[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 178 (Thursday, November 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6979-S6982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                SAVE Act

  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. President, today I rise with my colleague from New 
Mexico, Senator Heinrich, to discuss the Securing America's Voting 
Equipment Act of 2017, or the SAVE Act, which we introduced earlier 
this week.
  I know that you are well aware that the Senate Intelligence Committee 
has been conducting an in-depth investigation into attempts by the 
Russians to interfere with our elections last fall. What we have found 
is that the Russians' active measures preceded last fall, and they 
continue to this very day.
  We have an election coming up in November of this year and a major 
election next year, and both Senator Heinrich and I believe that it is 
so important that we act to assist States in protecting the integrity 
of their voting systems.
  Our bill seeks to facilitate information sharing on the threats posed 
to State election systems by foreign adversaries, to provide guidance 
to States on how to protect their systems against nefarious activity, 
and, for States that choose to do so, to allow them to access some 
Federal grant money to implement best practices to protect their 
systems.
  Let me be clear that I know of no evidence to date that actual vote 
tabulations were manipulated in any State in the elections last fall. 
Nevertheless, as early as the summer of 2016, the FBI discovered that 
foreign-based hackers had gained access to voter registration databases 
in two States. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that 
Russia-linked actors attempted to access voter rolls and registration 
data in those two States.
  More alarming is that further investigation revealed that many more 
States than just two were ultimately found to have had their voting 
systems probed by the Russians. The Department of Homeland Security 
notified election officials in a total of 21 States that their election 
systems had been targeted by Russian Government-linked hackers.
  If voter rolls were altered or voting equipment tampered with, a 
compromise of these systems could open the door to voter 
disenfranchisement and would undermine public confidence and the 
integrity of our free and fair elections--a bedrock principle of our 
democracy.
  In response to these alarming threats, the SAVE Act would assist 
States in hardening their systems. It does not aim to tell States how 
to conduct their elections. The responsibility for conducting elections 
would remain with each State, as has been our country's tradition since 
its founding. State and local election officials alone, however, cannot 
be expected to defend against cyber attacks from foreign adversaries. 
That is why our bill seeks to bring to bear the unique authorities, 
capabilities, and resources that the Federal Government can offer to 
State and local election officials.
  Let me briefly describe the Heinrich-Collins bill.
  First, our bill would codify a decision made by both Secretaries of 
Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson and John Kelly, to designate election 
systems as ``critical infrastructure.'' This designation allows DHS to 
prioritize providing assistance to election jurisdictions and to 
establish formal mechanisms to enhance information sharing and 
collaboration within the electoral sector. More than 30 States took 
advantage of DHS's offer of assistance last year.
  Our bill also addresses a shortcoming that I raised during a hearing 
before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June regarding foreign 
efforts to compromise American voting systems. During this hearing, we 
learned that not a single secretary of state had been cleared to 
receive classified information before the 2016 election or in the 6 
months since voting systems had been declared as critical 
infrastructure. This delay is truly inexplicable. We have to be able to 
share this critical information in order for State election officials 
to take the necessary steps to safeguard their systems.
  Our bill addresses this limitation on information sharing by 
authorizing the Director of National Intelligence to provide security 
clearances to designated chief election officials in each State. That 
way, the intelligence community can share appropriate classified 
information with States regarding foreign threats targeting election 
systems.
  Our bill also mandates that DHS conduct a threat assessment on 
physical and electronic risks to voting systems. Then, in collaboration 
with stakeholders, the Department will develop best practices to 
address those risks.
  A few simple measures can make a big difference. Best practices like 
relying upon paper ballots, as the State of Maine currently does, and 
conducting postelection audits to ensure that the tabulation by vote-
counting machines matches the results of the paper ballots can bolster 
both resilience and public confidence in the integrity of the voting 
process.
  Finally, our bill creates a Federal grant program available for 
States to upgrade and safeguard the integrity of their systems by 
implementing the best practices that have been identified.
  Last year, the Russian Government sought to disrupt our democracy by 
threatening the integrity of our elections. It is incumbent upon 
Congress to

[[Page S6980]]

