Chairmen to seek greater cybersecurity role for FERC

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman and House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson will introduce legislation this week to address what they call unacceptable security vulnerabilities of information networks at the nation's electrical power plants. The bill would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission increased authority to regulate cybersecurity at electrical power generation facilities, Lieberman said.

According to senior government officials and media reports, the networks that electrical grids rely on have been attacked and could be shut down. Key Republicans are not ready to sign on to the legislation. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins and House Homeland Security ranking member Peter King are reviewing the bill, Lieberman said.

The separation between Lieberman and Collins represents a rare split on homeland security legislation. But a GOP aide said one of the problems with the bill is that it would cede authority for regulating electric grid networks to FERC. The aide said the Homeland Security Department would be relegated to a "consultative role" and would not have the power to require the owners and operators of electrical facilities to take action. The bill takes a "piecemeal" approach to cybersecurity problems across the federal government and the private sector, the aide said, expressing hope the bill could be amended to attract Republican support.

Members of Lieberman's committee and cybersecurity experts grappled during a hearing today with how best to organize the government to deal with cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. Senior Obama administration officials are close to announcing the creation of a White House structure to coordinate the government's cybersecurity strategy.

But Lieberman and Collins do not support proposals that would concentrate cybersecurity authority in a White House office. Collins said she fears that creating a "cyber czar" within the White House will lead to turf battles and confusing lines of authority.

James Lewis, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argued that a senior adviser within the White House is needed to set policy and make budget decisions affecting cybersecurity operations across the government. Lewis headed a highly regarded task force that made a series of cybersecurity recommendations to the Obama administration.