On Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, informed the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in Santa Clara that the U.S. must fight ISIS, which she called “totally evil.”
Feinstein intoned, “I have no doubt that we either fight them now or fight them later, because they are not going to stop.”
Describing ISIS as an army “that’s absolutely ruthless and pure evil,” according to the Chronicle, Feinstein added: “I have no doubt they will come after us. This is a movement beyond anything we’ve seen before today.”
Commenting on the beheading of journalist Steve Sotloff, Feinstein said, “They have more American journalists held hostage.”
Recently, Feinstein chided Barack Obama for being “too cautious” with ISIS and lax in addressing its ferocity. When she was informed of Obama’s comments in Estonia that the U.S. should “degrade and destroy” Islamic State, Feinstein commented, “Good.”
Yet Feinstein remains mum about any specific avenues Obama should pursue with ISIS, only saying he should “encourage a coalition of the willing” to fight the terrorist group.
According to the Chronicle, Feinstein also spoke of her Cyber Information Sharing Act and its problems in getting passed by Congress. That act would enable more data-sharing between businesses and the government regarding cybersecurity.
Privacy advocates and trial lawyers are concerned about the bill’s lack of protection for people’s personal information, but Feinstein was more worried about the country’s computer-hacker enemies. She said, “It’s time for Silicon Valley to weigh in. I hope you see this bill as the first step toward better protection.”