Rep. Allen West Tweets Support Of CISPA

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Allen West (R-FL) on Thursday tweeted that he will be voting in favor of controversial national cybersecurity bill CISPA when the full House elects whether or not to pass the bill on Friday. 

“We must protect citizens & intellectual prop of private sector. I support CISPA bc it’s voluntary. Why did Obama advisors issue veto threat?” West’s official Twitter accounted tweeted, again putting the outspoken Florida congressman at odds with the President. 

Earlier, West tweeted: “I am voting on HR 3523, CISPA, today. Cyber attacks have become a new dimension in the 21st Century Battlefield & go beyond the military.”

The White House on Wednesday delivered a stunning setback to CISPA supporters in announcing that President Obama would veto the bill if it was passed by House and Senate in a form that didn’t include greater civil liberties and privacy protections, as well as increased regulation of utilities and other so-called “critical infrastructure” industries. 

CISPA is currently supported by 112 members of the House, plus West, making it 113. It needs 218 to pass the House. The first full House floor debate on CISPA is expected to take place at around 2:25 pm EDT. It is scheduled to be broadcast live on CSPAN 1.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: