Its a great turnout on an important issue and i am heartened to see so many people here for this conversation. I want to welcome you here. Im the director of the alliance for a securing democracy. As an organization dedicated to strengthening Regional National global challenges and opportunities in the spirit of the marshall plan, weve always been at the forefront of his challenges in protecting the principles of democracy. Thats why we launched the democracy last summer in recognition of the need for a bipartisan transatlantic effort to understand and others are using to undermine democracies and strategies to defend against and deter such activities. They are all too familiar with these activities. It will be the surest way to preserve the foundation of strength. Over a year ago they assessed and moscow will apply the Lessons Learned for from the campaign ordering that the election to future influence efforts worldwide. We know the efforts to undermine the democracy havent stopped as the networks on social media continue to have vitriol the vitriol in the daily discourse to turn americans against one another. It is essential that we come together across party lines to defend democracy. This is i know all of by no all of us here today believe a National Security imperative. The codirector and i outlined a bipartisan approach to this challenge in the recent article on the playbook but time is not on our side and we need to take action along with our partners and allies and though it is a privilege tone host across party lines leading efforts to counter the threat and i cant think of a better moderator than and the former secretary of t Homeland Security who we are honored to have as a member for the alliance of the Advisory Council secretary chertoff is a leader on these issues and championed the need for more effective measures to counter the efforts to undermine the u. S. And europe. He will later introduce the leading voice in the house on the need for meaningful action to counter the efforts to undermine democracies. But first we will hear from senator cardin about the report highlighting these issues. I know weve all learned a great deal from it. He was elect by the people of maryland in 2006 after two decades in the house and as the Ranking Member on the Senate ForeignRelations Committee hes worked to further the National Security and protect the human rights and wants to ensure that corruption and respect of human rights are integrated into policy and including the championship of the act and among a number of roles hes been a commissioner on into the member of the asia the Asia Pacific International cybersecurity policy subcommittee. It is my privilege to welcome you to today. [applause] thank you for that introduction but more importantly for the great work youre doingyou are doing on the alliance for security democracy. I want to thank the German Marshall Fund for the leadership and work here at the German Marshall Fund. Its been an incredible asset on the transatlantic relationships and encouraging dialogue and support for Democratic Institutions and its good to be here with Michael Chertoff whos done an a Incredible Service for the country and it is an honor to be here with you. One of the leading forces in the house against the influence, so i hope that people understand our concern about the behavior isis a bipartisan concern. The alliance for security democracy talked about is an effort to bring to the attention of the American People, the public what the thread is all about to the Democratic Institutions so it is a great leadin to why we did this report im releasing today on behalf of the democratic members of the Foreign Relations committee, the asymmetrical assault on democracy and russia in russia and europe and implications for the u. S. National security. This is the report we are releasing today thats about 200 pages. Just shows you how well we plan in advance. We are releasing it today and i first want to acknowledge the incredible work of the staff. This is an effort that was a great deal of compiling informationt and working with people from other countries and government representatives. They led the effort on the staff and i thank him for his professionalism and dedication to the task. He had the help of general henry and i thank both of them for their extraordinary work. It wouldnt have been possible without the leadership of the stafff director so i just want to acknowledge my name might be on the report but it represents the professionalism and dedication of our staff people. We have to make a decision early in 2017 as to devoting the Staff Resources and time in order to this together because it would be a tremendous effort to get this comprehensive report done. It was a small part of the overall design to try to compromise Democratic Institutions so we immediately informed the staff of the game plan that we were doing and we kept them engaged as we went through the process so this is notge an effort to exclude oneparty much of what is in the report is with the assistance of republican members so i just want that to be clear. The countries are outlined in this report and we are prepared to move forward. There is a long tradition in congress of republicans and democrats working together to counter the abuse against its own citizens, our allies and Democratic Institutions. The sanctions bill Congress Passed was with near unanimous support as a reflection of the profession. I was proud to work on the legislation with the team that included the likes of republican senators Lindsey Graham and marco rubio as well as Democratic Senators bob menendez and dick durbin. It strengthens the ability of the political system and relies on Bipartisan Solutions to the National Security challenges. Weve certainly done that in regards to the threat posed on the United States. During the cold war, the kernel, a longtime head of the operation said it before adversary could only be defeated through this strategic effort. That was during the cold war and they were would use traditional Media Methods from the methodical and slow. By todays modern Technology Tools of the internet to speed and sophistication of the weapons have about his likeminded brethren on the Democratic Institutions around the world. Today the government of the Russian Federation is engaged in relentless assaults against Democratic Institutions, universal values and the rule of law at home and r abroad. Vladimir putin to practice these attacks with the Arsenal Cyber attacks, disinformation, support for the groups, weaponization of energy resources, organized crime, corruption and military aggression. Hes not 10 feet tall, nor should we make him out to be. His military remained substandard and he has few adherents aroundmy the world. Russias economy ranks over 12 in the world and it is 7 the size of the u. S. Economy into smaller than countries such as italy, south korea or canada. Forced to resort to such techniques because that is all he has to do to a measure of success especially in 2016, the attacks have grown in intensity and complexity the past few years with every attack his learning and honing in on his technique. This began well before the administration was designed and this isnt something just all of a sudden started. According to the organized Crime Reporting project hes accumulated tens of billions of dollars in stolen wealth. He has an active and effective Propaganda Machine and tried to splinter the eu like internet trolls in the public dialogue in the uk and slowing the integration talks with the European Union. Hes been able to stall progress of georgia, ukraine secession and into nato through aggressive military incursions and occupations. We could acknowledge the effectiveness of the tools. They brought mr. Putin