identity theft and 

24 guarding against abuses or breaches of personally 

25 identifiable information; 


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1 (7) enhancing United States diplomatic capac2 ity and international cooperation to respond to 

3 emerging cyber threats, including promoting security 

4 and freedom of access for communications and infor5 mation networks around the world and battling glob6 al cyber crime through focused diplomacy; 

7 (8) protecting and increasing the resiliency of 

8 United States’ critical infrastructure and assets, in9 cluding the electric grid, military assets, the finan10 cial sector, and telecommunications networks against 

11 cyber attacks and other threats and vulnerabilities; 

12 (9) expanding tools and resources for inves13 tigating and prosecuting cyber crimes in a manner 

14 that respects privacy rights and civil liberties and 

15 promotes American innovation; and 

16 (10) maintaining robust protections of the pri17 vacy of American citizens and their on-line activities 

18 and communications. 

Æ 


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