Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong opposition to this rule so that it can be amended to include consideration of H.R. 356, Protecting Our Democracy Act, which is sponsored by the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) and yours truly. Mr. Speaker, we are presently in a struggle for the soul of our democracy. This legislation would create an independent commission to examine Russian attacks on our electoral process. I am pleased that all of my House Democratic colleagues have joined in this bill and that similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate. I want to be clear about why we are here today. It is not just about the past. It is about the future. The CIA, the FBI, and the NSA have issued a declassified report warning that Russian entities acted under the orders of Vladimir Putin to execute ``an influence campaign,'' and they say they did this ``to undermine public faith in the United States democratic process.'' Again, I say: our democracy is under attack. Our intelligence agencies explain that Moscow's attacks will not end with the attacks they launched in 2016. They warn that Moscow ``will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the U.S. Presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States and worldwide. . . . '' Democracy under attack. These Russian attacks on our electoral process were attacks on our Constitution, our people, and they are attacks on our great Nation.…”