More Than 170 Members of House of Representatives Join Effort to Create Independent Commission to Investigate Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections
More Than 170 Members of House of Representatives Join Effort to Create Independent Commission to Investigate Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15), the Ranking Member of the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD-07), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, are reintroducing their Protecting Our Democracy Act to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election.
They originally introduced their legislation on December 7, 2016, at the end of the 114th Congress. Since then, they have obtained the support of more than 170 Members of the House of Representatives, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, and all members of House Democratic leadership; the Ranking Members of all House Committees; and all Democratic members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Their bill would create a 12-member, bipartisan, independent commission empowered to interview witnesses, obtain documents, issue subpoenas, and receive public testimony to examine attempts by the Russian government or others to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or undermine trust in last year’s U.S. elections. The commission would examine any similar efforts by any other foreign governments or entities and would issue a final report with recommendations to Congress and the President within 18 months of enactment.
“There’s overwhelming agreement across America that our democracy was attacked this past presidential election. Now everyone’s asking what our nation’s leaders will do about it. Our legislation answers that question by identifying who was responsible and telling Americans what we will do to secure our next election,” said Ranking Member Swalwell. “We continue to seek Republican cosponsors because this must be about country, not party. If we do nothing, we are telling the world our elections are open for influence by the most aggressive meddler. With 17 intelligence agencies agreeing that Russia interfered in our election, we most move quickly to have an independent, bipartisan, de-politicized commission to fully examine the circumstances, inform the public of its findings, and develop a plan to prevent this from ever happening again.”
“The most senior leaders of our Intelligence Community testified yesterday that Russia interfered in our elections, which Republicans and Democrats alike have compared to an act of war,” said Ranking Member Cummings. “This grave threat calls for a truly bipartisan and independent commission that can put politics aside and conduct a complete review of this interference in our democratic process, and make concrete recommendations to protect our nation from being undermined by any foreign power. We cannot allow this to become the new normal for what we will accept as Americans.”
The 12 members of the independent commission would be appointed within 90 days of enactment of the Swalwell-Cummings bill by the Speaker of the House (3), Senate Majority Leader (3), House Minority Leader (3), and Senate Minority Leader (3). The commission would choose a chair and vice chair of different parties. No federal officers or employees would be eligible to serve on the commission. Appointees would be prominent U.S. citizens with national recognition and significant depth of experience in governmental service, law enforcement, armed services, law, public administration, intelligence gathering, foreign affairs, cybersecurity, and federal elections.
This week, a bipartisan group of former senior intelligence and defense officials – including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, former Acting Director of Central Intelligence Michael Morrell, and former Member of Congress and 9/11 Commission Vice Chair Lee Hamilton – sent a letter urging Congress to create an “independent, bipartisan commission” to “understand fully and publicly what happened, how we were so vulnerable, and what we can do to protect our democracy in future elections.”
The bill’s original cosponsors include:
- Eric Swalwell
- Elijah Cummings
- Sheila Jackson Lee
- Alma Adams
- Pete Aguilar
- Nanette Barragan
- Karen Bass
- Joyce Beatty
- Sanford Bishop
- Earl Blumenauer
- Lisa Blunt-Rochester
- Suzanne Bonamici
- Madeleine Bordallo
- Brendan Boyle
- Robert Brady
- Anthony Brown
- Julia Brownley
- Cheri Bustos
- G.K. Butterfield
- Michael Capuano
- Salud Carbajal
- Tony Cardenas
- Matt Cartwright
- Andre Carson
- Kathy Castor
- Joaquin Castro
- Judy Chu
- David Cicilline
- Katherine Clark
- Yvette Clarke
- William Lacy Clay
- Emanuel Cleaver
- James Clyburn
- Steve Cohen
- Gerald E Connolly
- John Conyers, Jr.
- Jim Cooper
- J. Luis Correa
- Jim Costa
- Joe Courtney
- Joseph Crowley
- Henry Cuellar
- Danny K. Davis
- Susan Davis
- Peter DeFazio
- Diana DeGette
- John Delaney
- Rosa DeLauro
- Mark DeSaulnier
- Theodore Deutch
- Debbie Dingell
- Lloyd Doggett
- Michael Doyle
- Keith Ellison
- Eliot Engel
- Anna Eshoo
- Adriano Espaillat
- Elizabeth Esty
- Dwight Evans
- Bill Foster
- Lois Frankel
- Marcia Fudge
- Ruben Gallego
- John Garamendi
- Vicente Gonzalez
- Al Green
- Gene Green
- Raul Grijalva
- Luis Gutiérrez
- Alcee Hastings
- Denny Heck
- Jim Himes
- Steny Hoyer
- Jared Huffman
- Pramila Jayapal
- Hakeem Jeffries
- Eddie Bernice Johnson
- Hank Johnson
- Marcy Kaptur
- William Keating
- Robin Kelly
- Joseph P. Kennedy III
- Ro Khanna
- Ruben Kihuen
- Daniel Kildee
- Derek Kilmer
- Ron Kind
- Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Ann McLane Kuster
- James Langevin
- Rick Larsen
- John Larson
- Brenda Lawrence
- Barbara Lee
- Sander Levin
- John Lewis
- Ted Lieu
- David Loebsack
- Zoe Lofgren
- Alan Lowenthal
- Nita Lowey
- Ben Ray Lujan
- Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Stephen Lynch
- Carolyn Maloney
- Doris Matsui
- Betty McCollum
- A. Donald McEachin
- James P. McGovern
- Jerry McNerney
- Gregory Meeks
- Grace Meng
- Seth Moulton
- Gwen Moore
- Stephanie Murphy
- Jerrold Nadler
- Grace Napolitano
- Richard Neal
- Donald Norcross
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Beto O’Rourke
- Frank Pallone
- Jimmy Panetta
- Bill Pascrell
- Nancy Pelosi
- Ed Perlmutter
- Scott Peters
- Collin Peterson
- Stacey Plaskett
- Mark Pocan
- Jared Polis
- David Price
- Mike Quigley
- Jamie Raskin
- Kathleen Rice
- Cedric Richmond
- Jacky Rosen
- Lucille Roybal-Allard
- Raul Ruiz
- C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
- Bobby Rush
- Tim Ryan
- Gregorio Sablan
- Linda Sanchez
- John Sarbanes
- Janice Schakowsky
- Adam Schiff
- Bradley Schneider
- Bobby Scott
- Jose Serrano
- Terri Sewell
- Carol Shea-Porter
- Brad Sherman
- Kyrsten Sinema
- Albio Sires
- Louise Slaughter
- Adam Smith
- Darren Soto
- Jackie Speier
- Thomas Suozzi
- Mark Takano
- Bennie Thompson
- Mike Thompson
- Dina Titus
- Paul Tonko
- Norma Torres
- Niki Tsongas
- Juan Vargas
- Marc Veasey
- Filemon Vela
- Nydia Velazquez
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz
- Maxine Waters
- Bonnie Watson Coleman
- Peter Welch
- John Yarmuth