assist the States and those charged with conducting elections at the 
local, State, and Federal level to protect them from foreign 
interference. Our bill would do just that.
  I am very pleased to work with the leader on this effort, Senator 
Heinrich, and I would urge all of our colleagues to join Senator 
Heinrich and me in sponsoring this bill.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking my 
Republican colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, for her work on 
this legislation. In addition to her excellent work on the Intelligence 
Committee, her experience in homeland security and critical 
infrastructure was absolutely critical to the drafting of this 
legislation.
  As current members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, we 
are continuing to work on the investigation into Russian interference 
in the 2016 Presidential election. Yesterday, our committee held an 
important open hearing where we had representatives from companies such 
as Facebook, Google, and Twitter. We know that Russian Government-
linked actors purchased online advertisements last year in order to 
influence voters and, frankly, in order to divide Americans. 
Additionally, Russia used bots and trolls to spread misinformation and 
division organically through social media networks.
  While the President has labeled reports of these ads as a ``hoax,'' 
now that Facebook has actually released many of those ads and 
acknowledged their extensive reach last year, I hope we can all agree 
that this is a problem which we must solve before future election 
cycles.
  I have called on the Federal Election Commission to consider new 
guidance on how online advertisement platforms can better prevent 
foreign nationals from illicitly spending in future U.S. elections. I 
certainly support legislation to require the same transparency for 
online political ads that we currently enjoy for television or print or 
radio ads. These are simple, straightforward steps we can and must take 
to protect the sanctity of our democracy.
  We also know, based on intelligence assessments, that as part of 
Russia's larger hostile effort to interfere in last year's election, 
Russian actors targeted State election voting centers and State-level 
voting registration databases--the very heart of the infrastructure we 
all rely on for free and fair elections. In my view, these intrusions 
demonstrate a troubling vulnerability to potential future cyber attacks 
and manipulations by foreign hackers of our elections and our 
democratic process.
  Our democracy fundamentally hinges on protecting the rights of 
Americans to be able to fairly choose their own leaders. That is why I 
am proud to be partnering with Senator Collins in introducing the 
bipartisan Securing America's Voting Equipment Act, or the SAVE Act, to 
provide increased security for American election systems. I am proud to 
join Senator Collins on the floor today to demonstrate our commitment 
to being able to move forward in a bipartisan and pragmatic way to find 
solutions to protect the integrity of that voting process.
  Our bipartisan legislation would permanently designate State-run 
election systems as ``critical infrastructure,'' and it would require 
the Department of Homeland Security to create a Federal grant program 
to help States upgrade the physical, electronic, and even the 
administrative components of their voting systems and develop those 
best practices that Senator Collins mentioned in her speech earlier.
  The SAVE Act would also require the Director of National Intelligence 
to sponsor security clearances to the officials responsible for the 
administration and certification of Federal elections in each State--
usually our secretaries of state. The Director of National Intelligence 
would then share all appropriate classified information with those 
State officials to help them protect their election systems from these 
kinds of security threats.
  Finally, the SAVE Act would create a Federal competition that would 
award computer programmers who discover vulnerabilities in nonactive 
voting systems so that the equipment and the software vendors can work 
to fix those vulnerabilities.
  The SAVE Act does not aim to tell States how to conduct their 
elections or what policies or procedures or equipment is best where 
they are; rather, this bill is designed to facilitate information 
sharing with States, to provide guidelines on how best to secure those 
systems, and to allow States to access funds to develop solutions and 
implement best practices in response to these threats.
  I consulted closely with my own Secretary of State from New Mexico, 
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, in drafting this legislation 
to ensure that it provides the security measures State election 
officials need to keep our voting systems secure. I commend Secretary 
Toulouse Oliver for her tremendous leadership in the effort to 
safeguard election infrastructure at the State level.
  We are at a critical juncture in the Russia investigation in which 
the public is beginning to see the tactical evidence of how the Kremlin 
sought to influence our elections and divide our populous. Until we set 
up stronger protections of our election systems and take the necessary 
steps to prevent future foreign influence campaigns, our Nation's 
democratic institutions will remain vulnerable. But we have the tools 
to fix those vulnerabilities. I look forward to working with Senator 
Collins and all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure 
that we do that.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to complete my remarks prior to the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I will be brief in my remarks. We are 
about to vote on the confirmation of Allison Eid to become a judge on 
the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which is 
housed in Denver, CO.
  I have had the privilege and honor of knowing Justice Eid for over a 
decade. Justice Eid now serves on the Colorado Supreme Court. I have 
known Justice Eid since the time I was a young law student, 6 foot 4 
and with black hair. That is how long I have known Justice Eid. I am 
very honored to have worked with her.
  I know that a lot of my classmates who had her as a professor are 
people who shared political perspectives that were far different from 
Justice Eid's, but they never criticized her teaching. They always 
found her to be openminded and open to debate of other's views.
  Most importantly, what Justice Eid will do, once confirmed to the 
Tenth Circuit Court, is to make sure that she rules based on the law, 
not on personal opinion or preferences but how the law dictates. That 
is the kind of judge she will be and continues to be, from the supreme 
court to the circuit court. She will be somebody who is a guardian of 
the Constitution, as our Founders were hoping we would see on our 
Federal courts when they wrote the Constitution.
  I have a letter that I ask unanimous consent be printed in the 
Record. It is from the National Native American Bar Association in 
support of Ms. Eid's nomination.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                          National Native American


                                              Bar Association,

                                                    July 12, 2017.
     Re National Native American Bar Association Support for 
         Confirmation of Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison 
         Eid to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

     United States Senate,
       Committee on the Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Majority Leader,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Charles Schumer,
     Minority Leader,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Michael Bennet,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Cory Gardner,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Steven Daines,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senators: As President of the National Native American 
     Bar Association, it is my privilege to endorse Colorado 
     Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid to be a Judge on the United 
     States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Since she 
     began her tenure on the Colorado Supreme Court in 2006, and 
     indeed throughout her legal career before her

[[Page S6981]]

     appointment to the bench, Justice Eid has demonstrated deep 
     understanding of federal Indian law and policy matters, as 
     well as significant respect for tribes as governments. Such 
     qualities and experiences are rare among nominees to the 
     federal bench and consequently, many in Indian Country 
     strongly support Justice Eid's confirmation.
       The National Native American Bar Association's mission is 
     to advance justice for Native Americans. As our name implies, 
     NNABA represents the interests of all populations indigenous 
     to the lands which are now collectively the United States: 
     American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Our 
     members include Native American attorneys, Indian law 
     practitioners and professors, as well as numerous tribal 
     court advocates and tribal court judges. As you know, all 
     branches of the Federal government play an integral role in 
     justice for Native Americans and their government-to-
     government relationship with the United States. The unique 
     legal posture of Indian tribes to the federal government is 
     deeply rooted in American history and has always been heavily 
     intertwined with often-shifting federal Indian policy, but 
     often a central role in justice for Native Americans rests 
     with the federal courts. Yet nearly all federal courts have 
     suffered without any Native voice on the bench and often 
     without judges with knowledge of federal Indian law or 
     familiarity with Indian Country. NNABA strongly encourages 
     the confirmation of judges with experience or interest in 
     federal Indian law and who respect the role of tribal 
     sovereigns under the Constitution and treaties with the 
     United States. It is NNABA's honor and privilege to commend 
     for your consideration for the confirmation of Justice 
     Allison Eid, who exemplifies those qualities and who is also 
     an exceptionally well-qualified candidate in every other 
     regard, as well as the first Colorado woman to be nominated 
     to the Tenth Circuit.
       Her academic credentials are excellent. Raised by a single 
     mother in Spokane, Washington, Justice Eid began college at 
     the University of Idaho and then transferred to Stanford 
     University where she graduated with distinction and was a 
     member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. After Stanford, 
     Justice Eid served as a speechwriter to President Ronald 
     Reagan's Secretary of Education, William Bennett. She went on 
     to attend the University of Chicago Law School where she 
     served as Articles Editor on the Law Review, graduated with 
     High Honors, and was elected Order of the Coif. Justice Eid 
     began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Jerry Smith 
     on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 
     She then served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas on 
     the United States Supreme Court.
       In private practice at Arnold and Porter following her 
     clerkships, Justice Eid practiced both commercial and 
     appellate litigation for a variety of clients, including 
     significantly for the Hopi Tribe. She was a key part of 
     litigation teams asserting the Hopi Tribe's sovereign rights 
     in litigation against the United States Department of the 
     Interior, for example in the so-called ``Bennett Freeze'' 
     litigation, wherein the Hopi Tribe sought the right to 
     develop its lands and resources despite a federal moratorium 
     on such development.
       Justice Eid later became a tenured professor at the 
     University of Colorado Law School where she taught 
     Legislation, Constitutional Law, and Torts, and served as the 
     faculty clerkship advisor. During her time at the University 
     of Colorado, Justice Eid continued her service in the legal 
     community, being active in a number of bar organizations and 
     serving as a frequent speaker and author. In 2005 she was 
     appointed by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to serve 
     as the Solicitor General of Colorado. One year later, 
     Governor Bill Owens appointed Justice Eid to the Colorado 
     Supreme Court where she has served for 11 years, and was 
     successfully retained by the voters of Colorado on a 
     statewide ballot. While serving as a Justice on the 
     Colorado Supreme Court, Justice Eid has continued to teach 
     at the University of Colorado. She also serves as the 
     Chair of the Supreme Court Water Court Committee which 
     works to identify rule and statutory changes to achieve 
     efficiencies in water court cases, while maintaining 
     quality outcomes for all. Justice Eid was also appointed 
     by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the Federal 
     Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules--a prestigious 
     appointment where she has served alongside federal judges, 
     law professors, and lawyers to craft revisions to the 
     Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure--including her 
     support for efforts to allow tribes to file amicus briefs 
     as of right at the Supreme Court just as state governments 
     can. Justice Eid is also active in her community and 
     church. As the mother of two children, Justice Eid has 
     volunteered numerous hours at her children's schools and 
     for their extracurricular activities.
       NNABA is very concerned that federal appointees, whether 
     judicial, executive branch or independent agency 
     representatives, be well versed in and respectful of tribal 
     sovereignty. Justice Eid has significantly more experience 
     with Indian law cases than any other recent Circuit Court 
     nominee. Her Indian law cases generally reflect her respect 
     for tribes as sovereign governments and understanding of 
     tribes' roles in our federalism. Justice Eid has been 
     involved in five Indian law cases, each addressing only a 
     subset of myriad issues of importance to Indian tribes. We 
     have examined Justice Eid's record and are heartened by the 
     respect and fairness she has always shown tribes appearing 
     before the Colorado Supreme Court. We have canvassed NNABA 
     members who have appeared before or clerked for Justice Eid 
     (yes, Justice Eid has hired a Native American law clerk!) and 
     received unanimous positive feedback.
       Justice Eid has knowledge gained from living in and working 
     in a State which has Indian Country and strong tribal 
     governments, and also from being the spouse of a noted 
     American Indian Law practitioner, Mr. Troy Eid, who served as 
     Chair of the Indian Law and Order Commission, as the United 
     States Attorney for Colorado from 2006-2009, and who now co-
     chairs the national Indian law practice group at Greenberg 
     Traurig LLP, is admitted to practice before numerous tribal 
     courts and serves as a Tribal appointee on the Navajo Nation 
     Commission on Judicial Conduct. Her husband is widely 
     regarded as an expert in Indian law, and in particular on 
     tribal law enforcement and access to justice issues. In her 
     personal life, Justice Eid regularly interacts with tribal 
     leaders and Native American lawyers and often brings that 
     knowledge to bear on the bench. We believe her to be a 
     conscientious, diligent, careful and scholarly jurist. Each 
     NNABA member we heard from concluded that Justice Eid is a 
     woman of integrity and extremely well-qualified for the Tenth 
     Circuit.
       NNABA has long sought the nomination of federal judges with 
     knowledge of federal Indian law, and more generally with 
     experience on western issues directly impacting Indian tribes 
     such as water law and public lands. With Justice Neil 
     Gorsuch's elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court, that knowledge 
     base and experience is lacking in the current makeup of the 
     Tenth Circuit, and is a vitally important perspective. In 
     short, Justice Eid has shown herself to be interested and 
     engaged and willing to make the federal judiciary more 
     accessible to tribes, who regrettably often find themselves 
     in the position of federal court litigants.
       On the Colorado Supreme Court, Justice Eid has always 
     ``gotten it right'' on Indian law matters, as reflected in 
     her majority opinion in Pawnee Well Users v. Wolfe, 320 P.3d 
     320 (Colo. 2013) (tribal water rights), in her joining of the 
     dissent in Southern Ute v. King Consolidated Ditch Co., 250 
     P.3d 1226 (Colo. 2011), and in her votes to grant certiorari 
     in TMR v. TER, 2013 WL 3809175 (Indian Child Welfare Act 
     case) and Begaye v. People, 2011 WL 6162622 (Batson challenge 
     involving Native American jury pool). We also note her 
     important concurring opinion in Cash Advance & Preferred Cash 
     Loans v. State, 242 P.3d 1099 (Colo. 2010), principally a 
     case about tribal enterprises' sovereign immunity from suit 
     and service of process. This opinion illustrates Justice 
     Eid's respect for tribal sovereignty and we think is 
     emblematic of the practicality, fairness, the careful 
     attention to what the law requires, and the accessibility of 
     writing style that she would bring to the Tenth Circuit.
       In sum, while we do not expect that Justice Eid will agree 
     with tribal interests on every issue, we also believe that 
     she is immensely well qualified and we are confident that 
     Justice Eid is a mainstream, commonsense Westerner who will 
     rule fairly on Indian Country matters. We endorse her 
     confirmation to serve.
       Thank you for considering our views.
       And special thanks to Senators Daines and Gardner, who have 
     consistently solicited feedback from tribes and tribal 
     organizations regarding federal judicial nominations. NNABA 
     appreciates your continued commitment to Indian country, to 
     fortifying the government-to-government relationship between 
     the United States and tribes, and to ensuring that Native 
     American voices are heard at the highest levels of the 
     federal government.
       If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to 
     contact our NNABA Nominations and Endorsements Committee 
     Chair, and Immediate Past NNABA President Jennifer Weddle.
           Respectfully and humbly,

                                              Diandra Benally,

                                        President, National Native
                              American Bar Association, 2017-2018.

  Mr. GARDNER. I ask for the support of my colleagues for Justice Eid's 
confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the Eid nomination?
  Mr. WICKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. 
McCaskill), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) and the Senator 
from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 41, as follows:

[[Page S6982]]

  


                      [Rollcall Vote No. 259 Ex.]

                                YEAS--56

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--41

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Warner
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________