[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2187-S2188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



     FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION MODERNIZATION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, last month I introduced bipartisan 
legislation with Senator Todd Young of Indiana to create greater 
transparency about foreign individuals and organizations that are 
operating in the United States to advance the interests of foreign 
governments, including governments that are hostile to the United 
States.
  In particular, our bill will give the Department of Justice new and 
necessary authority to investigate potential violations of the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act by RT America, the U.S. branch of RT News or 
Russia Today News.
  The Foreign Agents Registration Act was passed back in the late 1930s 
in response to concerns about Nazi propaganda being disseminated in the 
United States without people knowing what it was. It is absolutely 
appropriate today for us to take a look at what Russia and other 
countries may be doing to our news.
  RT America, which broadcasts from studios here in Washington and is 
available on cable TV across the United States and across the world, 
for that matter, is one of the most high-profile assets in Vladimir 
Putin's vast $1.4 billion propaganda machine. According to the U.S. 
intelligence community, the Kremlin selects the staff for RT and 
closely supervises RT's coverage, including disinformation and false 
news stories designed to undermine our democracy.
  Here we have a photo that shows exactly what I believe seems to be 
happening with RT. This photo was taken from a declassified U.S. 
intelligence report, and it shows RT's editor-in-chief--and former 
Putin campaign staffer, by the way--Margarita Simonyan briefing Putin 
on RT's facilities. So clearly he is interested.
  Well, I believe the American people have a right to know if a Russian 
Government entity is exploiting our first amendment freedoms to harm 
our country. It is galling that RT news has publicly--publicly--boasted 
that it can dodge our laws by claiming to be financed by a nonprofit 
organization and not the Russian Government.
  Well, what my bill--our bill--would do is strengthen the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act by giving the Department of Justice authority 
to compel foreign organizations to produce documentation to confirm 
funding sources and foreign connections. This is investigative 
authority that has been recommended by the Department of Justice 
inspector general, the Government Accountability Office, and the 
Project on Government Oversight. Our bill would create transparency by 
giving Justice the authority it needs to investigate RT America and 
publicly expose its ties to the Kremlin.

  The audacity of Russia's interference in Western democracies, 
including extensive meddling in our 2016 Presidential election, is 
deeply alarming, and we have learned that Russia's influence campaign 
reaches tens of millions of unsuspecting Americans. False news stories 
can end up on our Facebook timelines and our Twitter feeds. They shape 
the political conversations that we have with our friends at the 
supermarket and our colleagues at work.
  These are just a few of the headlines from RT. This one is actually 
from Sputnik, which is another Russian news outlet. They show the 
extent to which these false news stories are being spread around. This 
one talks about how ``1,000s Turkish forces surround NATO's Incirlik 
air base for `inspection' amid rumors of coup attempt,'' which suggests 
that we were involved in that coup attempt.
  ``FBI wiretapped Trump Tower in search of `Russian mobster.' ''
  ``Spying on Trump: CIA Whistleblower Points Finger at Clapper, 
Brennan, Comey.''
  ``Ukrainian Su-25 fighter detected in close approach to MH17 before 
crash.'' You will remember that this was the plane crash over Ukraine--
that the Russians shot down.
  During our Presidential campaign in 2016, dozens of narratives and 
false news stories originated in Russia--for instance, this one, the 
baseless story that the Obama administration launched a coup against 
the Turkish Government from the U.S. airbase in that country.
  Earlier, RT News ran numerous reports on supposed U.S. election fraud 
and voting machine vulnerabilities, claiming that the results of the 
U.S. elections could not be trusted and did not reflect the people's 
will.
  Well, researchers have traced these and other stories to a common 
source: the Kremlin's sophisticated, multifaceted propaganda empire, 
which reaches some 600 million people across 130 countries and in 30 
languages.
  If you watch RT News, you will agree that it is not clear whether you 
are watching a U.S. news station or a Russian station because it has 
slick production values. It is arguably the jewel in the crown of this 
propaganda empire.
  According to the U.S. intelligence community report declassified in 
January:

       The Kremlin has committed significant resources to 
     expanding the [RT News'] reach, particularly its social media 
     footprint. . . . RT America has positioned itself as a 
     domestic US channel and has deliberately sought to obscure 
     any legal ties to the Russian government.

