Letter to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House - Walker Joins House Administration in Telling House Democrats to Put Election Security Ahead of Politics

Letter

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

I write to express my disappointment that the Democratic Leadership has sidelined the important work of the House Administration Committee ("Committee") on election security as a result of the impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Only 337 days remain before the 2020 election and the Committee has the important duty of ensuring that states have the resources they need in order to safeguard this upcoming election. This duty should not be pushed to the corner as a result of the time constraints and competing priorities imposed by the impeachment proceedings. I would like to highlight several urgent Committee tasks that are being displaced by the Democratic Leadership:

1. Bipartisan Election Security Legislation. I have said throughout this year that I am ready and willing to work with the Majority of the Committee to produce a bipartisan election security bill. We stand in agreement on many pertinent issues, including the need for additional election infrastructure funding for states, increased information technology and other technical support for election officials, and updated guidance related to disclosures and disclaimers on political advertising. I understand that the Majority's focus on partisan election security legislation this year has been a directive from your Leadership, and distractions such as this are not advancing the cause of passing a bipartisan election security bill.

2. Congressional Hearing of the Federal Election Commission ("FEC"). It is unfortunate that the Committee had to cancel an FEC oversight hearing scheduled for September 25th due to a conflict with a Democratic Caucus meeting related to the impeachment proceedings. This is a direct example of how Democratic Leadership has interfered with Committee business. However, I still think it is necessary that we exercise the Committee's oversight authority of the FEC as Election Day 2020 rapidly approaches.

3. Congressional Hearing of Social Media Companies on Preventing Foreign Interference in Elections. Chairperson Lofgren and I both agree that social media companies play a large role in the dissemination of political advertising. A few of these companies have decided recently to eliminate the existence of political advertising from their platforms entirely. Another company has chosen to restrict the scope of political ad targeting on its platform. These developments, together with what we know about Russia attempting to use trolls on these platforms necessitate that the Committee host hearings to seek further information on what happened in 2016 and the future of online political advertising.

4. Congressional Hearing of the Election Assistance Commission ("EAC") Focusing on Election Preparation. The EAC has the important task of assisting states with election administration. With the Commission currently in flux as it searches for a new Executive Director and General Counsel continued oversight by the Committee is necessary to ensure that the EAC fills these important vacancies in a timely manner. It is also imperative the EAC continues to operate efficiently while candidates for these openings are being vetted. The EAC must be able to seamlessly transition to a new leadership and continue to perform its core function of assisting states in the 2020 Election.

5. Congressional Hearing of Election Vendors. Election machine vendors are on the front lines of responding to any issues that occur on Election Day. It is important that the Committee seek information related to the vendors' preparedness for any potential 2020 cyber-intrusions.

It is my hope that Chairperson Lofgren and I can work together to address these issues despite the impeachment proceedings, but we have no time to waste as the 2020 election rapidly approaches.

Sincerely,

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