Re:The U.S. Senate has blocked the Cybersecurity Act of 2012.
by roc on Thursday August 02, 2012 @04:22PM
(#4330786)
1. The text wasn't voted on. The vote to stop talking about the issue and actually hold the vote on the text, failed.
2. It's not at all bizarre to see a Republican attach an abortion restriction onto a bill they want to kill.
Re:The U.S. Senate has blocked the Cybersecurity Act of 2012.
by Wohlf on Thursday August 02, 2012 @04:38PM
(#4330868)
The fact that it's allowed at all is pretty fucking bizarre. Wasn't there a bill going through to make bills only have one law/subject?
Re:The U.S. Senate has blocked the Cybersecurity Act of 2012.
by 385668 on Friday August 03, 2012 @03:49AM
(#4333024)
It's been attempted before, but that kind of thing is really hard to legislate effectively. At what point is something tangentially related? True, gun control and abortion bills should probably be kept separate, but what about closing the gun show loophole and also requiring conceal carry permits to have interviews? They're both about guns, but not the same issue relating to guns. It isn't really feasible, and even if it were, both parties like to pull the amend a bill to hell trick.
No abortion in the final voted-on text, but you appear to be correct on the proposed amendment. Digging through the bowels of thomas.loc.gov, it looks like, somewhat bizarrely, Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed an amendment to the cybersecurity bill that would restrict abortion in Washington, D.C., under the federal government's legislative authority for the federal district:
> SA 2716. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 3414, to enhance the security and resiliency of the cyber and communications infrastructure of the United States; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
> At the appropriate place, insert the following:
> SEC. __X. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT.
> (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act''.
> (b) Legislative Findings.--Congress finds and declares the following:
> (1) Pain receptors (nociceptors) are present throughout the unborn child's entire body and nerves link these receptors to the brain's thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than 20 weeks after fertilization.
etc.