[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8861-8863]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COUNTERING IRAN'S DESTABILIZING ACTIVITIES ACT OF 2017--MOTION TO 
                                PROCEED

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 722, 
which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 110, S. 722, a bill to 
     impose sanctions with respect to Iran in relation to Iran's 
     ballistic missile program, support for acts of international 
     terrorism, and violations of human rights, and for other 
     purposes.

  Mrs. FISCHER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


            Unanimous Consent Agreement--Executive Calendar

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that 
notwithstanding rule XXII, at 1:30 p.m. today, the Senate proceed to 
executive session for the consideration of Calendar No. 99, the 
nomination of Scott Brown to be Ambassador to New Zealand; I further 
ask that there be 15 minutes of debate on the nomination equally 
divided in the usual form; that following the use or yielding back of 
time, the Senate vote on confirmation with no intervening action or 
debate; and that, if confirmed, the President be immediately notified 
of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I think we all know that former FBI 
Director Comey just completed his public testimony before the Senate 
Intelligence Committee. He testified about how President Trump asked 
him to pledge his loyalty to him personally and how the President asked 
the FBI to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor 
Michael Flynn.
  We know that last December, Michael Flynn had a discussion with the 
Russian Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Kislyak, about 
dropping some of the economic sanctions that the United States has 
imposed on Russia. We know that Michael Flynn subsequently lied about 
that conversation.
  We also know--and former FBI Director Comey discussed it today--that 
he

[[Page 8862]]

