Senators are negotiating a deal to add amendments to the cyberinformation-sharing bill under consideration in exchange for unanimous consent to move the bill forward.
A deal would tee up the Cyber Information-Sharing Act, which provides incentives to the private sector for sharing cyberthreat information with the government. The bill's supporters in Congress and the private sector say information-sharing would help companies and the government ward off cyberattacks.
Senators from both parties have called for amendments that increase security and privacy protections to be added to the bill before a vote. A deal would allow senators to address their concerns within the tight timeline before next week's recess.
But such an agreement hasn't yet materialized.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made an initial proposal on the Senate floor Tuesday, asking for unanimous consent to move forward if 10 amendments from each party were made pending. "That's a good and fair start that exceeds the request from our friends across the aisle," he said.
But Minority Leader Harry Reid immediately objected and criticized the offer, which did not go so far as to allow votes on the amendments to be scheduled. "I can't imagine how he can make this offer with a straight face," Reid said of McConnell. "Amendments pending? That's like nothing. We tried that before, as recently as the highway bill. Having amendments pending doesn't mean anything."