85R21533 BPG-D
By: Turner H.C.R. No. 128
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.