to power in russia. The techniques were first developed at home against the russian people and now hes using them globally. Through our analysis it became clear several have stepped up to the challenge for some in europe the u. S. Elections were a wakeup call that led to the political resolve and action. For others, theyve been present for decades and organized accordingly. We learned in this investigation that the arsenal could be countered with the right mixture of political will, defense and deterrence. The countries that achieved a degree of success, one thing in common, Political Leadership who publicly says enough is enough and from there mobilized the bureaucracies to respond. In contrast to the Current Situation in the United States following the attacks like pearl harbor, 9 11, u. S. President s rallied the country and the world to address the challenges yet today the current president of the United States barely acknowledges the threat posed by the repeated attacks on democratic governance and institutions let alone exercise the kind of leadership history has shown thats necessary to counter this kind of aggression. Never before have they clearly ignored such a great threat and growing threat to u. S. National security. We have to be careful not to confuse President Trumps inaction with the patriotism of our Honorable Services in government who are clear eyed into doing their best to respond to the sanctions laws on russia and provide that the posters Democratic Institutions abroad. They are strengthening their presence in europe in helping to defend our friends in nato intelligence, National Security and Law Enforcement officials worked day and night to protect us and i hope this report can offer a constructive policy forward into space to implement it for those in government who acknowledge the threat and i draw inspiration from europes many valuable lessons can be drawn from our friend let me highlight a few examples. France has fostered a strong cooperation between government, political and media actors for the cyber hacking and smear campaigns and in response to what they view as possible effort to hack the Digital Infrastructure of the political campaigns frances main Cyber Security agency the French Network and information Security Agency and the cyber threat in the fall of 2016. That agency offered Cyber Security awareness and training seminars for all french Political Parties ahead of the election this past spring. All parties participated with an understandable exception of the transnational we understand why thee decline. The campaign was a target of russias emails certainly before the runoff elections. France was prepared for that attack and they made a point to chastise mr. Putin for the meddling in democracies and move to cybersecurity and electoral procedures. They understand russia was actively engaged in and during the referendum they had the Energy Supplies to form the public about the activities of the Security Services and strengthen the defense against Cyber Attacks and disinformation. The countries have been particularly good at focusing on their individual citizens and empowering them with the thinking skills to fight disinformation, for examples we been incorporated into its primary schools the curriculum to teach digital competency including how to differentiate between the reliable and unreliable sources even one of the most popular cartoon characters that has been recruited to help children learn about the dangers of fake news and the need to check the sources of information. In germany all Political Parties and 2016 accept, you guessed it, agreed not to use these tools in their campaigning. They warned in a major address at the fake news and disinformation tactics the interior ministry also proposed the creation of a center of defense against misinformation noting that the people of turkish origin are especially susceptible of the information and recommended in the political educational work of those groups. I think most of you are familiar with the case that appeared in germany the fake news created by a russian state tv that was being that the russian germanspeaking population to protest against migrants. Here in the United States we must respond with urgency toot this threat. If we dont, moscow will be emboldened tol undermine the stability again and the United States in the midterm elections in 2018 and president ial in 2020. Make no mistake mr. Putin will push as far as he can if we dont push back. Even beyond the electrical interference, they also found examples of the kremlin backed efforts that impacted the daily lives of americans they care about. For example, cheating americans out of medals at the olympic games, supporting cyber criminals who attacked american businesses in to steal the Financial Information of millions of consumers. So what should we do about this . What should we do s about the asymmetrical arsenal . It includes many recommendations but i would like to summarize the top six. First, mr. Trump must show unequivocal president ial leadership to the government and the American People. He should immediately declare that its u. S. Policy to detour all forms of russia hybrid threats against the United States and around the world. The president should establish a highlevel interagency cell modeled when the countering Terrorism Center for the response to the russian governments influence operations. Second, the u. S. Government should provide assistance and concerts with analyzing europe to build Democratic Institutions within those european states, most formidable to russian government interference. As part of this effort the United States government should lead an International Government of likeminded democracies to influence operations. Specifically the president should model the global il,lition to counter is summits that have taken place since 2015. Civil society and private sector should participate in the followup activities and summits. To reinforce the government should have diplomatic leadership to support human rights that are the backbone of the democratic system. Members of the United States congress have a clear responsibility to show leadership to show human rights as their agenda conducting hearings and use platforms and opportunities to publicly advance these issues. What am proud of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee to highlight human rights bringing to the publics attention to pass legislation and i think senator corker on his leadership but we must do t more. Third we should expose the dirty money to the kremlin. Corruption provides motivation and the means to influence operations. These are criminal enterprises. U. S. Treasury department should make public any intelligence related to the personal d corruption and then to cut him off and his inner circle from the International Financial system. They want dollars. Not trouble and by the way they want the visa to other countries that is why the log really works to take away their corruption. The u. S. Government should expose criminal activities associated with russias stateowned energy sector. In addition it should issue yearly reports with tiered classification based on objective thirdparty Corruption Cases as well as efforts of corruption this is a bill that already passed the Senate ForeignRelations Committee patterned after the trafficking of persons report to fight modernday slavery we need that same effort United States government should influence operations and democracies as a hybrid. Countries that are designated as such falling under the preemptive sanction regime that is applied whenever estate uses asymmetric weapons like a cyberattack to interfere with an election or disrupt infrastructure. United States Government should work with the eu