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:
1. Eric Swalwell
2. Elijah Cummings
3. Sheila Jackson Lee
4. Alma Adams
5. Pete Aguilar
6. Nanette Barragan
7. Karen Bass
8. Joyce Beatty
9. Sanford Bishop
10. Earl Blumenauer
11. Lisa Blunt-Rochester
12. Suzanne Bonamici
13. Madeleine Bordallo
14. Brendan Boyle
15. Robert Brady
16. Anthony Brown
17. Julia Brownley
18. Cheri Bustos
19. G.K. Butterfield
20. Michael Capuano
21. Salud Carbajal
22. Tony Cardenas
23. Matt Cartwright
24. Andre Carson
25. Kathy Castor
26. Joaquin Castro
27. Judy Chu
28. David Cicilline
29. Katherine Clark
30. Yvette Clarke
31. William Lacy Clay
32. Emanuel Cleaver
33. James Clyburn
34. Steve Cohen
35. Gerald E Connolly
36. John Conyers, Jr.
37. Jim Cooper
38. J. Luis Correa
39. Jim Costa
40. Joe Courtney
41. Joseph Crowley
42. Henry Cuellar
43. Danny K. Davis
44. Susan Davis
45. Peter DeFazio
46. Diana DeGette
47. John Delaney
48. Rosa DeLauro
49. Mark DeSaulnier
50. Theodore Deutch
51. Debbie Dingell
52. Lloyd Doggett
53. Michael Doyle
54. Keith Ellison
55. Eliot Engel
56. Anna Eshoo
57. Adriano Espaillat
58. Elizabeth Esty
59. Dwight Evans
60. Bill Foster
61. Lois Frankel
62. Marcia Fudge
63. Ruben Gallego
64. John Garamendi
65. Vicente Gonzalez
66. Tulsi Gabbard
67. Al Green
68. Gene Green
69. Raul Grijalva
70. Luis Gutiérrez
71. Alcee Hastings
72. Denny Heck
73. Jim Himes
74. Steny Hoyer
75. Jared Huffman
76. Pramila Jayapal
77. Hakeem Jeffries
78. Eddie Bernice Johnson
79. Hank Johnson
80. Marcy Kaptur
81. William Keating
82. Robin Kelly
83. Joseph P. Kennedy III
84. Ro Khanna
85. Ruben Kihuen
86. Daniel Kildee
87. Derek Kilmer
88. Ron Kind
89. Raja Krishnamoorthi
90. Ann McLane Kuster
91. James Langevin
92. Rick Larsen
93. John Larson
94. Brenda Lawrence
95. Barbara Lee
96. Sander Levin
97. John Lewis
98. Ted Lieu
99. David Loebsack
100. Zoe Lofgren
101. Alan Lowenthal
102. Nita Lowey
103. Ben Ray Lujan
104. Michelle Lujan Grisham
105. Stephen Lynch
106. Carolyn Maloney
107. Doris Matsui
108. Betty McCollum
109. A. Donald McEachin
110. James P. McGovern
111. Jerry McNerney
112. Gregory Meeks
113. Grace Meng
114. Seth Moulton
115. Gwen Moore
116. Stephanie Murphy
117. Jerrold Nadler
118. Grace Napolitano
119. Richard Neal
120. Donald Norcross
121. Eleanor Holmes Norton
122. Beto O’Rourke
123. Frank Pallone
124. Jimmy Panetta
125. Bill Pascrell
126. Nancy Pelosi
127. Ed Perlmutter
128. Scott Peters
129. Collin Peterson
130. Stacey Plaskett
131. Mark Pocan
132. Jared Polis
133. David Price
134. Mike Quigley
135. Jamie Raskin
136. Kathleen Rice
137. Cedric Richmond
138. Jacky Rosen
139. Lucille Roybal-Allard
140. Raul Ruiz
141. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
142. Bobby Rush
143. Tim Ryan
144. Gregorio Sablan
145. Linda Sanchez
146. John Sarbanes
147. Janice Schakowsky
148. Adam Schiff
149. Bradley Schneider
150. Bobby Scott
151. Jose Serrano
152. Terri Sewell
153. Carol Shea-Porter
154. Brad Sherman
155. Kyrsten Sinema
156. Albio Sires
157. Louise Slaughter
158. Adam Smith
159. Darren Soto
160. Jackie Speier
161. Thomas Suozzi
162. Mark Takano
163. Bennie Thompson
164. Mike Thompson
165. Dina Titus
166. Paul Tonko
167. Norma Torres
168. Niki Tsongas
169. Juan Vargas
170. Marc Veasey
171. Filemon Vela
172. Nydia Velazquez
173. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
174. Maxine Waters
175. Bonnie Watson Coleman
176. Peter Welch
177. John Yarmuth
