This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.

  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.