[House Report 115-89]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-89
======================================================================
DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO TRANSMIT CERTAIN
DOCUMENTS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY'S RESEARCH, INTEGRATION, AND ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES
RELATING TO RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN THE ELECTIONS FOR
FEDERAL OFFICE HELD 2016
_______
April 7, 2017.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr.McCaul, from the Committee on Homeland Security, submitted the
following
ADVERSE REPORT
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H. Res. 235]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the resolution (H. Res. 235) directing the Secretary of
Homeland Security to transmit certain documents to the House of
Representatives relating to the Department of Homeland
Security's research, integration, and analysis activities
relating to Russian Government interference in the elections
for Federal office held in 2016, having considered the same,
reports unfavorably thereon without amendment and recommends
that the resolution not be agreed to.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................2
Hearings........................................................2
Committee Consideration.........................................2
Committee Votes.................................................2
Committee Oversight Findings....................................3
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditure3
Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives...........4
Duplicative Federal Programs....................................4
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits........................................................4
Federal Mandates Statement......................................4
Preemption Clarification........................................4
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................4
Advisory Committee Statement....................................4
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................4
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation..................5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........5
Supplemental, Minority, Additional, or Dissenting Views.........6
Purpose and Summary
On March 30, 2017, Representative Thompson of Mississippi
introduced H. Res. 235, a resolution of inquiry requesting the
Secretary of Homeland Security to transmit certain documents to
the House of Representatives relating to the Department of
Homeland Security's research, integration, and analysis
activities relating to Russian Government interference in the
elections for Federal office held in 2016.
Background and Need for Legislation
A resolution of inquiry is a House resolution directing the
President or the head of an executive department to provide to
the House specific information in the possession of the
Administration.
Clause 7 of House Rule XIII provides that, if properly
drafted, a resolution of inquiry is provided special
parliamentary status allowing the Committee to which the
measure was referred to be discharged if the Committee has not
reported the measure back to the House within 14 legislative
days after is introduction.
The Committee notes that the consideration of this
resolution of inquiry is to have the Committee comply with Rule
XIII, it does not affect the Committee's obligation or
commitment to investigate and require documentation from the
Administration on issues within the Committee's jurisdictional
authorities.
This Resolution of Inquiry is unnecessary. The Committee
has been conducting oversight in this area and has received
briefings by the Administration numerous times regarding
cybersecurity and interference into our elections. Members were
given the opportunity to question the Administrations regarding
Russian interference in the elections on numerous occasions.
The Committee will continue to conduct robust oversight over
the Department and any threats to homeland security that fall
within the Committee's jurisdiction.
Hearings
No hearings were held on H. Res. 235 in the 115th Congress.
Committee Consideration
The Committee met on April 5, 2017, to consider H. Res.
235, and ordered the measure to be reported to the House of
Representatives with an unfavorable recommendation, without
amendment, by a recorded vote of 14 yeas and 12 nays. The
Committee took the following actions:
Committee Votes
Clause 3(b) of Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments
thereto.
The Committee on Homeland Security considered H. Res. 235
on April 5, 2017, and took the following votes:
ROLL CALL NO. 6
H. Res. 235
On reporting H. Res. 235 to the House of Representatives with an unfavorable recommendation.
Agreed to: 14 yeas and 12 nays.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Yea Nay Representative Yea Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. McCaul, Chair.............. X Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ranking X
Member.
Mr. Smith of Texas........................... Ms. Jackson Lee...................... X
Mr. King of New York......................... Mr. Langevin......................... X
Mr. Rogers of Alabama........................ X Mr. Richmond......................... X
Mr. Duncan of South Carolina................. X Mr. Keating.......................... X
Mr. Marino................................... X Mr. Payne............................ X
Mr. Barletta................................. X Mr. Vela............................. X
Mr. Perry.................................... X Mrs. Watson Coleman.................. X
Mr. Katko.................................... X Miss Rice of New York................ X
Mr. Hurd..................................... Mr. Correa........................... X
Ms. McSally.................................. X Mrs. Demings......................... X
Mr. Ratcliffe................................ Ms. Barragan......................... X
Mr. Donovan.................................. X
Mr. Gallagher................................ X
Mr. Higgins of Louisiana..................... X
Mr. Rutherford............................... X
Mr. Garrett.................................. X
Mr. Fitzpatrick.............................. X
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Vote Total: 14 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Committee Oversight Findings
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of Rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee has held oversight
hearings and made findings that are reflected in this report.
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of Rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that had
H. Res. 235 been adopted, it would result in no new or
increased budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax
expenditures or revenues.
Congressional Budget Office Estimate
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of Rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, a cost estimate provided by the
Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Committee
estimates that this resolution of inquiry resolution would not
result in any significant costs.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of Rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, had H. Res. 235 been adopted, it
would have required the Secretary of Homeland Security to
transmit specified copies of any document, record, memo,
correspondence, or other communication or any portion of any
such communication of the Department of Homeland Security (in a
classified format, if necessary) to the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Duplicative Federal Programs
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of Rule XIII, the Committee finds
that H. Res. 235 as reported does not contain any provision
that establishes or reauthorizes a program known to be
duplicative of another Federal program.
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits
In compliance with Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, this resolution, as reported, contains no
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of the Rule
XXI.
Federal Mandates Statement
An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Committee
believes that no Federal mandates are included in this
resolution.
Preemption Clarification
In compliance with section 423 of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, requiring the report of any Committee on a bill or
joint resolution to include a statement on the extent to which
the bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt State,
local, or Tribal law, the Committee finds that H. Res. 235 does
not preempt any State, local, or Tribal law.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that H. Res. 235, had it been
adopted, would require no directed rule makings.
