Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Chairman, we are still uncovering more troubling evidence on the extent of Russia's interference in our most recent election. These Russian actions were an attack on our democracy, and we need to respond both to hold them to account for past actions and to protect against future aggressions. With our next national election less than 4 months away, we must act now.

So I am pleased this bill takes steps to require a publicly available advisory report on foreign counterintelligence and cybersecurity threats facing our Federal elections. This joint report from the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI will help campaigns identify and counter these threats.

My amendment strengthens the reporting requirements to ensure we are publicly identifying the foreign state or nonstate actors that our intelligence officials identify as responsible for these threats.

The American people deserve to know who is trying to interfere in our democratic process, and they deserve a government that will hold these countries and these groups to account.

Protecting the integrity of our elections from outside influence by malign foreign actors is of paramount importance. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to help ensure that we treat the threat of foreign election interference with the seriousness it demands.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), who is the ranking member.

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my bipartisan amendment to require the Director of National Intelligence to report on Iran's support for proxy forces in Syria and Lebanon.

I thank my colleague from North Carolina, Mark Meadows, for his partnership in this endeavor, as well as Kyrsten Sinema and Norma Torres for cosponsoring this amendment.

Mr. Chair, Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East are no secret, and, of late, their malign influence has grown dramatically across the region, including in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.

Specifically with respect to Syria, Iran is menacingly working to develop a permanent foothold in the country, increasing the threat to our key allies Jordan and, in particular, Israel. They are also assisting terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in supporting Assad. Battle-tested Hezbollah fighters are subsequently returning to Lebanon more capable and more dangerous than ever before.

Additionally, with assistance from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah has been able to amass nearly 150,000 rockets and missiles on the border with Israel. This figure is a staggering increase from the, roughly, 15,000 rockets they had in 2006.

Iran has exploited several means of transferring weapons to Hezbollah, including by land and by air. Israel has often targeted these transfers to stop the weapons from reaching Lebanon. To eliminate the susceptibility of these transfers to interdiction, Iran is reportedly building missile production facilities in Lebanon to enable indigenous rocket-producing capability for Hezbollah.

A domestic missile production capability in Lebanon would enable Hezbollah to more easily continue to build its rocket arsenal not only with more weapons, but more sophisticated, more deadly weapons, and with less reliance on risky transits.

That is why I am offering my amendment today, to focus our intelligence community on this urgent threat. A DNI report would help us better understand the extent of Iran's support for terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and the threat this support poses to Israel and other U.S. regional allies.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the ranking member.

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