Senators say no 'kill switch' in bill

As the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee prepares to consider comprehensive cybersecurity legislation today, that committee’s leaders are working to make clear what exactly the bill would, and, perhaps most importantly, wouldn’t do.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) -- chairman and ranking Republican on the committee, respectively -- and sponsors of the bill, yesterday released a fact sheet about their legislation that listed five “myths” about the bill.

For example, the senators said the legislation wouldn’t give the president a “kill switch” to shut down the Internet as some have suggested. The bill also wouldn’t give the president the authority to take over the entire Internet or monitor private networks, according to the fact sheet said.

The committee plans to take up the bill this afternoon at 2:30.