NEWS

Senators Voting for CISA Receive More Defense Industry Money

Miriam Marks | November 03, 2015

Trevor Paglen/Wikimedia Commons

November 4, 2015 -- On October 27, 2015, the Senate passed S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), by a bipartisan vote of 74-21. CISA is a controversial bill that would require several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, to develop procedures that promote the timely sharing of cyber-threat indicators, or data deemed valuable in thwarting cyber threats. Civil rights and privacy activists claim that CISA would allow government agencies access to more consumer data, creating new opportunities for defense contractors to sell data analysis and related services.

Senators voting for CISA received, on average, 2.3 times as much money ($121,041) from the defense industry than senators voting against it ($51,628) between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015.

between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015. Fifteen senators received more than $200,000 from the defense industry between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015. All voted YES on the bill with the exception of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who did not vote.