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[Page S2503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Mueller Report
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, the Mueller report, released earlier
this month, was divided into two sections. One is detailing the
concerted and coordinated effort by President Putin to interfere in our
Presidential election, an effort the Trump campaign welcomed and at
times amplified. It also included a second section, which laid out a
pattern of dishonesty and interference with a Federal investigation by
the President and his team.
Now, today I want to focus the Senate's attention on the first half
of the report: the coordinated effort by President Putin to interfere
in our elections, which is an unbelievable thing, a threat to our
democracy, and something every American should be concerned about.
Though we have long known about President Putin's interference in the
2016 elections--we have all known about that--the conclusions of the
Mueller report demand a vigorous response by this Congress to ensure
that Putin pays a significant price for his actions and that Putin and
other adversaries will not consider a similar action in the 2020
election cycle. What occurred in 2016 was nothing short of an assault
on our democracy and an attack on our most revered traditions. It was
the kind of foreign influence feared by the Framers and warned about in
the Federalist Papers. It is the very reason we have an emoluments
clause in our Constitution.
Even so, President Trump and his administration met these attacks
with apathy. The President has routinely sought to undermine and weaken
efforts by this Chamber to sanction Russia. The Treasury Department
recently cut a deal to reduce sanctions on the Russian oligarch Oleg
Deripaska.
Just last week, the Times reported that then-Homeland Security
Secretary Nielsen was told to not even mention election security in
front of the President, even though she reportedly considered it one of
America's highest priorities as we head into 2020.
In the face of the administration's disturbing indifference, it is
clear the Senate must act. In the past, this body has proudly come
together, bipartisan, to pass sanctions on Russia. We have not done
enough yet to hold the guilty parties of 2016 accountable, and we must
do more to ensure that a foreign power cannot meddle in our elections
ever again. With that in mind, I have three proposals for my colleagues
to consider.
First, we should pass additional sanctions against President Putin,
his cronies, and other adversaries considering similar malign
activities. There are multiple bipartisan sanctions bills awaiting
action, including the Defending American Security from Kremlin
Aggression Act, called DASKA, and the Defending Elections from Threats
by Establishing Redlines Act, the DETER Act. I would urge the chairmen
of those committees to take up those bills and send them to the floor,
where Leader McConnell should bring them up for serious consideration.
Second, we should commit serious--and I mean serious--resources to
election security. FBI Director Wray and other intelligence officials
have testified that 2016 was not an isolated incident. Foreign powers
will try again to interfere in our elections, they posited, in 2020 and
beyond. Director Wray--and this should trouble every American--called
2018 a dress rehearsal for our adversaries. It might not just be Moscow
next time. It could be Beijing, Tehran, or Pyongyang. If our elections
are susceptible to foreign influence, our democracy is at risk.
We know--we know right now--that another foreign influence campaign
is coming, and if we don't take steps to secure our elections, it would
be astonishingly irresponsible. In fiscal year 2018, we were able to
allocate $380 million in funding through the appropriations process for
States to harden their election infrastructure and help improve
election administration. I thought this was very important and pushed
hard to get it in that budget, that appropriation. Unfortunately,
though, in fiscal year 2019, our Republican colleagues blocked us from
allocating more funding to the States, despite overwhelming demand.
Why? Why would Republicans want to not stop Russia or someone else from
interfering in our elections? It is befuddling. Make no mistake,
though, Democrats will push for more election security money in the
upcoming appropriations process.
We should also take up the bipartisan Secure Elections Act. Ranking
Member Leahy and Ranking Member Klobuchar are the leaders on this
issue, and I hope their diligence will pay off once again.
Third, we must hear from the intelligence and defense community about
the coming threats of 2020. So today I would like to request that
Leader McConnell--I am officially requesting him to schedule an all-
Senators classified briefing with the leaders of the Departments of
Homeland Security, FBI, and the Cyber Command to inform Senators about
the threat of foreign interference in the 2020 election cycle. We must
be very aware of these threats and take immediate steps to avoid the
repeat of 2016.
The Senate can do these three things quickly, and each one of them
should be bipartisan and noncontroversial. There are no doubt other
ideas and legislation along these lines we should consider, but this is
a place to get started. I look forward to having discussions with my
colleagues about these items in the coming days.