was fired by President Trump after he refused to pledge his loyalty to 
the President and did not drop the investigation into Michael Flynn.
  All of that has led to the appointment of a special counsel, Bob 
Mueller, who has now taken over the executive branch portion of the 
investigation--an investigation which will likely go on for some time. 
It is essential for the good of the country that we get to the truth of 
what happened and get a full accounting and report.
  As that investigation proceeds, there is one thing that should not 
wait, which is really what I want to talk about today. It is the need 
to take action against Russia for interfering in our democratic process 
and in our elections. There is no excuse for inaction on that front.
  We know that starting in 2015, Russia launched an unprecedented and 
multifaceted campaign to undermine our elections--a view shared by our 
entire intelligence community. The Kremlin, according to former 
Director of National Intelligence Clapper, wanted to ``undermine public 
faith in the U.S. democratic process.'' This was and remains the 
unanimous verdict of the intelligence community.
  We know that as part of this effort, Russia hacked the Democratic 
National Committee and the Clinton campaign. We know that Russia's 
military intelligence unit, the GRU, then released those emails to the 
public in increments which were timed to cause turmoil in the American 
electorate.
  Russia paid more than 1,000 people--human trolls--to work out of a 
facility in Saint Petersburg, Russia. These trolls spent their waking 
hours creating anti-Clinton fake news reports and disseminating these 
stories in key states and districts. Russia also used thousands of 
botnets to echo and amplify these fake news stories.
  Russia also targeted the election boards of nearly half the states in 
our country, successfully infiltrating at least four voter registration 
databases and gaining access to hundreds of thousands of voter records. 
They even attempted to infiltrate the Maryland State Board of Elections 
but were not successful.
  My point here today is not to debate the extent to which those 
Russian actions impacted or did not impact our elections; my point is 
that there is unanimous agreement that they interfered in our 
democratic process and that tomorrow they could interfere in it for 
other purposes and other means. We know they have targeted Senators and 
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and we can expect, 
especially if we do not take action, that these attacks will only grow 
in pace and sophistication as we head into future elections.
  We also know that Russia's attacks on democratic forms of government 
reach well beyond our own borders. The intelligence community has 
warned us that Moscow will apply the lessons learned from its Putin-
ordered campaign aimed at the U.S. Presidential election to future 
influence efforts worldwide, including against our allies and their 
election processes.
  In the months following our election, we have seen Russia use a 
similar disruption strategy to try to undermine moderate candidates 
throughout Europe, including elections in France and the Netherlands. 
The Kremlin has also targeted German Chancellor Merkel's Christian 
Democratic Party and German State computers.
  The goal of these Russian attacks against our democracy and those of 
our allies is clear. In testimony before Congress this year, experts 
across the political spectrum have stated that Russia's goal is 
straightforward--to undermine confidence in our democratic process, 
generate doubt about the legitimacy of our elections, and undermine the 
unity and resolve of the NATO alliance. They want to undermine 
confidence in democracy and the unity that has been demonstrated 
through NATO over many decades.
  We have seen these unprecedented attacks on our democracy and on the 
democracies of our allies. The world is looking at us--and I am sure 
many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are hearing from 
officials from around the world, including our NATO allies--and is 
asking: Why is it that the United States has not taken any action to 
protect its democracy?
  Why haven't we responded to an attack that goes to the heart of our 
democratic system of government? Why aren't we working closely and 
urgently with our allies to prevent these efforts to subvert our 
elections? Why, instead, are we hearing reports that President Trump is 
considering giving back the use of properties that the Russians used to 
spy on us, including one in my State of Maryland, on the Eastern Shore?
  Following the overwhelming evidence of Russian interference in our 
elections, the Obama administration took some very limited measures to 
punish the Russians for those efforts, including denying them access to 
those properties. Those sanctions, of course, are on top of the already 
existing sanctions with respect to Russia's actions in Ukraine. It is 
very important that we not talk about unwinding sanctions that have 
been put in place. That would only reward the Russians for the actions 
they have taken. Instead, we need to move on and pass legislation to 
send a clear message that we will sanction Russia for the actions it 
took to undermine our democratic process right here at home.
  As our colleague Senator McCain said yesterday on this floor, ``The 
United States of America needs to send a strong message to Vladimir 
Putin and any other aggressor that we will not tolerate attacks on our 
democracy.''
  This is the time for all Americans to be patriots and not partisans. 
So, as the Senate soon considers a measure relating to sanctions on 
Iran, it is important that, at the same time, we enact sanctions 
against Russia for its violations of our democratic process.
  I am a cosponsor of a number of bills that have been introduced to 
impose sanctions on Russia for that interference, and a number of those 
proposals are now being converted into amendments that will be offered. 
In addition to those Russian sanctions amendments that have been 
proposed, I have filed two additional amendments to ensure that we as a 
nation are thinking strategically about our long-term approach to 
combatting Russia's cyber warfare, that we are shoring up our own cyber 
defenses in advance of our next elections, and that we are not 
rewarding Putin for these attacks by returning the diplomatic compounds 
that he used to spy on us.
  My amendments would ensure that we have a concerted and unified 
strategy, developed with our NATO allies and European partners, to 
counter Russia's cyber attacks, including its efforts to undermine our 
democratic elections. We do not currently have any kind of coordinated, 
developed strategy here in our own country or with our NATO and other 
allies.
  My amendments would require the FBI to establish a high-level cyber 
security liaison for Presidential campaigns and major national 
political party committees to ensure that we do not have a repeat of 
the 2016 elections or at least that we are prepared to confront it. The 
liaison would share cyber threats as they arise and cyber security 
protocols with these organizations to stave off cyber attacks.
  These amendments would also prevent the executive branch from 
returning the diplomatic compounds that Russia used to spy on us. They 
would prevent the return of those compounds until the Secretary of 
State certifies that Russia is no longer conducting cyber attacks 
against the United States that threaten our national security, our 
economy, or our financial stability.
  It is outrageous that this administration is actually thinking of 
rolling back very modest sanctions that were put in place as a result 
of its attack on our democracy rather than joining us here in Congress 
on a bipartisan basis to make it clear that one cannot attack our 
democracy with impunity.
  Mr. Comey's testimony today and the work of the committees here and 
of Special Counsel Mueller are part of an ongoing effort to determine 
whether there was any collusion between the Russians and the Trump 
campaign.

[[Page 8863]]

That investigation will continue. People will investigate whether there 
are ongoing efforts to derail or disrupt or obstruct those 
investigations, and that will be a process which will play out over 
many months. But there is no reason to wait another moment before we 
take action on the question for which there is no dispute and no 
disagreement--the fact that the Russians interfered in our elections. 
Maybe yesterday they interfered because they had a preference for one 
candidate. Maybe the next time they will interfere because they have a 
preference for another candidate or another party. The point is that, 
on this issue, we need to show unity.
  Our allies are asking us: How is it that you can sit on your hands 
and do nothing in response to what is an obvious attack on your 
democratic process? How can you even be considering relieving sanctions 
on Russia after its attack on your democracy?
  I hope we will quickly take up legislation to impose sanctions on 
Russia, to send a strong signal to Russia and to our NATO allies and 
others around the world that we will not stand idly by when we have 
that kind of attack on our democratic process, that we will act, and we 
will act now.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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