[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11922]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN U.S. ELECTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my deep concern with a 
pattern of foreign interference in U.S. elections and the need to 
confront Russian aggression and interference in all of its malicious 
forms.
  Over the past several months, we have seen a clear pattern of 
cyberattacks and leaks designed to target our electoral institutions, 
including the DNC, DCCC, and our State election agencies, and to 
discredit the example of our democracy around the world. Evidence 
collected by private security firms indicates that these attacks are 
part of a Russian intelligence operation, a campaign of propaganda and 
disinformation known as active measures.
  Sowing distrust and chaos in U.S. elections by a foreign adversary 
should concern Americans of all parties. Along with Senator Feinstein, 
I have written to the President to urge that he make a public 
attribution of these attacks. If a hostile foreign power is attempting 
to disrupt or influence our elections, the American people have a right 
to know it. I also urge the GOP to refrain from using hacked documents, 
which can be easily doctored or seeded with false information. An 
attack on our election system is an attack on our democracy, and all 
Americans must stand against it.
  It is time we acknowledge the hard truth that Russia poses a 
significant threat not only to the United States, but to freedom-loving 
people all over the world. It has invaded its neighbors and attempted 
to remake the map of Europe through the use of force. It has interfered 
in the elections of its neighbors. Now it is attempting to interfere in 
our own elections.
  The GOP nominee sees nothing wrong with Russian behavior. He admires 
Putin, belittles NATO, expresses recognition for the illegal annexation 
of Crimea, and also expresses a positive receptivity to the idea of 
repealing sanctions on Russia for its illegal annexation of part of the 
land of its neighbor. He invites Russia to illegally hack his opponent.
  This is dangerous. We are now engaged in a high stakes battle of 
ideas around the world. The United States, as always, is the beacon of 
democracy; and Russia, the champion of a creeping authoritarianism that 
is spreading its destructive influences in the Caucasus, Eastern 
Europe, and the West.
  It is now an iron curtain descending across the continent by the slow 
smothering of freedoms the world holds dear: the right to choose one's 
own representatives, the right to speak as we choose, the right to 
associate with like mind and intent, and what has been described as the 
most precious right of all, the right to simply be left alone.
  All of these universal human rights are under assault by a newly 
aggressive and belligerent Kremlin. We need a Commander in Chief who 
will resist this assault, not endorse; who will affront Russian 
aggression, not ratify it; who has the experience, judgment, and 
fitness to meet this and other grave challenges facing the United 
States of America.

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