[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.