Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1065, the Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019, introduced by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch). Mr. Speaker, I was at one of these hearings where we were talking about this very issue and how it was just mind-boggling that we would not use current protocols, in terms of looking at national security clearances and the approval thereof. It was Mr. Lynch's initiative here to actually address that in a legislative manner, and I support his good work there. Millions of Americans use social media to interact with family members, friends, and followers. Public posts on social media websites occasionally provide a unique insight into a person's character and interests. In several high-profile cases, Federal contractors with valid security clearances who leaked classified information had posted highly suspicious entries on their social media accounts. For example, Edward Snowden used various online aliases to post suspicious content on the comment boards of a tech magazine before he received his security clearance. A simple check--mind you, a simple check--would have let us know of these suspicious activities and certainly could have worked to mitigate some of the damages that we all know too well. Private companies and private citizens can and often do search publicly available social media accounts to learn more about job applicants.…”