Grassley, Feinstein work together for the public good
Bill to fight cyber crime shows bipartisanship is still possible
The United States Congress takes a lot of criticism, and frankly, much of it is deserved. But the nation’s governing body is still capable of doing the right thing in a bipartisan manner.
A case in point is a bill championed by Iowa’s U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California. Those two have very different voting records in the Senate, but they came together to sponsor a bill that will help to protect all Americans.
The legislation is called the National Computer Forensics Institute Reauthorization Act of 2022. It will ensure that a special training center that teaches state and local law enforcement officers to combat computer crime keeps operating.
Computers, obviously, are everywhere and are a part of every aspect of daily life. Crooks have figured out how to exploit them for their own devious ends. A cyber criminal could rob you just like someone wearing a mask and packing a pistol could rob you. And there are also twisted predators out there who use computers and the internet to prey on children. The National Computer Forensics Institute teaches state and local law enforcement officers how to bring all these cyber crooks to justice.
The need for the institute in Hoover, Alabama, is obvious. Still, someone in Congress had to act to make sure it stayed in operation. Grassley and Feinstein stepped up to do so in the Senate.
Working with a Democratic senator is actually fairly routine for Grassley. He has been recognized for years as someone willing to work across the aisle to get things done.
This week, the two senators got their job done when the Senate passed the bill reauthorizing the institute. It now goes to the House of Representatives.
We urge the House to pass it as quickly as possible, and ask U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, to do what he can to keep the bill moving.
We are confident the measure will get to the desk of President Joe Biden, and we ask him to sign it when it does.