Political Quotes

“I would like to speak about the Prevention of Foreign Interference with Elections Act, which I introduced in June. The bill is cosponsored by all 10 Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, plus Senators Markey and Smith. This bill is necessary because we know foreign actors are working to influence our elections. The Mueller report showed us how Russia interfered in 2016, and we can expect it to happen again in 2020. The bill's goal is to provide enhanced criminal penalties to prevent foreign interference in our elections. The bill makes five changes to current law in order to accomplish that. First, it explicitly makes it a crime to work with foreign nationals to interfere in U.S. elections. Second, the bill prohibits Americans from helping foreign nationals funnel illegal contributions or donations into U.S. elections. Third, the bill expands restrictions on foreign-financed election ads. Notably, it restricts foreign-financed issue ads and foreign- financed digital ads. Fourth, the bill creates a civil action so that when the Attorney General learns of foreign interference, the Justice Department can immediately get an injunction. And fifth, the bill modifies immigration law so if a non-U.S. citizen is convicted of interfering in our elections, they would be inadmissible into the United States. Unless we take action, Russia or another foreign power will interfere with our elections. It is not a question of if, it is a question of when.…”