[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5365
To require the President to notify Congress and take certain actions in
response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States
elections.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 21, 2024
Mr. Sullivan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the President to notify Congress and take certain actions in
response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States
elections.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Adversaries Meddling in
American Elections Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On November 8, 2024, the Department of Justice unsealed
a charge involving an Iranian plot to kill President-elect
Donald Trump in the leadup to the election. A criminal
complaint filed in Federal court in Manhattan alleges that an
unnamed official in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard
instructed a contact to put together a plan to surveil and
ultimately kill Donald J. Trump.
(2) On November 5, 2024, the New York Times reported that
the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and intelligence agencies
issued a warning that adversaries, led by Russia, were
conducting additional influence operations. Central
Intelligence Agency officials called out a video circulating on
November 5 that falsely claimed the spy agency had uncovered
cases of fraud in which dead people had voted. Another
disinformation campaign targeted the ``Federal Bureau of
Investigation'', prompting the Bureau to say its name and logo
were being used to spread election falsehoods.
(3) On November 5, 2024, Reuters reported that according to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, hoax bomb threats, many of
which appeared to originate from Russian e-mail domains, were
directed on Tuesday at polling locations in 5 battleground
States, including Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and
Pennsylvania, as election day voting was underway.
(4) On November 1, 2024, the New York Times reported United
States intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia was
behind 2 new fabricated videos that appeared on social media
this week falsely claiming that Haitians illegally voted in
Georgia and that Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband
received a $500,000 bribe from the performer Sean Combs.
(5) On November 2, 2024, the Washington Post reported that
the China-linked hack of at least 3 major United States
telecommunications providers targeted high-level figures in the
presidential campaign. Officials have said that information
related to Federal requests for wiretaps was targeted, as well
as telephones used by former President Donald Trump, Senator JD
Vance, campaign workers in both the Kamala Harris and Trump
campaigns, and members of President Trump's family. It is being
reported as the first time Beijing is known to have targeted
presidential election candidates directly.
(6) On October 29, 2024, the New York Times reported
``Disinformation from abroad--particularly from Russia, China
and Iran--has matured into a consistent and pernicious
threat''. They note the following 5 key trends:
(A) A broad expansion of disinformation across a
multiplicity of social media outlets.
(B) The content is far more targeted to specific
demographics.
(C) Artificial intelligence is propelling this
evolution.
(D) It is becoming much harder to identify
disinformation.
(E) Technology companies are not doing as much to
stop disinformation.
(7) On October 25, 2024, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and officials from the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency issued a statement indicating Russian actors
``manufactured and amplified'' a recent viral video that
falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania.
They added ``this Russian activity is part of Moscow's broader
effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the
US election and stoke divisions among Americans,'' the agencies
said in a statement.
(8) On October 25, 2024, investigators on background told
United States media ``The Chinese hackers who burrowed into the
networks of U.S. telecommunications firms have used their deep
access to target the phones of former President Donald Trump,
his running mate, JD Vance, and people affiliated with Vice
President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, according to
people familiar with the matter.''
(9) Separately on October 25, 2024, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation confirmed it was investigating ``unauthorized
access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure'' by
Chinese actors. The statement was the first formal
acknowledgment by the United States Government about the
massive breach. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation
identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency issued a statement and notified
affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly
shared information to assist other potential victims.
(10) An October 23, 2024, Microsoft Threat Analysis Center
report revealed Chinese influence operations targeted a handful
of Republican candidates and congressional members who
``advocate for anti-Chinese policies.''
(11) On October 22, 2024, United States intelligence
officials on Tuesday said Russians seeking to disrupt the
United States elections created a faked video and other
material smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz
with abuse allegations and are considering fomenting violence
during and after the vote.
(12) On September 25, 2024, the Wall Street Journal
reported that hackers linked to the Chinese government have
broken into a handful of United States internet-service
providers in recent months in pursuit of sensitive information,
according to people familiar with the matter. The hacking
campaign, called ``Salt Typhoon'' by investigators, hasn't
previously been publicly disclosed and is the latest in a
series of incursions that United States investigators have
linked to China in recent years.
(13) A September 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence conference call about foreign election
interference efforts stated propagandists in China, Iran, and
Russia are using artificial intelligence to create content
designed to deceive Americans about the presidential election.
(14) In April 2024, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told
CNN that China was attempting to influence and interfere in the
United States election despite President Xi previously giving
assurances to President Biden that it would not do so.
(15) In an April 2024, New York Times article, United
States officials claimed covert Chinese accounts are promoting
conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions, and attacking
President Biden ahead of the election in November, according to
researchers and government officials.
(16) Researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
connected China's online interference to a long-running network
of accounts connected with the Chinese government known as
Spamouflage.
(17) An October 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence report warned that the United States intelligence
community expected ``foreign influence actors to . . . call
into question the validity of the election's results after the
polls close.''
