Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is looking at possibly rehashing a cybersecurity bill during the post-election Lame Duck session with many speculating this could where he and Jon Kyl’s federal poker bill will end up grabbing coat tails. The Hill quote comments from Reid over the weekend that seem to suggest he will aim to push through a bipartisan cybersecurity bill (S. 3414) that last stalled back in August.
“My colleagues who profess to understand the urgency of the threat will have one more chance to back their words with action, and work with us to pass this bill,” Reid said. “Cybersecurity is an issue that should be handled by Congress, but with Republicans engaging in Tea Party-motivated obstruction, I believe that President Obama is right to examine all means at his disposal for confronting this urgent national security threat.”
S. 3414, or The Cybersecurity Act of 2012, was the one of the most recent in a long line of bills aiming to tighten up the country’s cyber security. It followed SOPA and PIPA, and if it goes through it could well see Reid’s federal online poker bill creep along on the back of it much to the delight of all those in the Nevada casino ranks. There were rumors of Reid attempting to attach the poker bill to the same bill back in August when it was first knocking around and whilst much of the gambling industry is looking at the election itself, the Lame Duck session is starting to take on a lot of significance.
Joe Brennan Jr. is one of those that has Tweeted his belief the bill will be the one Reid tries to attach the poker bill to, stating: “Bet this is the ‘must pass’ bill Reid will tack his poker bill to in Lame Duck; is it enough of a “must have” to work?”
More will come out in the coming weeks and it will eventually become clear just how far Reid’s Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker, Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012 will go.
