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CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE APPLAUDS HOUSE PASSAGE OF H.R. 2722 – THE SECURING AMERICA’S FUTURE ELECTIONS ACT

June 27, 2019

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robin K. Chand

June 27, 2019 202-225-3816

Press Statement

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Applauds House Passage of H.R. 2722 – the Securing America's Future Elections Act

Jackson Lee: "As the Mueller Report concluded, "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." In his only public remarks made since he was appointed Special Counsel, Robert Mueller reiterated at his farewell press conference held at the Department of Justice on May 29, 2017, the "central allegation of our indictments—that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election" and that "allegation deserves the attention of every American. American elections are to be decided by American voters free from foreign interference or sabotage, and that is why I supported H.R. 2722, the "Securing America's Federal Elections Act" or SAFE Act. I urge the Senate to consider this legislation and will work tirelessly towards its passage and will not relent until its enactment into law."

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, senior Member of the House Committees on Budget, Judiciary and Homeland Security issued this statement following House passage of H.R. 2722:

"I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 2722, the Securing America's Federal Elections Act, and I applaud its passage this afternoon on the floor of the House of Representatives. I strongly support this legislation because the linchpin of representative democracy is public confidence in the political system, regime, and community. That confidence in turn rests upon the extent to which the public has faith that the system employed to select its leaders accurately reflects its preferences. At bottom, this means that all citizens casting a vote have a fundamental right and reasonable expectation that their votes count and are counted. This concern is particularly salient because of the unprecedented interference by a hostile foreign power to secure victory for its preferred candidate in the 2016 presidential election and the determination of that hostile power to repeat its success in future American elections. That is why it necessary to pass H.R. 2722, the SAFE Act, so comprehensive election security reform measures can be implemented.

"Specifically, the SAFE Act authorizes a $600 million Election Assistance Commission (EAC) grant program to assist in securing election infrastructure and a $5 million grant program to study and report on accessible paper ballot voting systems. The bill provides grants to State and local election officials to replace aging voting machines with voter-verified paper ballot voting systems and grants to support hiring IT staff, cybersecurity training, security and risk vulnerability assessments, and other activities to secure election infrastructure. The bill also provides states with $175 million in biannual sustainment funding to help maintain election infrastructure and, to ensure States can maintain security gains, provides each State with no less than $1 per voter who participated in the most recent election to maintain election security.

"Under the legislation, voting machines are required to be manufactured in the United States and states are mandated to conduct risk-limiting audits, a critical tool to ensuring the integrity of elections. These audits, which involve hand counting a certain number of ballots and using statistical methods to determine the accuracy of the original vote tally, are effective at detecting any incorrect election outcomes, whether caused by a cyberattack or something more mundane like a programming error. The SAFE Act also directs the National Science Foundation to administer a $5 million grant program to study and report on accessible paper ballot verification mechanisms, including for individuals with disabilities, voters with difficulties in literacy, and voters whose primary language is not English.

"Another salutary feature of the SAFE Act is that it requires accountability for election technology vendors and sets cybersecurity standards and prohibits wireless and internet connectivity on systems that count ballots or upon which voters mark their ballots or systems are configured. The SAFE Act also limits state expenditures on goods and services with grant monies provided under this Act to purchases from "qualified election infrastructure vendors." The EAC, in coordination with DHS, establishes the criteria for achieving the status of "qualified election infrastructure vendor," which includes maintaining IT infrastructure in a manner consistent with the best practices provided by the EAC and agreeing to report any known or suspected security incidents involving election infrastructure.

"There is compelling reason for the Congress to pass the SAFE Act by overwhelming margins in the House and Senate because to date the President and his Administration has shown little interest or inclination in taking effective action to deter and prevent interference by foreign powers in American elections. Let us remember that the Intelligence Community Assessment ("ICA") of January 2017 assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election in which Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Democratic presidential candidate and implacable foe of Vladimir Putin, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, facilitate the election of Vladimir Putin's preferred candidate, Donald J. Trump. Russia's interference in the election processes of democratic countries is not new but a continuation of the "Translator Project," an ongoing information warfare effort launched by Vladimir Putin in 2014 to use social media to manipulate public opinion and voters in western democracies. Instead of supporting the unanimous assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, the President attacked and sought to discredit and undermine the agencies and officials responsible for detecting and assessing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as well as those responsible for investigating and bringing to justice the conspirators who committed crimes against the United States our law enforcement.

"And at a meeting in Helsinki, Finland, rather than embracing the conclusions of the U.S. Intelligence Community, the President of the United States sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in heaping scorn on the IC's assessment regarding Russian interference and called the U.S. Justice Department investigation into Russia's interference led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller "the greatest political witch hunt in history." As the Mueller Report concluded, "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." In his only public remarks made since he was appointed Special Counsel, Robert Mueller reiterated at his farewell press conference held at the Department of Justice on May 29, 2017, the "central allegation of our indictments—that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election" and that "allegation deserves the attention of every American."

"American elections are to be decided by American voters free from foreign interference or sabotage, and that is why I supported H.R. 2722, the "Securing America's Federal Elections Act" or SAFE Act. I urge the Senate to consider this legislation and will work tirelessly towards its passage and will not relent until its enactment into law."

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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is a Democrat from Texas's 18th Congressional District. She is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security.