(18) The October 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence report stated that ``foreign actors are almost
certainly considering the possibility of another contested
presidential election and a tight contest for control of both
the Senate and the House of Representatives.''
(19) The October 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence report stated that foreign actors ``will likely
take advantage of such an opportunity to use similar tactics in
a post-election period to undermine trust in the integrity of
the election, election processes, and further exacerbate
divisions among Americans.''
(20) An October 2024 New York Times article quoted a Biden
administration official who stated ``foreign powers realize . .
. they can spread messages that suggest the process was flawed.
Officials said they called such efforts ``perception hacking''.
(21) A February 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence Threat Assessment states: ``The PRC aims to sow
doubts about U.S. leadership, undermine democracy, and extend
Beijing's influence . . .'' due to ``its desire to sideline
critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions. PRC
actors have increased their capabilities to conduct covert
influence operations and disseminate disinformation.''
(22) A December 2022 National Intelligence Council report
states China tacitly approved efforts to try to influence a
handful of 2022 midterm races involving members of both U.S.
political parties.'' The assessment adds with high confidence
that China's goals are ``to counter U.S. politicians viewed as
anti-China and to support others viewed as pro-China.''
(23) Cybersecurity firm Mandiant alleged Chinese
interference in the 2022 United States midterm elections via
DRAGONBRIDGE, an influence campaign assessed to be operating in
support of the political interests of the People's Republic of
China.
(24) A November 2023 memo by the Select Committee on the
Chinese Communist Party outlines China's ``united front work,''
described as ``a unique blend of engagement, influence
activities, and intelligence operations that the CCP uses to
shape its political environment, including to influence other
countries' policy toward the PRC and to gain access to advanced
foreign technology.''
(25) In April 2023, the United States Attorney's Office for
the Eastern District of New York charged 44 Chinese nationals
for conducting online disinformation campaigns that promoted
PRC propaganda and for attempting to intimidate and silence PRC
critics.
(26) An October 2024 Office of the Director of National
Intelligence report states ``Russia is leveraging a wide range
of influence actors in an effort to influence congressional
races and in particular to encourage the U.S. public to oppose
pro-Ukraine policies and politicians.''
(27) In September 2024, the Biden administration announced
a broad effort to counter Russia's influence campaigns in the
2024 election, including through sanctions, indictments, and
seizing of web domains that United States officials say the
Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation.
(28) A nearly 300-page FBI affidavit lays out a broad,
Kremlin-backed effort to seed fake news stories to attack
United States politicians supporting Ukraine in the war against
Russia and stoke tensions in United States society.
(29) In September 2024, the State Department announced
forthcoming designations of 5 Russian state-funded news
outlets, including RT, Ruptly and Sputnik, as foreign
government missions and restrict the issuance of visas to
people working for Kremlin-supported media institutions.
(30) In a September 2024 report, the Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies identified 19 websites that Iran has
used to spread disinformation through what appear to be
American and foreign news outlets.
(31) In August 2024, the FBI and United States intelligence
agencies stated the Iranian government was behind a hack and
leak operation targeting Donald Trump's presidential campaign
and also attempted to target the Biden-Harris campaign.
(32) The dictators running these countries of concern would
never stand for free, fair, and open elections themselves
because they fear their own people and prioritize their power
over them above all else.
SEC. 3. REQUIRING THE PRESIDENT TO NOTIFY CONGRESS AND TAKE CERTAIN
ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO ANY ATTEMPT BY A COUNTRY OF
CONCERN TO AFFECT UNITED STATES ELECTIONS.
(a) In General.--If the President determines that the government,
or an individual acting on behalf of the government, of a country of
concern is attempting to affect the outcome of any Federal, State, or
local election through the dissemination of disinformation, the
President shall--
(1) not later than 30 days after making such determination,
notify the appropriate committees of Congress of--
(A) such attempt; and
(B) any actions the President intends to take under
paragraph (2), including any waiver of the disclosure
of information described in such paragraph under
subsection (b); and
(2) subject to subsections (b) and (c), take action,
including through international media and media available in
the country of concern in question, or through any other means
available to the United States, to reveal any information the
United States Government has in its possession relating to any
unexplained wealth, corruption, or malfeasance of any senior
official of the government in question, their family members,
or the political party or parties which govern it, to as many
of the citizens as possible in such country of concern.
(b) Waiver of Disclosure.--The President may waive the disclosure
of information under subsection (a)(2) if the President determines that
the disclosure of such information would be detrimental to the national
interest. In the case where the President waives such disclosure, the
President shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an
explanation of why the disclosure of such information would be
detrimental to the national interest.
(c) Treatment of Classified Information.--The release or disclosure
of classified information under subsection (a)(2) shall be subject to
the standards and procedures established under Executive Order 13526
(50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security
information).
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate;
(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate;
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
(D) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
of the House of Representatives.
(2) Country of concern.--The term ``country of concern''
has the meaning given to the term ``covered nation'' in section
4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Disinformation.--The term ``disinformation'' means any
false information or depiction that is deliberately meant to
mislead.
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