Advisory Committee Statement
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act would be created by this
legislation.
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation
This resolution, if adopted, would require the Secretary of
Homeland Security provide to the House of Representatives
copies of any document, record, memo, correspondence, or other
communication or any portion of any such communication of the
Department of Homeland Security (in a classified format, if
necessary), that refers or relates to the following:
1. Research, integration, and analysis activities of the
Department relating to interference with the elections
for Federal office held in 2016 by or at the direction
of the Russian Government, as announced in a joint
statement with the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence on October 7, 2016, and December 29, 2016.
2. Dissemination by the Department of information
regarding interference with the elections for Federal
office held in 2016 by or at the direction of the
Russian Government, as announced in a joint statement
with the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence on October 7, 2016, and December 29, 2016.
3. Research into cyber compromises of emails of United
States persons and institutions by or at the direction
of the Russian Government to interfere with the
elections for Federal office held in 2016.
4. Integration, analysis, and dissemination of the Joint
Analysis Report detailing the tools and infrastructure
used by Russian intelligence services to compromise and
exploit networks and infrastructure associated with the
elections for Federal office held in 2016 issued by the
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation on December 29, 2016.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
H. Res. 235 makes no changes to existing law.
Supplemental, Minority, Additional, or Dissenting Views
DISSENTING VIEWS
On behalf of Committee Democrats, I submit the following
dissenting views regarding the Committee's 14 to 12 vote to
order H. Res. 235 reported to the House of Representatives
(House) with an unfavorable recommendation.
I introduced H. Res. 235, which is cosponsored by all
Committee Democrats, on March 30 to expedite the initiation of
a Committee investigation into Russia's campaign to influence
the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. If enacted, the
resolution would have compelled the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS or Department) to provide the Committee with any
documents in its possession regarding Russian Government
interference in the election. The Committee needs to see the
information that DHS collected, received, and analyzed to not
only investigate the Russian interference campaign but also to
ensure that the country is positioned to prevent future attacks
on our electoral systems.
The materials sought under the resolution, which included
documents detailing ``the tools and infrastructure used by
Russian intelligence services to compromise and exploit
networks and infrastructure associated with the elections,''
not only informed the joint statements issued by DHS and the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence on October 7,
2016 and December 29, 2016 but also the Department's efforts to
secure election infrastructure. In October 2016, DHS began
offering assistance to States to help them secure their
election systems, following the discovery that some voting
systems had been scanned and probed by Russian-hired
hackers.\1\ In January, DHS designated ``election
infrastructure'' as ``critical infrastructure'' and prioritized
assistance to States to secure this infrastructure.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Joint Statement from DHS, ODNI on Election Security (Oct. 7,
2016), https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/215-press-
releases-2016/1423-joint-dhs-odni-election-security-
statement?tmpl=component&format=pdf.
\2\Statement by Secretary Jeh Johnson on the Designation of
Election Infrastructure as a Critical Infrastructure Subsector (January
6, 2017), https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/01/06/statement-secretary-
johnson-designation-election-infrastructure-critical.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
During consideration of H. Res. 235, Chairman Michael
McCaul asserted that this resolution was ``unnecessary'' since
Committee Members have received classified briefings from the
Administration where Members could ask questions regarding the
Russian interference campaign. One-off conversations in a
classified space are no substitute for a comprehensive
investigation in which Committee Members would be able to
review materials generated by not only the Department but also
its Federal partners, including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and Intelligence Community. Such an
investigation should seek to answer the following questions:
What is the full scope of the hacking activities
that the Russians took against our electoral systems?
What, if any, operational impacts did these
activities have on our electoral systems, including voter rolls
and voting equipment?
What information did DHS have to determine that
the Russian activities did not directly impact vote tallying?
At this time, the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence (HPSCI) is the only House Committee investigating
the 2016 attack on our election by Russia. Putting aside that
HPSCI has struggled to carry out a bipartisan investigation, it
seems unlikely the answers that Committee Democrats seek
regarding the security of election infrastructure would be
addressed, even if HPSCI is able to produce a bipartisan
report.
Additionally, during consideration of H. Res. 235, Chairman
McCaul argued that the use of a resolution of inquiry was not
appropriate to conduct bipartisan oversight since the
Department has been responsive and transparent. I take issue
with this assertion. Since January, the timeliness and
completeness of responses to oversight letters by the
Department has significantly fallen off with letters submitted
by Committee Democrats being met with responses that were
neither punctual nor complete. In fact, at this time, there are
at least ten letters that have received no responses.
Furthermore, there is another significant advantage of the
resolution of inquiry: it would avoid bureaucratic hurdles that
would likely arise if the Committee sent a letter requesting
that DHS furnish documents that originated outside of the
Department. If this resolution was enacted into law, DHS would
have to furnish the requested documents to the Committee
regardless of whether one or more of its Federal partners
objected.
This Committee has a unique responsibility to conduct
oversight into DHS' efforts to mitigate, respond to, and
recover from attacks on critical infrastructure. Consequently,
this Committee has an obligation to conduct oversight of the
decision-making and actions that the Department took before,
during, and after the election to protect this critical
infrastructure. Further, if, as FBI Director James Comey and
others have warned, the Russians will be back to try and
interfere with future elections, we need to know what
vulnerabilities exist so that they can be eliminated or
mitigated.
Approval of H. Res. 235 would have been the first step
towards providing answers to the American people about Russia's
attack on our democracy. As such, Committee Democrats are
disappointed that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
rejected this measure, thereby inhibiting our efforts to
jumpstart an investigation.
Bennie G. Thompson.
[all]