  A prime objective of this propaganda barrage is to influence U.S. and 
European public opinion, create confusion, and shape election outcomes.
  The Associated Press has identified a building in Moscow where an 
estimated 400 internet trolls--fluent in English and well-versed in 
American politics--work 12-hour shifts, creating false narratives and 
fake news stories. These stories are then seeded on the internet, they 
get validated, and they get passed on by popular websites and 
eventually end up on our radios, TVs, and smartphone screens.
  In an incident earlier this month, a discredited former CIA employee 
went on RT News to charge that President Obama had asked British 
intelligence to spy on Donald Trump. Well, this false news story was 
then spread by legal commentator Anthony Napolitano on the FOX News 
show ``Fox and Friends,'' which is regularly watched by the President. 
The claims were then cited by President Trump and White House Press 
Secretary Sean Spicer to defend the President's claims that his 
predecessor had wiretapped Trump Tower.
  Well, we know that during testimony before Congress 2 weeks ago, the 
NSA Director, ADM Michael Rogers, agreed with our British allies that 
the original RT News story was utterly ridiculous.
  At an Armed Services Committee hearing last month, Gen. Philip 
Breedlove, Retired, the former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told 
us that when Russian-backed forces shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 
17 over Ukraine in 2014, the Russians put out four stories within two 
news cycles placing the blame on the Ukrainian Government and others. 
This is the headline that we see from RT. The general said it took 2 
years for

[[Page S2188]]

the West to finally debunk these false news stories.
  We know that Russia interfered in our 2016 Presidential election. We 
know that a Russian influence campaign was one aspect of that 
interference. Our intelligence community has concluded that RT America 
is an arm of the Russian propaganda juggernaut, operating openly in our 
country and taking full advantage of our First Amendment freedoms.
  I am sure we would all agree that everyone in the United States, in 
every organization, has a right to speak, write, and broadcast freely. 
That is what our First Amendment says. We are a resilient democracy. We 
are confident that our values and institutions will prevail in the free 
marketplace of ideas. Our Constitution protects the right of 
individuals and organizations to spread those Russian viewpoints, 
disinformation, and even outright lies, but the American people have a 
right to know if RT America is a Russian propaganda organ that takes 
its direction from the Kremlin. They have a right to know who is 
funding their operations.
  RT has publicly boasted that it uses a shell nonprofit corporation to 
dodge U.S. laws. This legislation, the Foreign Agents Registration 
Modernization and Enforcement Act, would put an end to that charade. 
The legislation Senator Young and I recently introduced would give the 
Department of Justice the authority it needs to request documentation 
from RT News on funding sources and foreign connections.
  As we see here, clearly the legislation has hit a nerve because 
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended RT News, and Russia's State 
Duma is considering measures to retaliate.
  What RT says about our legislation is that ``US senator wants to 
probe RT as a `foreign agent' . . . What's next, public executions''? 
Well, that is ridiculous. The editor-in-chief at RT News has said that 
my legislation is a ``persecution of dissenting voices.'' As I said, 
that is just nonsense. I welcome dissenting voices. That is what our 
First Amendment and the United States are all about. But it is not 
reasonable or acceptable for an individual or organization working in 
the United States on behalf of a hostile foreign government to conceal 
funding and direction that it receives from that government.
  Vladimir Putin is not going to stop us from enforcing our laws and 
protecting our country. We have a responsibility to expose RT News, RT 
America, and the entire panoply of tactics that Russia has used to 
interfere in our 2016 election and that they continue to currently use 
to sow confusion and distrust and spread around stories which pretend 
to be news but which are not accurate.
  Make no mistake, the Kremlin's influence campaign is an ongoing 
enterprise, and to the extent that it is successful, that it can 
operate under the radar screen, it will become even more brazen and 
more aggressive in the future.
  In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last 
December, Dr. Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution said that 
Russia's broader objective is to subvert Western democracies, and we 
see that going on now in Europe. He said: ``For the United States to 
ignore this Russian tactic, and particularly now that it has been 
deployed against the United States, is to cede to Moscow a powerful 
tool of modern geopolitical warfare.'' That was a direct quote.
  This is a profound test for our country. Our democracy has been 
attacked and continues to be under attack from this kind of news that 
is being put out by a Kremlin-funded organization which is a hostile 
foreign power. We need to understand the Kremlin's tactics, and we need 
to expose this propaganda here in the United States, including RT 
America. To that end, I urge my colleagues to support the Foreign 
Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement Act. Let's give the 
Department of Justice the tools it needs to investigate and expose RT 
America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.