On the recordSeptember 14, 2017
I first thank Senator McCain and Senator Reed for their leadership, a model of bipartisanship at this incredibly important time with the rest of the world and the need to have a strong military. We know that. I think that is why we see this bill proceeding, but this bill will be so much stronger if we make sure that we not only defend our shores and stand by our troops but if we also defend the security of our democracy. I so appreciate Senator McCain and Senator Reed supporting this amendment I have with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. This must be included in this bill. We are having a situation where one or two Members on the other side of the aisle are not allowing it to proceed. The timing is critical. The 2018 election is only 400-some days away, which is why you see us pushing this bill and doing everything we can to get it either included in the managers' package or to get a vote. This amendment is supported by the Freedom Caucus, and in the House is led by the head of the Freedom Caucus. You may ask why. There are a lot of Republicans who would like to see States be able to keep running their own elections. I agree with that. I like the fact that we have decentralized elections, but the hacking was so real in this last election that our intelligence agencies have now established there were 21 States where there were attempts made to hack into their election software. We know this is going to happen again, and we must stand ready.…
