Political Quotes

“We know from our law enforcement and intelligence agencies that there was an effort by Russia to covertly influence our elections. And we know that, according to Republican Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, Russia is both covertly and overtly trying to influence elections right now in France and in Germany. What most folks may not know is that right now there is a loophole in our campaign finance laws that would allow foreigners to use their wealth to influence our elections, possibly including wealthy individuals aligned with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and corporations controlled by Putin allies. This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. There was more than $1 billion spent by outside groups in the 2016 election. It is virtually impossible to know where all this money is coming from. While U.S. laws prohibit foreign money from being used in our elections, there is a loophole that could allow this money in. That is why I am introducing the Election Protection and Integrity Certification Act to close that loophole and keep money from Russia and other foreign sources out of our election system. Mr. Speaker, our democracy is under attack and Democrats and Republicans need to join together to stop Russian influence in our elections. We need to close the foreign money loophole. ____________________”