[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 183 (Saturday, October 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S6426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 4617

  Mr. President, we know that foreign election interference continues 
to be a real threat in America. Just this week we learned of a foreign 
influence campaign carried out by Iran in which fake, menacing emails 
were sent to Democratic voters who were told to vote for Trump or ``we 
will come after you.'' The origin, we are told by intelligence 
agencies, is Iran.
  FBI Director Wray has said that Russia has been ``very active in its 
efforts to influence the election'' and seeks to ``denigrate Democratic 
nominee Joe Biden''--two countries up to their elbows in trying to make 
a mess of our election campaign.
  It is well past time to address this threat. We spend a time of lot 
talking about it. We could do it today by passing the House-passed 
SHIELD Act.
  This is a bill passed in the House of Representatives that would 
establish a duty to report election interference from foreign entities 
so the FBI and the Federal Election Commission are aware when foreign 
powers are offering unlawful--unlawful--election assistance to 
campaigns and other political committees.
  This bill would restrict the exchange of campaign information with 
foreign entities by making it illegal to offer nonpublic campaign 
material to foreign governments and those linked with foreign 
governments.
  The bill would improve transparency by applying existing campaign 
advertising requirements to online advertisements, and it would close 
critical loopholes in the law to further limit political spending by 
foreign nationals and foreign governments to try to influence the 
outcome of a U.S. election.
  Finally, the bill would prohibit deceptive practices about voting 
procedures to stop individuals from providing false information about 
voting rules and qualifications for voting.
  In light of these ongoing threats to both Presidential candidates, 
President Trump as well as Vice President Biden--this is a bipartisan 
attack. They are not just going after Democrats or Republicans; they 
are going after all of us. Isn't it about time we said that we are fed 
up with it, and it has to stop? That is all this bill does. It is 
bipartisan.
  In order to proceed to the consideration of this bill in time for it 
to affect the outcome of this election, perhaps, H.R. 4617, the SHIELD 
Act, I ask that we proceed to consideration of it to prevent foreign 
interference in elections. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, reserving the right object, as I said 
earlier, the Senate is currently considering the nomination of a highly 
qualified nominee to be an Associate of the Supreme Court. This request 
is another procedural move just to belabor the process.
  They voted to adjourn until after the election four times this week, 
so, obviously, this bill, even though it may have merits that we need 
to discuss, should not be done in this format.
  Continuing to consider this highly qualified nominee to the Supreme 
Court is the utmost, most important thing that we should do here. 
Therefore, I object to proceeding to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Illinois