The speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 223. Nays are 180. The previous question is ordered. The question is on the adoption of the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. Ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. The gentleman from oklahoma. Mr. Cole thank you, madam speaker. On that, wed request the yeas nays. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman the yeas and nays are requested. Vote by abothe yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. Will be a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 226. The nays are 180. The bill, the resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Ms. Lofgren madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that mifes that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert the speaker pro tempore the gentlelady will suspend. The house is not in order. The gentlelady may continue. Ms. Lofgren i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h. R. 4617. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Pursuant to House Resolution 650 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 4617. The chair appoints the gentleman from texas, mr. Guy yar, to preside over the committee of the whole. Mr. Cuellar to preside over he committee of the whole. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 4617, which the clerk will report the title. The clerk a bill neend the federal Election Campaign act of 1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation of compliance and reporting systems by federal campaigns, to detect and report such acts, and for other purposes. The chair le pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. General debate shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and Ranking Member of the committee on House Administration. The gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, each will control 30 minutes. The chair now recognizes the the. Entlewoman from california the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Lofgren mr. Chairman, h. R. 4617 is a comprehensive legislation to strengthen the resilience of our democracy and protect against foreign interference in our elections, including by foreign governments. These concerns go back to the earliest days of our country. In his farewell address to the people of the United States, our first president , george washington, warned that, against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. Mr. Chair, the 2020 federal elections are fast approaching. Public confidence and trust in our elections is of the utmost importance. We know that federal adversaries are working to undermine that trust today. To quote former special counsel mueller in july, quote, they are doing it as we sit here. Our adversaries have a variety of tools to infear in our democrat. These tools sew disinformation to provoke discord. Their goal is to divide us and attack our values of equality and freedom. Their tactics undermine confidence in our Democratic Institutions so they will collapse under the pressure of the division and distrust. The need to act is urgent. We have been warned repeatedly about this. The former director of National Intelligence dan coats wrote earlier this year in his worldwide threat assessment as the 2020 elections advance, quote our adversaries and strategy competitors will most certainly use online influence operations to try to weaken Democratic Institutions, undermine u. S. Alliances and partnerships, and shape policy outcomes in the United States and elsewhere, end quote. He also wrote that their tactics will include spreading disinformation, conducting hack and leak operations, or manipulating data in a more targeted fashion to influence u. S. Policy actions and elections. Earlier this month a select committee, Senate Select committee on intelligence released a report showing how the kremlins Information Warfare campaign was broad in scope and entailed objectives beyond the result of the 2016 election. This included using content to push americans further away from one another and to foment distrust in government institutions. The Senate Report also found that no single group of americans was targeted by i. R. A. , thats the russian group, information operatives more than africanamericans. Among the bipartisan Senate Reports Senate Recommendations are for congress to exam legislative approaches to ensure americans know the sources of online political advertisements. Harmonize on nies the rules online. H. R. 4617 does just that. It builds on two other bills that strengthen the integrity of our democracy. In march, the house passed h. R. 1, the for the people act, which included strong standards for ballot box Election Security, as well as provisions to shut down loopholes that allow foreign money, including from foreign governments to influence elections here. In june, the house passed h. R. 2722, the safe act, which sets strong Cyber Security standards for election infrastructure and provides resources to states to replace paperless and other outdated systems with voter verified paper ballot systems. Now we are turning to another element of Election Security, h. R. 4617 closes gaps in the law that allow Foreign Nationals and foreign governments to launder money into our elections. It promotes full transparency of the sources behind Online Campaign advertising. And it codifies a basic norm that political committees should report offers of Illicit Campaign assistance from foreign governments, both to the f. B. I. And to the f. E. S. Rather than welcoming interference from foreign governments. Panel one of the bill enhances reporting requirements and fanses transparency and accountability. It establishes a duty upon political committees to report to the f. B. I. And the f. E. C. Elicit offers of Campaign Assistance from foreign governments, foreign political parties, and their agents. This provision of the bill was informed by various proposals that were introduced in the house, including by representative jackson lee, representative swalwell, representative malinowski, and representative slot kin. The bill also slotkin. The bill also also the honest ads at a bipartisan piece of legislation that takes an important step to provide more transparency to digital political advertising, including the ads that the russians targeted to americans to biling followers and engagement of unwitting american citizens. Title 2 closes loopholes and gaps in the law that permit Foreign Nationals and foreign governments to influence elections. It codifies existing f. E. C. Regulations prohibiting Foreign Nationals from influencing decisions about campaign spending. It requires the f. E. C. To conduct an audit of illicit money in elections and report its recommendations to congress after every election cycle. It prohibits foreign spending in connection with Ballot Initiatives and referenda and prohibits foreign spending in political advertising that promotes, attacks, supports, or opposes the election of candidates or in the case of foreign governments, political advertising during an Election Year about National Legislative issues of public importance. Ill note that some of these elements we see bipartisan support when similar provisions were included in h. R. 1. Title 3 deters foreign interference in elections. For example, it restricts campaigns from sharing nonpublic Campaign Materials like internal Opposition Research and internal polling data with foreign governments and their agents, or those on the sanctions list which can include oligarches. It also includes the deceptive practices and voter intimidation prevention act. This was also part of h. R. 1. And prohibits knowingly false statements about voting and elections that are made with the intent to impede someone from exercising their franchise. It also provides mechanisms to ensure state and local officials and the attorney general, as necessary, to correct information in the wake of false information that might spread. Mr. Chair, free and Fair Elections are the core of what it means to live in a democracy like ours. Free and Fair Elections are at the heart of what it means to be a citizen of the United States. Its our solemn duty to defend them. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from it illinois is recognized, mr. Davis. Mr. Davis thank you very much, mr. Chair. And i yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Davis mr. Chairman, i said many times since becoming the Ranking Member of the House Administration committee, the committee with jurisdiction over election system in the house. The greatest threat is partisanship. Why . Because when you have one side drafting partisan legislation to further their own political agenda, it cows causts inaction. When it comes to securing our nations elentions, we cannot afford inaction. Thats why its imperative our colleagues across the aisle work with us to find a bipartisan solution to preventing foreign interference in elections. Unfortunately, thats not the route that the Majority Party chose to take this congress. We saw this pattern first begin with the majoritys h. R. 1, over 700 pages of political initiatives to help them federalize elections, then again for the safe act, a partisan Election Security bill, again attempting to federalize elections and take power away from states. Both bills were drafted without bipartisan input and rushed through the house. Back then i told my colleagues if they were serious about reforming elections and making them more secure, we needed to Work Together. But here we are again with another partisan election bill that has no chance, zero chance of becoming law. This time its the shield act. A bill aimed at preventing foreign interference in our elections like what we saw with russias Misinformation Campaign through social media in the 2016 president ial election. Look, its safe to say that no one on either side of the aisle wants foreign meddling in our elections. Let me repeat that. I dont believe a single republican or democrat in this house wants foreign meddling in our elections. I want to be clear that there is bipartisan agreement on some of the intended goals of shield. We should have increased transparency in political Digital Advertising. We should close the loopholes that allowed for Foreign Nationals to meddle in our elections. But this bill isnt a serious attempt to address the type of interference we saw in 2016, mr. Chairman. Its jammed full of poison pills that the democrats knew would make shield a nonstarter. The shield act contains provision that is would federalize elections, which i have already pointed out is the favorite solution of our majority for any issue. This bill expands the powers of the department of justice to allow the attorney general to insert himself or herself into individual races at the federal, state, and local level. That is a complete federal overreach of States Constitutional Rights to maintain their own elections. Think about it. The a. G. Can come in to your race and every state and local race if they he or she wants to correct the record. There are also provisions of this bill that i believe are unconstitutional and will have a Chilling Effect on our freedom of speech. For instance, we should not be proposing broad vague regulations for disenclosinging online political ads that create unworkable standard for the american public. Out of the 1. 4 billion spent on political digital ads in 2016, russia spent 100,000 over two years on facebook ads. The majority of those were not even election ads. So they wouldnt even have been regulated by the honest ads act. Why would we overreach and threaten Americans Free speech with this bill when it doesnt even address what russia did . We need serious Election Security legislation that will protect Americans First amendment rights. Thats why i introduced the honest elections act, which, if passed, would address the type of foreign meddling we saw in 2016. And highlighted in the senate intel report. The honest elections act would strengthen existing laws such as the foreign agents registration act and the federal Election Campaign act and the help america vote act, and it would modernize online political ad disclosure without infringing on free speech or requiring unworkable standards for americans. Our bill also increases monitoring of spending by Foreign Nationals in elections and addresses domestic interference in our elections, something the shield act fails to accomplish. We may never prevent criminal activity, whether in our or daytoday lives. But we can give Law Enforcement with the best tools and resources available. Honest elections act is simply a better solution to preventing foreign interference elections than the shield act and the unintended consequences on americans. Will say the greatest threat to our nations partisanship,m is because its the partisanship that were seeing from the majority today thats keeping from having people Bipartisan Legislation right now that will prevent any foreign any potential foreign our elections. I keep hearing my democratic colleagues talk about urgency, the third time weve been here with a partisan election bill in the house that law or make come any real change whatsoever. Serious about e this urgency in protecting our 2020 s elections in the cycle, prove it. Stop with the political games, come back to the table, work on something that actually stands a chance at becoming law and protecting our elections. Thank you and i reserve. The chair the gentleman from illinois reserves the balance of time. The gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren, is recognized. Ms. Lofgren mr. Chair, i would note that it was Justice Kavanaugh in bloom vs. Federal lection case who wrote the opinion that it is fundamental to the definition of our Political Community that foreign citizens do not have a constitutional right to in and thus may be excluded from activities of democratic selfgovernment. This idea that were going to infringe on foreign governments rights to participate is simply not legally supportive. Would like now to yield to the gentlelady from california, valued member of our committee, mrs. Davis, for one minute. The chair the gentlewoman from alifornia, mrs. Davis, is recognized. Mrs. Davis thank you, mr. Chairman. We know there have been foreign ttacks on our election infrastructure. That is a fact. Knowing there are those out us of our eek to rob democracy, why would we leave open . Or wide why would we not create a shield hen our democracy is under attack . The shield act, carefully my colleague and chair, ms. Lofgren, requires report itical campaigns any information they receive from foreign agents to the so we can centralize information and stop attacks. Do would we not want to that . The shield act establishes trong penalties for online voter intimidation by foreign actors. Want to would we not do that . The shield act closes loopholes foreigners to spend their money in our elections. To do ld we not want that . There are enemies out there trying to cast out on our elections. No excuse no excuse, for not doing all we can to make ourselves less vulnerable. This should be a bipartisan nobrainer, mr. Chairman. Urge my colleagues to support the shield act to protect our democracy. He chair the gentlewoman from california, mrs. Davis, yields back the balance of her time. Ms. Lofgren i reserve. He chair the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren, reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, is recognized. Chair, id now like to yield two minutes to my well riend and very respect respected member of the