|
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, On June 14, 2016, the Washington Post reported that |
|
the Russian government had penetrated the computer network of the |
|
Democratic National Committee and that Russian government hackers |
|
had targeted the networks of both presidential candidates, as well |
|
as the computers of some Republican political action committees; |
|
and |
|
WHEREAS, Indications of Russian interference in the |
|
electoral process continued to mount in the ensuing months; the |
|
Post reported that the FBI had alerted Arizona election officials |
|
in June that Russians were behind an assault on their state's voter |
|
registration system; as a result, election officials shut down the |
|
system for nearly a week; according to the FBI, a similar attack on |
|
the state voter registration database in Illinois appeared to offer |
|
further evidence of Russian interest in U.S. elections; on October |
|
7, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Office of |
|
the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement |
|
expressing confidence that "the Russian Government directed the |
|
recent compromises of e-mails from U.S. persons and institutions, |
|
including from U.S. political organizations"; and |
|
WHEREAS, In response to these incursions, President Barack |
|
Obama released a December 29, 2016, executive order "taking |
|
additional steps to address the national emergency with respect to |
|
significant malicious cyber-enabled activities"; the order blocked |
|
all property and interests in property in the United States |
|
belonging to five entities based in Russia and four individuals of |
|
Russian nationality; in addition, the White House ordered 35 |
|
Russian operatives to leave the U.S., and it closed two |
|
Russian-owned facilities believed to have been used for |
|
intelligence purposes; and |
|
WHEREAS, Just eight days later, the Office of the Director of |
|
National Intelligence released an Intelligence Community |
|
Assessment of Russian activities and intentions in recent U.S. |
|
elections, which determined that Russian president Vladimir Putin |
|
ordered his country's campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. |
|
presidential election, that the campaign was multifaceted, that the |
|
influence effort was the boldest yet in the United States, and that |
|
the election operation signaled a "new normal" in Russian influence |
|
endeavors; the U.S. intelligence community also assessed with high |
|
confidence that Russian military intelligence relayed U.S. victim |
|
data to WikiLeaks and that Russian intelligence obtained and |
|
maintained access to elements of multiple U.S. state or local |
|
electoral boards; and |
|
WHEREAS, FBI Director James Comey testified before the House |
|
Intelligence Committee on March 20, 2017, to confirm his agency's |
|
wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 |
|
presidential election, which was ordered by President Vladimir |
|
Putin to undermine Hillary Clinton's bid for office and improve the |
|
odds for Donald Trump; Mr. Comey noted that the Russians were |
|
successful in injecting "chaos and discord" into the electoral |
|
process and consequently could be expected to resume such |
|
activities in future elections, and revealed that the FBI is |
|
looking into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the |
|
Trump campaign; in another recent revelation, the Associated Press |
|
reported on March 22 that former Trump campaign manager Paul |
|
Manafort had secretly worked for a Russian oligarch to influence |
|
politics, business dealings, and news coverage for the benefit of |
|
Vladimir Putin; and |
|
WHEREAS, In light of these reports of Russian interference in |
|
U.S. elections, it is the fundamental responsibility of Congress to |
|
decide where, how, and by whom financial resources in its control |
|
should be invested with regard to Russia; our government should not |
|
provide funds that can be used to facilitate the Russian |
|
government's campaign to influence our election processes; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to bar |
|
investments in Russia until investigations into Russian |
|
interference with U.S. elections have been completed; and, be it |
|
further |
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
|
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
|
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
|
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
|
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
|
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |