[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Election Security

  Madam President, on election security, tomorrow the Senate will 
gather for a briefing by senior officials of the defense, law 
enforcement, and intelligence community on the threats facing our 
elections in 2020.
  Russia has interfered in our elections. Everyone agrees with that. 
Our administration is doing nothing to stop it from occurring again in 
2020, so we need a briefing by law enforcement on how serious the 
threat is--they have said ``serious'' in public statements--and what we 
are doing to stop it.
  I am glad that Leader McConnell agreed to my request and has worked 
with us to schedule a briefing. It should dispel all doubt in this 
Chamber about the need to take action ahead of next year's Presidential 
elections.
  I would say this: A briefing is important; a briefing is necessary, 
but it is by no means sufficient. We must then debate and adopt 
measures to protect our democracy and preserve the sanctity of our 
elections. Even though Leader McConnell has finally agreed to have this 
hearing, he has so far been content--once again, a legislative 
graveyard--to have the Senate do nothing--do nothing--when it comes to 
one of the greatest threats to our democracy, that a foreign power will 
reach in and interfere for its own purposes, not to help Americans.
  Bipartisan bills exist. We could put them on the floor right now. 
This is not a partisan issue. Senators Rubio and Van Hollen have the 
DETER Act. Senators Menendez and Graham have the Russia sanctions bill. 
But all of these bills have languished, victims of Leader McConnell's 
legislative graveyard. We have many more options when it comes to 
election security--legislation from Senators Klobuchar and Warner, 
Feinstein and Wyden, Blumenthal and many others. It is time we move on 
these bills. As we continue to negotiate appropriations bills, we 
should include significant resources for election security. Nothing 
less than the vitality of and faith in our democracy is at stake.
  There are not two sides to this issue. A foreign adversary attacked 
our democracy. I expect that Special Counsel Mueller's testimony next 
week will highlight once again that Russia's efforts to interfere in 
our democracy were sweeping and systematic.
  What are we waiting for? What are we waiting for--for them to 
interfere again and for more Americans, whether they be Republican or 
Democrat or Independent, left, right, or center, to no longer believe 
this democracy is legit? For 243 years, since the Declaration of 
Independence and certainly since the signing of the Constitution a few 
years later, we have had faith in this democracy, even when the outcome 
isn't what we want. But that faith is already eroding in good part 
because foreign powers can interfere in our elections. We cannot--we 
cannot--let that happen, no matter who you are, what your politics are. 
But Leader McConnell is standing in the way of what could eat at the 
roots of our democracy and eventually make this mighty oak, the 
American experiment, fall. We don't want that to happen.
  The briefing tomorrow is a good step, but it is only one step. We 
need to take more. We need to act, to prepare our democracy for the 
challenges ahead.