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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, On June 14, 2016, the Washington Post reported that |
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the Russian government had penetrated the computer network of the |
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Democratic National Committee and that Russian government hackers |
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had targeted the networks of both presidential candidates, as well |
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as the computers of some Republican political action committees; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Indications of Russian interference in the |
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electoral process continued to mount in the ensuing months; the |
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Washington Post reported that the FBI had alerted Arizona election |
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officials in June that Russians were behind an assault on their |
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state's voter registration system; as a result, election officials |
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shut down the system for nearly a week; according to the FBI, a |
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similar attack on the state voter registration database in Illinois |
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appeared to offer further evidence of Russian interest in U.S. |
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elections; on October 7, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland |
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Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence |
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issued a joint statement expressing confidence that "the Russian |
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Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from U.S. |
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persons and institutions, including from U.S. political |
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organizations"; and |
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WHEREAS, In response to these incursions, President Barack |
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Obama released a December 29, 2016, executive order "taking |
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additional steps to address the national emergency with respect to |
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significant malicious cyber-enabled activities"; the order blocked |
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all property and interests in property in the United States |
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belonging to five entities based in Russia and four individuals of |
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Russian nationality; in addition, the White House ordered 35 |
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Russian operatives to leave the United States, and it closed two |
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Russian-owned facilities believed to have been used for |
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intelligence purposes; and |
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WHEREAS, Just eight days later, the Office of the Director of |
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National Intelligence released an Intelligence Community |
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Assessment of Russian activities and intentions in recent U.S. |
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elections, which determined that Russian president Vladimir Putin |
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ordered his country's campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. |
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presidential election, that the campaign was multifaceted, that the |
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influence effort was the boldest yet in the United States, and that |
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the election operation signaled a "new normal" in Russian influence |
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endeavors; the U.S. intelligence community also assessed with high |
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confidence that Russian military intelligence relayed U.S. victim |
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data to WikiLeaks and that Russian intelligence obtained and |
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maintained access to elements of multiple U.S. state or local |
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electoral boards; and |
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WHEREAS, Then-FBI Director James Comey testified before the |
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House Intelligence Committee on March 20, 2017, to confirm his |
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agency's wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 |
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presidential election, which was ordered by President Vladimir |
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Putin to undermine Hillary Clinton's bid for office and improve the |
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odds for Donald Trump; Mr. Comey noted that the Russians were |
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successful in injecting "chaos and discord" into the electoral |
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process and consequently could be expected to resume such |
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activities in future elections, and revealed that the FBI is |
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looking into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the |
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Trump campaign; subsequently, Mr. Comey was fired by President |
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Trump, and on June 8, 2017, he testified before the Senate |
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Intelligence Committee that the president had pressured him to |
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redirect the FBI's Russia probe and that his dismissal stemmed from |
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his resistance to that pressure; and |
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WHEREAS, Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is now leading |
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a rapidly expanding investigation into Russian interference in our |
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electoral process, and the Justice Department and congressional |
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intelligence committees are also examining whether the Trump |
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campaign assisted Russian operatives in a cyberattack of |
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unprecedented scale, which encompassed hacking of e-mail accounts |
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and voting registration systems, the sophisticated targeting of |
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voters, and the wide dissemination of fake news and stolen e-mails; |
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the gravity of the situation became even more clear in July when the |
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president's son, Donald Trump Jr., released a series of e-mails |
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that had arranged a meeting regarding information described as |
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"part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump"; over |
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the course of several days, it emerged that participants in the |
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meeting included the president's son, his son-in-law and advisor, |
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Jared Kushner, and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, |
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along with a highly placed Russian lawyer, a former Soviet |
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counterintelligence officer who now works as a lobbyist, and the |
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representative of the president's Russian business associate; the |
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Russian financial connections of Mr. Kushner and Mr. Manafort are |
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under investigation, according to the Washington Post, as are those |
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of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former |
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campaign adviser Carter Page; and |
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WHEREAS, In light of continually unfolding evidence of |
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Russian interference in U.S. elections, it is the fundamental |
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responsibility of Congress to decide where, how, and by whom |
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financial resources in its control should be invested with regard |
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to Russia; our government should not provide funds that can be used |
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to facilitate the Russian government's campaign to influence our |
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election processes; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas, |
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1st Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the United States |
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Congress to bar investments in Russia until investigations into |
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Russian interference with U.S. elections have been completed; and, |
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be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |