Heinrich Calls For Majority Leader McConnell To Protect American Democracy, Act On Election Security Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 30, 2019) – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats to call out the legislative graveyard that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has created, including blocking legislation to protect American elections from foreign interference.
VIDEO: Heinrich Calls For Majority Leader McConnell To Act On Election Security Legislation [DOWNLOAD HD VIDEO HERE]
“We can act now in advance of the 2020 elections. We can deter Russia’s aggression. We can act now to protect free and fair elections – or we can simply stand down and hope for the best,” said Heinrich. “This is at the heart of what a thriving democracy is all about. And, I would hope that we would not stand down, not let Vladimir Putin have his way in 2020, and stand up for free and fair elections - regardless of who wins them. I think America wins when we have that.”
Hours after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees and reconfirmed that Russian operatives remain active in meddling in U.S. elections, the Majority Leader blocked the Senate from voting on commonsense, election security legislation.
Senator Heinrich also pointed out that McConnell's blocking of the legislation came as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released “Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure,” the first volume in the Committee’s bipartisan investigation into Russia’s attempts to interfere with the 2016 U.S. elections.
This installment builds upon the unclassified summary findings on election security released by the Committee in May 2018. This was the first volume completed due to the fundamental importance and urgency of defending our democratic elections. Over the last two and half years, the Committee’s investigation has spanned more than 15 open hearings, more than 200 witness interviews, and nearly 400,000 documents.
