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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5365

To require the President to notify Congress and take certain actions in 
response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States 
                               elections.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 21, 2024

 Mr. Sullivan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require the President to notify Congress and take certain actions in 
response to any attempt by a country of concern to affect United States 
                               elections.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Adversaries Meddling in 
American Elections Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On November 8, 2024, the Department of Justice unsealed 
        a charge involving an Iranian plot to kill President-elect 
        Donald Trump in the leadup to the election. A criminal 
        complaint filed in Federal court in Manhattan alleges that an 
        unnamed official in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard 
        instructed a contact to put together a plan to surveil and 
        ultimately kill Donald J. Trump.
            (2) On November 5, 2024, the New York Times reported that 
        the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation, and intelligence agencies 
        issued a warning that adversaries, led by Russia, were 
        conducting additional influence operations. Central 
        Intelligence Agency officials called out a video circulating on 
        November 5 that falsely claimed the spy agency had uncovered 
        cases of fraud in which dead people had voted. Another 
        disinformation campaign targeted the ``Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation'', prompting the Bureau to say its name and logo 
        were being used to spread election falsehoods.
            (3) On November 5, 2024, Reuters reported that according to 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation, hoax bomb threats, many of 
        which appeared to originate from Russian e-mail domains, were 
        directed on Tuesday at polling locations in 5 battleground 
        States, including Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and 
        Pennsylvania, as election day voting was underway.
            (4) On November 1, 2024, the New York Times reported United 
        States intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia was 
        behind 2 new fabricated videos that appeared on social media 
        this week falsely claiming that Haitians illegally voted in 
        Georgia and that Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband 
        received a $500,000 bribe from the performer Sean Combs.
            (5) On November 2, 2024, the Washington Post reported that 
        the China-linked hack of at least 3 major United States 
        telecommunications providers targeted high-level figures in the 
        presidential campaign. Officials have said that information 
        related to Federal requests for wiretaps was targeted, as well 
        as telephones used by former President Donald Trump, Senator JD 
        Vance, campaign workers in both the Kamala Harris and Trump 
        campaigns, and members of President Trump's family. It is being 
        reported as the first time Beijing is known to have targeted 
        presidential election candidates directly.
            (6) On October 29, 2024, the New York Times reported 
        ``Disinformation from abroad--particularly from Russia, China 
        and Iran--has matured into a consistent and pernicious 
        threat''. They note the following 5 key trends:
                    (A) A broad expansion of disinformation across a 
                multiplicity of social media outlets.
                    (B) The content is far more targeted to specific 
                demographics.
                    (C) Artificial intelligence is propelling this 
                evolution.
                    (D) It is becoming much harder to identify 
                disinformation.
                    (E) Technology companies are not doing as much to 
                stop disinformation.
            (7) On October 25, 2024, the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation and officials from the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 
        Security Agency issued a statement indicating Russian actors 
        ``manufactured and amplified'' a recent viral video that 
        falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania. 
        They added ``this Russian activity is part of Moscow's broader 
        effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the 
        US election and stoke divisions among Americans,'' the agencies 
        said in a statement.
            (8) On October 25, 2024, investigators on background told 
        United States media ``The Chinese hackers who burrowed into the 
        networks of U.S. telecommunications firms have used their deep 
        access to target the phones of former President Donald Trump, 
        his running mate, JD Vance, and people affiliated with Vice 
        President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, according to 
        people familiar with the matter.''
            (9) Separately on October 25, 2024, the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation confirmed it was investigating ``unauthorized 
        access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure'' by 
        Chinese actors. The statement was the first formal 
        acknowledgment by the United States Government about the 
        massive breach. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
        identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and 
        Infrastructure Security Agency issued a statement and notified 
        affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly 
        shared information to assist other potential victims.
            (10) An October 23, 2024, Microsoft Threat Analysis Center 
        report revealed Chinese influence operations targeted a handful 
        of Republican candidates and congressional members who 
        ``advocate for anti-Chinese policies.''
            (11) On October 22, 2024, United States intelligence 
        officials on Tuesday said Russians seeking to disrupt the 
        United States elections created a faked video and other 
        material smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz 
        with abuse allegations and are considering fomenting violence 
        during and after the vote.
            (12) On September 25, 2024, the Wall Street Journal 
        reported that hackers linked to the Chinese government have 
        broken into a handful of United States internet-service 
        providers in recent months in pursuit of sensitive information, 
        according to people familiar with the matter. The hacking 
        campaign, called ``Salt Typhoon'' by investigators, hasn't 
        previously been publicly disclosed and is the latest in a 
        series of incursions that United States investigators have 
        linked to China in recent years.
            (13) A September 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence conference call about foreign election 
        interference efforts stated propagandists in China, Iran, and 
        Russia are using artificial intelligence to create content 
        designed to deceive Americans about the presidential election.
            (14) In April 2024, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told 
        CNN that China was attempting to influence and interfere in the 
        United States election despite President Xi previously giving 
        assurances to President Biden that it would not do so.
            (15) In an April 2024, New York Times article, United 
        States officials claimed covert Chinese accounts are promoting 
        conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions, and attacking 
        President Biden ahead of the election in November, according to 
        researchers and government officials.
            (16) Researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue 
        connected China's online interference to a long-running network 
        of accounts connected with the Chinese government known as 
        Spamouflage.
            (17) An October 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence report warned that the United States intelligence 
        community expected ``foreign influence actors to . . . call 
        into question the validity of the election's results after the 
        polls close.''
            (18) The October 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence report stated that ``foreign actors are almost 
        certainly considering the possibility of another contested 
        presidential election and a tight contest for control of both 
        the Senate and the House of Representatives.''
            (19) The October 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence report stated that foreign actors ``will likely 
        take advantage of such an opportunity to use similar tactics in 
        a post-election period to undermine trust in the integrity of 
        the election, election processes, and further exacerbate 
        divisions among Americans.''
            (20) An October 2024 New York Times article quoted a Biden 
        administration official who stated ``foreign powers realize . . 
        . they can spread messages that suggest the process was flawed. 
        Officials said they called such efforts ``perception hacking''.
            (21) A February 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence Threat Assessment states: ``The PRC aims to sow 
        doubts about U.S. leadership, undermine democracy, and extend 
        Beijing's influence . . .'' due to ``its desire to sideline 
        critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions. PRC 
        actors have increased their capabilities to conduct covert 
        influence operations and disseminate disinformation.''
            (22) A December 2022 National Intelligence Council report 
        states China tacitly approved efforts to try to influence a 
        handful of 2022 midterm races involving members of both U.S. 
        political parties.'' The assessment adds with high confidence 
        that China's goals are ``to counter U.S. politicians viewed as 
        anti-China and to support others viewed as pro-China.''
            (23) Cybersecurity firm Mandiant alleged Chinese 
        interference in the 2022 United States midterm elections via 
        DRAGONBRIDGE, an influence campaign assessed to be operating in 
        support of the political interests of the People's Republic of 
        China.
            (24) A November 2023 memo by the Select Committee on the 
        Chinese Communist Party outlines China's ``united front work,'' 
        described as ``a unique blend of engagement, influence 
        activities, and intelligence operations that the CCP uses to 
        shape its political environment, including to influence other 
        countries' policy toward the PRC and to gain access to advanced 
        foreign technology.''
            (25) In April 2023, the United States Attorney's Office for 
        the Eastern District of New York charged 44 Chinese nationals 
        for conducting online disinformation campaigns that promoted 
        PRC propaganda and for attempting to intimidate and silence PRC 
        critics.
            (26) An October 2024 Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence report states ``Russia is leveraging a wide range 
        of influence actors in an effort to influence congressional 
        races and in particular to encourage the U.S. public to oppose 
        pro-Ukraine policies and politicians.''
            (27) In September 2024, the Biden administration announced 
        a broad effort to counter Russia's influence campaigns in the 
        2024 election, including through sanctions, indictments, and 
        seizing of web domains that United States officials say the 
        Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation.
            (28) A nearly 300-page FBI affidavit lays out a broad, 
        Kremlin-backed effort to seed fake news stories to attack 
        United States politicians supporting Ukraine in the war against 
        Russia and stoke tensions in United States society.
            (29) In September 2024, the State Department announced 
        forthcoming designations of 5 Russian state-funded news 
        outlets, including RT, Ruptly and Sputnik, as foreign 
        government missions and restrict the issuance of visas to 
        people working for Kremlin-supported media institutions.
            (30) In a September 2024 report, the Foundation for the 
        Defense of Democracies identified 19 websites that Iran has 
        used to spread disinformation through what appear to be 
        American and foreign news outlets.
            (31) In August 2024, the FBI and United States intelligence 
        agencies stated the Iranian government was behind a hack and 
        leak operation targeting Donald Trump's presidential campaign 
        and also attempted to target the Biden-Harris campaign.
            (32) The dictators running these countries of concern would 
        never stand for free, fair, and open elections themselves 
        because they fear their own people and prioritize their power 
        over them above all else.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING THE PRESIDENT TO NOTIFY CONGRESS AND TAKE CERTAIN 
              ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO ANY ATTEMPT BY A COUNTRY OF 
              CONCERN TO AFFECT UNITED STATES ELECTIONS.

    (a) In General.--If the President determines that the government, 
or an individual acting on behalf of the government, of a country of 
concern is attempting to affect the outcome of any Federal, State, or 
local election through the dissemination of disinformation, the 
President shall--
            (1) not later than 30 days after making such determination, 
        notify the appropriate committees of Congress of--
                    (A) such attempt; and
                    (B) any actions the President intends to take under 
                paragraph (2), including any waiver of the disclosure 
                of information described in such paragraph under 
                subsection (b); and
            (2) subject to subsections (b) and (c), take action, 
        including through international media and media available in 
        the country of concern in question, or through any other means 
        available to the United States, to reveal any information the 
        United States Government has in its possession relating to any 
        unexplained wealth, corruption, or malfeasance of any senior 
        official of the government in question, their family members, 
        or the political party or parties which govern it, to as many 
        of the citizens as possible in such country of concern.
    (b) Waiver of Disclosure.--The President may waive the disclosure 
of information under subsection (a)(2) if the President determines that 
the disclosure of such information would be detrimental to the national 
interest. In the case where the President waives such disclosure, the 
President shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an 
explanation of why the disclosure of such information would be 
detrimental to the national interest.
    (c) Treatment of Classified Information.--The release or disclosure 
of classified information under subsection (a)(2) shall be subject to 
the standards and procedures established under Executive Order 13526 
(50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security 
information).
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (D) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Country of concern.--The term ``country of concern'' 
        has the meaning given to the term ``covered nation'' in section 
        4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code.
            (3) Disinformation.--The term ``disinformation'' means any 
        false information or depiction that is deliberately meant to 
        mislead.
                                 <all>
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