We need cybersecurity now more than ever

Last night, the Senate failed once again to pass a bill on cybersecurity that would protect our most vulnerable and critical industries from cyber attacks. Many of these industries that could come under attack are power grids, water systems, transporation, banking, and communication. The major opposition came from a small group of "liberty-minded" Senators in the Republican Party who argued that the bill would only expand the control of the federal government on private industry. ??? I am a Republican- well moderate Republican- and I honestly do not see how someone could vote against something as important and needed to protect our country. In the last few months, the evidence is very clear that we need to protect ourselves from this new threat of cyber terrorism. Banks have come under attack and hackers have broken into our federal institutions, such as the White House and the Pentagon. Believe me, I am all in favor of smaller government when it comes to certain issues. However, our founding fathers wrote a document that stated that the main function of the government is to protect the people. The government cannot protect the people without the proper tools, such as this cyber security bill. I recently took a class as an undergrad titled "The Collapse of Civilizations". The class mainly talked about previous civilizations and how they collapsed but it also gave insight to how America could be on the same path. Anyone want to take a guess as to one of the contributors? You guessed it- attacks on our cyber security. If a terrorist, domestic or foreign, wanted to completely destroy this country, all he or she would need to do is attack the power grids. If you attack the power grids, you stop communcation, you stop clean water and the sewage system, and you stop transporation. It's very simply folks and I don't see how anyone in their right mind doesn't consider this a very real threat. We need to start taking this seriously or we are on the same path to destruction. Yours in honesty, SGS